Criticizing the Bush Campaign Ads

Dan Abbett

There has been a key point that has been missing regarding the vociferous criticism of every Bush campaign advertisement to date. There seems to be no shortage of citizenry willing to openly declare their disgust for the language, graphics, tone or intent of the president’s political message. Equally, there appears to be no shortage of media types who just happen to be available to bring us their protests and anger.

Missing, is any cry of outrage against the political message from the Kerry camp. Surely, with political polls showing a near even split in the electorate, there is a pocket of political exuberance bearing the same level of disgust for the message from “candidate Kerry.” The image, which to this point has been successfully created by Democrat Strategists in concert with the mainstream media, is to convey John Kerry aggressively and successfully fending off the attacks from President Bush and the radical right.

Their tack has been to contrast the critics of the Bush ads with condemnation from the Kerry campaign. The result is to insinuate a circumstance of foul play by the Bushies against the above board, on the issues message from Kerry. As long as the media continues to play to this strategy and fails to either find similar anger on the right or challenge the Kerry message with any real intent, they will succeed in their illusion.

The business of politics has always been one of creating an image of the candidate with the greatest appeal to the voting public. There is no fine line however, between “window dressing” and flagrant deception. In this regard, Democrats have blocked one of the lenses of the stereoscope. They are banking that the public will buy this flat image, without depth or distinctive definition of character.

In today’s world of rhetorical spin masters and the magic of media manipulation, what you see, may be a far cry from what you get. Unfortunately for those who have the ability to see through the hype and glitter, there is a large enough contingent of voters who are vulnerable to this effort in persuasion, to make the difference in an election. Add to this, the fact that one side of the argument will receive little to no attention by the media and four more years of President Bush could be in jeopardy.

The stakes in this next election could not be higher. On Wednesday March 11, 2004, terrorists once again attacked a major democratic society in Madrid, Spain with horror, carnage and death. The enormity of the cohesion and solidarity, of the hundreds of thousands of citizens standing in defiance of the barbarism of terror, holds the message of which we must never lose sight. This is the reality of the war we have declared on terrorism and a most grim reminder of the consequences, should we fail. It is the same reality that for two years, Democrats have tried to minimize or make us forget, solely for their selfish desire for personal power.

Two and a half years ago, it was Americans that cast aside the pettiness of their political peeves and united once more as “One Nation under God,” with a higher understanding of our nation’s priorities. Two and a half years later, “one party mocking God” has been successful in smashing that solidarity back into the factions it so covets as voting blocks. Dividing this nation may facilitate victory at the ballot box but that same division magnifies our vulnerability to terrorist attack, facilitating their victory.

The outrage against the campaign ads by President Bush is artificial, the intent, transparent. The intent of radical Muslim extremists to exterminate western democracy is the genuine article. In November of 2004, we must laugh in the face of the Kerry charade but we must be in the face of the threat of terrorism.