Let's
not anticipate the annihilation of John Kerry--not even in a sarcastic sense--in these little fiascos that pass for debates. Let's expect that Kerry wipes the floor with Bush, and slays him vigorously, calling the preznit on every platitude and glittering generality that Bush floats up there.
If everything truly did change on 9/11, then, for Pete's sake, doing better than expectations is no longer good enough!!
Do not buy into the narrative that Bush is just so homespun to be the master of managing expectations. Let us work to change the narrative to dealing with absolutes: he went into Iraq with justification, or he didn't; he has either bettered the economy, or he hasn't; he has made the world a more secure place, or he has with his policies and arrogance worked to threaten us with a more aggressive and virulent jihadist movement, or he hasn't.
I'm frankly getting a bit worried that we are, as much as we would deny it, buying into the idea that Bush is seen as invincible by too large a segment of the country and the media for us to do anything about it. Well, that's just plain not acceptable. What we say can have an impact, and I think that it is truly is up to us to do something about it. PBJ Diddy's letter, as good as it is, is only a start. We should now follow it up with a barrage of letters to the networks--both before and after these so-called "debates"--telling them just how feeble Bush is at handling the job and how awful he was at explaining himself.
Don't let the popular media control the narrative without a fight. Again, doing better than expectations is no longer good enough.