For a SCLM guy,
Terry Neal (WaPo political correspondent) is proving to be a very fair and balanced source.
There are two sides to this issue. And Talking Points won't take one. But even while leaving the argument about the appropriateness of the imagery to others, it is worth asking what the Bush camp was thinking. Normally a highly astute and smart bunch, did any of Bush's top advisers even raise the question of whether the value of using the images would exceed the headache their use would certainly cause? If the world is full of liberal meanies, why give them any ammo?
Neal covers the ads, the ad backlash, the Iraq bombings and the jobs disappointment and points out that
In any presidential election, there are huge advantages to incumbency: It's easier to raise money. You can write off many of your travel expenses on the taxpayers while delivering blatantly political speeches. You're the most powerful person in the world.
But there are disadvantages as well, as President Bush discovered this week as he launched his reelection bid against presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.).
And that disadvantage includes running on your record and being Overtaken By Events.
Since we can be an echo chamber, it's nice to hear that we're on target with our collective analysis here. Bush's 10 mill ad buy is a wash so far for the reasons neal states, and because it's still the economy, stupid:
Kerry 47% Bush 45% Other 3%
March 5, 2004--Riding the final wave of positive media coverage from his astounding run in the Democratic Primary campaign, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry holds a two-point edge over President Bush in the latest Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll.
That poll shows John F. Kerry at 47%, George W. Bush at 45%and "some other candidate" at 3%. The candidates have been within three points of each other for 12 of the past 14 days.
I think our collective analysis is on the right track. Let's keep up the good work.
