The polls are absolutely deadlocked. LA Times and Rasmussen have dead heat ties in their polls today. Bush is still pulling sub-50 numbers which do not bode well for an incumbent. Not in the least.
We can win this. We can absolutely win this thing. We're going to. The news points to it. The groundswell of discontent points to it. We must make sure that when your friends, co-workers, family go into that voting booth (or that card table, depending on your district), they add up everything that has happened to them in the last two years alone. The only conclusion is to elect a strong, experienced and respected John Kerry one week from today.
There are so many ways to counter their arguments, it's almost comical.
"I don't want to be taxed." Baby, you're gonna be taxed. There's no way around it. With Bush's request for another $70 billion dollars for war funding, you're paying. This brings the share for every living adult over 18 to more than $1000. Over a thousand dollars is coming out of your paycheck for war ALONE. And the wrong war at that.
"Democrats are tax-and-spend." We're always faulted for mopping up the economic messes created by Republican presidents. Reagan and Bush I crippled our economy. Clinton fixed it. Bush is crippling it again. And I'll bet every last dime I have that whoever you talk to about taxing and spending has not received an iota of tax relief from Bush. With tax cuts for the rich and money being spent by the trillions by this administration, SOMEONE will pay. Guess who? With Kerry, at least the burden will be distributed fairly to mop up THIS mess.
"Bush is a strong leader." Let's make this clear. Bush is weak. He's small. He's afraid. He's afraid of confrontation. He's afraid of disagreement. He's afraid of the rest of the planet. He's afraid of contrition. He's afraid of showing remorse. He's afraid of showing any strength in negotiating. He's afraid of THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. That's why he screens his rallies so tightly. That's why he never seeks anything except praise and dripping adulation from anyone around him. He's afraid he might have to face something that he's not capable of dealing with. We don't need a timid leader, but we have one. Bush is as scared as a chipmunk. He was scared as a serviceman, and he's scared today. We need someone better than this. We need someone stronger than this. We need John Kerry.
"Bush will protect us from the terrorists." Hate to tell you this. He didn't. His staff didn't. His security advisor didn't. His defense secretary didn't. They all failed him. The ones who DID warn him aren't there anymore. So who's left? The ones who ignored the warnings. I would not trust any of these people to babysit my cat. Not one conviction has come out of all the arrests they made. Not one person who failed us on 9/11 has been fired. John Kerry will replace every last one of these incompetents with people who know, who care and who will WORK. And with 380 tons of lethal explosives now in the hands of terrorists, Bush has proven himself a miserable failure.
"The economy is on the upswing." Please. This one would make the strongest of us turn and walk.
On and on, every one of their arguments do not hold a dewdrop in this last week of the campaigns. We were scared when we were attacked on 9/11. We cannot be scared now. We need to be strong enough to walk into the polls and fire this inept CEO president. We all have stock in this country. That stock is at an all-time low, economically, morally, and in the eyes of the rest of the world.
We must end the reign of fear. We must hit the reset button. We must get John Kerry elected next week. Your country needs you. Answer the call. Do not sleep through this one.
We're stronger than they are. We need to show it.
Just wanted to get in these few words before Bullitt and I take off for our annual two-week battery recharge tomorrow night. We'll be cheering on John Kerry and John Edwards from our Jamaican hideout (yes, we already voted absentee), with a big ol' stock of cold Red Stripe to toast these good men. Since this might be a working vacation, I'll hop online from the local internet bar from time to time to make sure you guys are behaving yourselves.
So behave yourselves.
