Being Karl Rove: Winning the 2004 Presidential Election for President Bush
Posted : September 28, 2004 at 10:24 am [America/Los_Angeles]
Republicans know they are losing. Mr. Karl Rove knows that too. So, taking a cue from the movie “Being John Malkovich”, I decided to sneak into Mr. Karl Rove’s brain and see what he is up to in order to ensure President Bush’s victory.
Tactic # 1: Break the back of the Democrats who are far too energized to “..send President Bush to Crawford, Texas”. So, how can Mr. Rove achieve that? Simple. Slam the voters every day from now till Nov. 2nd with polls that show President Bush having a solid lead. He is hoping that by making the chances of Senator Kerry winning look hopeless, he will be able to demoralize these voters enough that they stay home on Nov. 2nd. (Update: Reuters came out with an article later in the day which says something similar: “Polls do not only measure campaigns. They may also affect them”) Is this chicanery working? Well, I don’t know. However, what I do know is this. CNN, the most trusted cable news network, continues to hammer these biased poll numbers as gospel every single day. Many liberal leaning channels and anchors seem to have written Senator Kerry off for most parts.
Tactic # 2: Ignore the Moderates. Energize the base by playing the “Values” and “Religion” card. Mr. Rove would have luved to get the undecideds, the centrists tip on his side. However, he knows that with each passing day it is becoming increasingly harder. So, he has made a choice. He is not going to go after them. Atleast, not on the ground. On the ground, he is asking his foot soldiers to go as far right as they can. He is hoping that on the day of the elections, the “fear-of-banning-bibles-or-same-sex-marriage” crowd will equal, if not outnumber, the “anybody-but-bush” crowd atleast in the swing states.
Tactic #3: Issues, my foot. At least that’s what Mr. Rove feels. If Mr. Rove would have his way, he would rather have the voters focus on “scandals” rather than “issues”, on “rhetoric” instead of “facts”, on “Saddam Hussain and the Baathists” instead of “Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda”, on “President Bush’s next four years” instead of “President Bush’s past four years”, on “what we plan on doing” instead of “what we did do”, on “Senator Kerry’s flip flop” than “President Bush’s flim flam”. You get the idea.
Tactic #4: Attack, Attack, Attack. Apparently for Mr. Rove, “everything is fair in love, war and politics“. He will use the services of SBVT (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth) and any other group that he can to slam either Senator Kerry or Senator Edwards. DUI charges. Drugs. Sex with Jane Fonda. Anything! He could care less.
- Anand
Category: United (or not) State of American Politics 2004