...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Wednesday, April 21, 2004
      ( 1:29 PM )
 
Where's The Beef?

I realize that it is still eight months to go until the general election and 4 months until the Convention, but I feel like John Kerry really needs to pick up some steam. I know he needed to rest after the brutal primary season, and that he has to pace himself to get through this general election campaign, but come on! I don't mean to sound like sour grapes (okay, I totally feel like sour grapes about this), but the fact that we are now faced with the boring political wonk we all knew Kerry was and are complaining about his lack of inspiring attitude makes me want to gag on my "I told you so's" about Howard Dean. There were so many reasons why Howard Dean was a preferable candidate, not the least of which was how he not only inspired people but how he spoke out and got angry when things were wrong with the country. He offered real answers about healthcare and taxes, and he appealed to a gammut of people, including liberals AND conservatives. John Kerry may have to pace himself, but he better pick up his pace soon. His speeches are boring and uninspiring and he's offering no definition of himself that the attention-span-lacking media can glom onto.

I am in no way suggesting that I won't vote for Kerry, I am firmly in the ABB camp and feel that if Bush were re-elected, our country would face some major devastation -- I do feel that Kerry offers a good alternative because he will bring common sense back to our treatment of the environment, he will heal our relationships with our allies and other countries around the world, he will bring rational behavior back to our fiscal system and begin to lower our deficit again, and he will not rush to war EVER because he knows the horrors of war himself.

On the other hand, I'd like a little inspiration to go along with my vote. I'd like Kerry to speak up more, to be a true "opposition" candidate. For too long, Democrats have suffered candidates who don't stand out because they are cowed into thinking that a liberal option won't appeal to voters. It's just not true. Most voters want the things that liberal activism has achieved: fair pay for fair work, work place protections, the weekend, social security, medicare, etc. The reason why Clinton was so popular was not because he stood up for liberal views (he didn't, which is one reason I think he failed on many counts), it was because of his charisma. John Kerry needs a dose of charisma or at the very least, a running mate with a lot of it. He will make a great president and he will steer our country back onto the right track to achieve justice and prosperity, but if he could just do it with a good, from-the-belly "WaaHOOO!!" then I might go happily to the polls in November instead of hesitantly.

Either way though, I'll go. And you better too.

| -- permanent link