I have a friend who's been taunting me since I first came out for WKC. Most recently he struggled to make his email postcard from Japan relevant to my concerns:
Larry thinks I might enjoy hearing:
They hate Wesley in Tokyo.
He's finished. I think you should put your passion into something else.
He is now in meltdown and you know it.
I am in Tokyo and heading over to Seoul in a couple of hours. I will
get the pulse of the average Seoul citizen about Wesley.
So I hope you are doing well. What did you think of Arnold? Is it a new
day in politics or just a new pair of socks.
Now here's a guy who will never vote for Bush but he's completely cynical about politics, much like my 83 year old father who also never votes Republican, but whose idea of political dialogue is, "A plague on both their houses." Friend Larry is a small businessman dependent on his wife's 401K for any security in the future. Dad is trying to make his money last and is mighty upset that the government has called in his bonds to avoid paying yesterday's interest rates, which were his primary source of fixed income. Only three years ago, he felt flush enough to buy a Jaguar when his 25 year old Caddie finally died.
Amy wonders why it is that "Every time one of my glass-is-half-empty Democratic friends (you know who you are, ahem, Jake) wails about how Bush can't lose, how he'll spend hundreds of millions of dollars attacking his Democratic opponent in the general election and distracting the voters and playing on patriotic sentiment instead of rational thought, I argue back that it doesn't matter one whit what the man says -- Americans are going to vote with their pocketbooks."
". . . I insist that all of the campaign rhetoric in the world cannot convince a worried mom that her children's education is totally under control, even if school parents now have to sell their plasma to pay the salaries of some teachers."
" . . . When Americans are standing at the polls next November, I'm betting that they will care most about their ability to put food on the table, a roof over their heads, buy little Hannah the retro Strawberry Shortcake dolls she wants for Christmas the next month. And on that point, it's Advantage Democrats."
As we speak the market is up and unemployment is very slightly down. The best October surprise Bush can hope for is a robust economy despite the voodoo tax cuts. Stay tuned.