Out of ammo? Bush tonight.

According to "Too much" Candy Crowley on Larry King Live last night, Bush will be delivering his acceptance speech tonight in town hall format, not the traditional lectern format. That almost certainly means he will be doing nothing more than rehashing his stump speech, which he's been delivering for several months now, and which he apparently has down. It also gives him a chance to be folksy and personable, about the only things he can do. When Bush's charm, such as it is, is the only thing you have to offer, have you really earned the right to return to office? I think that's a question we need to get out there somehow.


The other upside here? They've pretty much shot their wad. I was thinking maybe Bush was going to come out with some kind of sweeping vision for the future, but I now believe he doesn't have one, that it's going to be a feelgood bit of fluff to contrast with the bitter bile spewed by the other speakers at this RNC. You don't unveil major shifts or new programs in an informal setting. After Bush, the real race begins. If the Republicans really have nothing more than the warmed-over trickle down stuff Bush has been pushing since 1999, then they have shot their wad.

Of course, there's another way of looking at it: they are so confident they are playing things safe, trying to run out the clock and not make mistakes. That's what Bush's daddy did against Clinton, and he got beat.


One last note: Bush does well in this format, and it's a speech he's given maybe 100 times. He's guaranteed to "hit it out of the park." I hope the DNC finds a way to point this out, because his speech will be essentially a walk, not the home run the media will likely spin it as. The real sports analogy would be a gymnast doing a really easy and basic routine. They don't get the same points as a gymnast with a more demanding routine, nor should they.

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or "We're turning a corner" or any of his other folksy cliches, I am going to scream. I meant it. I'll scream.

despite 2003 being one of the deadliest terror years ever.

at our soldiers! We are winning the war on terror. Turning a corner into Iran... blah, blah, blah.

Sickening.

"turned the corner" out of him in two days flat. But you're going to hear something similar. So have a pillow ready to muffle your screams so your neighbors won't call the cops :-)

so I can't watch. ;) I just about threw the remote last night when Cheney was speaking.

in history.

And to think, I was worried about it.

All they've done is piss-off group after group.

Lets see...

They've pissed off the Vets.

They've pissed off the Jews.

They've pissed off the whole city and state of NY.

They've pissed off a lot of the 9/11 families.

They've pissed off gays.

They've pissed off supporters of stem-cell research.

They've alienated moderates (Zell).

The list goes on and on....

Today/tonight isn't going to be much different. I expect the Republicans to piss off at least another group or two.

Will someone please tell me a single thing that's been said that would get someone to vote for Bush who wasn't already going to vote for Bush that's come out of this convention?

(sound of crickets in the background)

I thought so.

They've been so busy preaching to the choir that they've forgot to woo the undecideds or Democrats to their fold.

I'd feel sorry for them if they all weren't fear-loving, warmongering, theocratic bigots.

but they aren't. They are STILL pandering to their base - rich, white religious zealots. Arnold was horrible and Rudy - oh, please. He was to slurpy for most to suffer through.

Zell was icing on the cake. If I was undecided, I would be running away.

they are dead meat.

The base wants to believe, needs to believe. They should be easy.

if their base turns out. The Democrats need the undecideds to break the way they do historically, which is for the challenger. Nasty, negative campaigns discourage voter turnout, so the Republicans seem to be banking on keeping their turnout high, while shrinking the undecides/swing people. They would win in that scenario. So it's not as desperate a play as it seems.

He's got NOTHING new to say, you can count on it!

War of terror/Iraq...check

tax cuts...check

SS privitization...check

Tort reform...check

That's going to be at least half his speech. Probably more like 75%

Throw in remembering 9/11 and all his "folksy" sayings and that's probably all we'll hear tonight.

I saw the transcript from one he did in New Mexico a month ago. It was a verbatim transcript, and he didn't have as many miscues as he usually does when he speaks.

people have registered than are eligible, if you recall from a recent news story! pubs must be proud)

And he'll say "if we just had four more years, we could do: "

And he MIGHT bring up the only heteros can marry line, too, if they are really just playing to their base and abandoning the swing vote.

But the Keyes flap and the fact that Mary is there with her SO may have put the squash on that one.

In my mind I included Afghanistan with the War on Terror, but I probably should have been clearer.

are played as separate issues

so...I was just elaborating on yer post a wee bit

They will not tell you the truth. The TRUTH is that shrub is still a COWARD and is afraid to use the same stage everyone else had to use. I remember reading an article about the special stage built for shrub. It is bulletproof and bombproof probably to protect him from the loving masses. That is the reason he is appearing in the round. The only way they could use the special stage was to bring it up out of the floor with hydraulics. LOL, and sad at the same time, it will also allow him to look like the second coming as he rises out of the floor.
What a crock of crap......

THUD!

The leader of the free world should play well in all time zones!

The GOOP has shown it's hand. It's under the delusion that there are a few hidden wingnut votes and those scared shitless by 9/11 to win. The strategy is to fire up the "base" (whatever that is) and let the hates and lies and anger build to November. If this is what they're planning, we're going to learn what this country is really made of.

The contrasts couldn't be more stark. Go Repugnican and be mad and negative or vote Democratic and look forward and positive. The GOOP doesn't stand FOR things, they stand against them. A majority of the people in this country are hurting, not scared. They want hope, not casting blame.

Bunnypants is gonna play folksey and "the guy you wanna have a beer with" (how ironic that analogy is used considering his alcoholic past)...and the base will eat it up. It's gonna be so corny most of us will need extra barf bags. We'll hear things said simplistically by a simpleton geared at small minds. It'll work like a charm on the 30% or less the electorate that are so braindead they fall for this drivel, but there's already 40% of us out here that can't stand this turd and the remaining 30% that, while not sold on Kerry, are fagigued on this bastard.

That's the hidden quotient here. The media was all over "Clinton fatigue" in the days following the Inquisition (my term for the impeachement fiasco) but I think there's an even deeper case of Bush fatigue setting in. This guy's been in our face more than any recent president and I think a majority of the people are just plain tired of him.

Nonetheless, if they do come up with some feel good laundry list for him to present tonight, I hope that our spokespeople are armed with all of the bullshit promises he made in 2000. I think I'd like to see them take the approach of "If you can believe it" to start hammering him on credibility.