Who Won?
Thomas Friedman has it right, I think, to suggest that the biggest deciding factor in the Presidential election is whether voters can trust Kerry will command the protection of the United States and pursue effectively those who would harm us at home or abroad, as opposed to whether they are convinced Bush understands what he has undertaken and how badly he’s screwed it up so that he can undertake to repair the damage before it’s too late. Personally, I’m already sold on Kerry, but it didn’t take much effort on the candidate’s part. Bush has consistently demonstrated his faith-based doctrinarian approach to leadership, and that’s not what I look for in a leader. Change in circumstances sometimes requires reassessment and a corresponding change in method or direction, and from the beginning of the campaign season, that ability to reassess and adapt has been an essential criterion in selecting a candidate. There are other factors, of course, and I have not been immune to questions over whether Kerry, with his years in the Senate, would be more or less capable of functioning as an executive, among other things, than, for example, Howard Dean, whose role as a state Governor obviously fitted him with the experience required, just as it had with Clinton or, presumptively Bush (although that never turned out to be the case, the Texas executive branch being somewhat more like ceremonial in its powers). And as the campaign has progressed I’ve seen Kerry learning, developing, whereas I’ve only seen Bush become more and more strident, more firmly attached to denying any error or even so much as a misstep, growing ever more simplistic. For him it all boils down to being either “with him or against him,” a choice between salvation or damnation, but on the evidence, we’re damned either way if he gets in again. Selecting a Chief Executive isn’t a matter of belief, like choosing a religion, and while trusting in a “higher power” has given George W. the chance not to drink himself to death, it isn’t enough to run a country with either, just like it wasn’t enough for him to function as a businessman. Bush is a failed executive without a history of service to anything other than his own privilege. Kerry has used every privilege to pursue a career of service to the country, without shirking or complaint. There’s not much more I’d ask for in a President.