Bush sets off campaign with tough and dirty edge

Nashville City Paper - Anyone who thought that the 2004 presidential campaign wouldn’t be an ugly, bare-knuckle struggle had those hopes dashed forever March 4 when the Bush re-election campaign’s first ads hit the national cable airwaves. The three spots included footage from the Sept. 11 attacks, making a clear link between voting Republican, fighting terrorism and being a patriot.

Their mantra remains the same as it’s been for the last year-and-a-half. Any disagreement with Bush actions overseas is tantamount to treason, and any opposition to dubious constitutional measures such as the Patriot Act is tacit support for terrorism. Kerry will have to speak out regularly and forcefully against such notions, and even his sterling war record will eventually be called into question.

Unfortunately, Kerry has more problems with his base than the president. The right wing is solidly behind Bush, even those who are troubled by ballooning deficits, record job losses and a foreign policy that often seems crafted on the fly. In contrast, hosts of folk on the left are less than happy Kerry’s the Democratic nominee. Many African Americans preferred Edwards or Clark, and union supporters don’t like what they view his penchant for shifting positions on trade. Kerry was repeatedly hammered in the real liberal press during the campaign, with publications such as The Nation, Mother Jones, In These Times and The Village Voice urging him take real alternative positions rather than emerging as merely a mild reformer.