If Kerry and Edwards win, we can return to a time when policy is debated on the basis of fact, not the basis of ideology.
When I was, in my childhood, a good Young Republican, I remember how we decried the ideological purity of our enemies. Now, we hear that same kind of factless prose from both members of the GOP ticket.
The Politburo at its zenith was never as unified around message as the Bush- Cheney campaign. It shows, because whatever the question the Republicans
inevitably veer back towards their safe messages.
Tonight was proof of this, again, for me. While Edwards marshalled fact, Cheney held on to one discredited talking point after another and served those with sneers and chuckles. His favorite intro: "Gwen, I hardly know where to start." He also has no idea where to stop, especially when he' s parroting his favorite line of argument, slyly suggesting that Saddam Hussein attacked America on 9/11. Edwards shut him down every time--something our media sadly failed to do in the march to war.
I will say that Cheney, for all his flaws, would have been a far better president than George Bush. Granted, I may feel this way only because I was an English major and invariably prefer a man who can speak in complete sentences. This debate showed again that the two tickets are fundamentally unmatched--but Cheney comes much closer to matching Edwards than Bush could ever match Kerry.
As someone denied the right to marry, the moment where Cheney thanked Edwards for honoring Cheney's commitment to his lesbian daughter was moving. Cheney said he supported the president's right to set policy, but refused to defend it further. It was painful, and a reminder of the pain that so many families face as a result of Bush's commitment to sacrificing the full humanity of gays and lesbians to the most extreme faction of the Republican right. It was interesting to see Mary Cheney on stage after the debate-- she was barely allowed on camera during the GOP convention.
This campaign is all about what is allowed on camera, and who is allowed to speak. While the GOP ticket requires a loyalty oath to enter campaign events, Kerry and Edwards are speaking on front porches across America. The President's disconnect from reality should be even more apparent than usual when he faces the "town hall" crowd on Friday.
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