A small but telling example of why Kerry is going to lose.
President Bush fell from his bike on Saturday and got a few minor scrapes - Kerry had a similar accident a few weeks / months ago.
Here's what's interesting from Drudge:
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Kerry told reporters in front of cameras, 'Did the training wheels fall off?'... Reporters are debating whether to treat it is as on or off the record...
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Now I ask you, if you're campaigning for President, and you know that America likes optimistic, positive candidates, and you furthermore know that your flaks are supposed to do the dirty work, why in the heck would you say something that stupid and petty to the press?
Whether you agree with Bush's politics or Kerry's politics doesn't matter - the point is that Kerry intentionally revealed himself to be a petty, sniping prick with this statement (pardon my french) and for no discernible reason whatsoever. He certainly won't get any mileage from independents by being petty, and the people who enjoy hateful gibes are already in his pocket.
So why did he say it? Did he just feel like putting his jerk side on display? Did he want to make the challenge of winning over independents a little tougher for himself? What?
People are constantly talking about how Bush is stupid and Kerry is smart, or at the very least how there is a major intellectual gap between them.
Even if this is true, and Kerry is smarter than Bush intellectually, I think Bush is going to win - and again, this is more of an observation than anything else - because Bush has a far higher emotional quotient than Kerry.
I mean, Kerry fans, let's face it. For him to say something that sniping to the press, for no political gain, shows that he is an emotional dumbass. His whole bent at this point should be winning over independents, and yet he can't resist a pointless jibe that makes the President look even more like an honest everyman, and makes Kerry look even more like a high minded asshole.
And something else too: whether Kerry is book smart or not, there is legitimate cause to question the quality of his decision making. And I think that poor quality decision making may come down to his poor emotional intelligence.
Think of it from a trader's perspective: Kerry is like the guy trying to make sense of fundamentals with no emotional grounding. He's so "nuanced" that he's forever dithering under a massive pile of contradictory evidence with no ability to make a decision. And so, like emotionally unbalanced traders, he gets stuck in analysis paralysis and then makes a decision on a whim at the last minute (while convincing himself it was based on 'a subtle weighting of issues').
Most people have a subconscious ability to sense the basic alignment in other people: how dedicated they are, how true they are to bedrock principles, how committed they are. Democrats hate Bush, but they generally don't doubt his commitment level; they hate him precisely because he's committed and aligned to goals and methods they can't stand.
Kerry, on the other hand, is a ship at sea. He has no discernible reason for running other than the fact that he wants to be President - that he's clung to the fantasy of mouthing "John F Kerry, President" to his bathroom mirror for thirty or forty years.
And quite frankly, if Bush's lack of intellectual intelligence is dangerous, I think Kerry's lack of emotional intelligence is dangerous. If Kerry were president when big decisions were on the line, I doubt he'd be able to find his ass with both hands and a flashlight.
If he shows a Deanlike inability to keep from shooting himself in the foot with off the cuff statements that make him look immature and mean, how is he going to handle actual high pressure decisions under the spotlight?
Unless things go to hell in a handbasket, Kerry is going to defeat himself. He just doesn't have what it takes to lead.
President Bush fell from his bike on Saturday and got a few minor scrapes - Kerry had a similar accident a few weeks / months ago.
Here's what's interesting from Drudge:
======
Kerry told reporters in front of cameras, 'Did the training wheels fall off?'... Reporters are debating whether to treat it is as on or off the record...
======
Now I ask you, if you're campaigning for President, and you know that America likes optimistic, positive candidates, and you furthermore know that your flaks are supposed to do the dirty work, why in the heck would you say something that stupid and petty to the press?
Whether you agree with Bush's politics or Kerry's politics doesn't matter - the point is that Kerry intentionally revealed himself to be a petty, sniping prick with this statement (pardon my french) and for no discernible reason whatsoever. He certainly won't get any mileage from independents by being petty, and the people who enjoy hateful gibes are already in his pocket.
So why did he say it? Did he just feel like putting his jerk side on display? Did he want to make the challenge of winning over independents a little tougher for himself? What?
People are constantly talking about how Bush is stupid and Kerry is smart, or at the very least how there is a major intellectual gap between them.
Even if this is true, and Kerry is smarter than Bush intellectually, I think Bush is going to win - and again, this is more of an observation than anything else - because Bush has a far higher emotional quotient than Kerry.
I mean, Kerry fans, let's face it. For him to say something that sniping to the press, for no political gain, shows that he is an emotional dumbass. His whole bent at this point should be winning over independents, and yet he can't resist a pointless jibe that makes the President look even more like an honest everyman, and makes Kerry look even more like a high minded asshole.
And something else too: whether Kerry is book smart or not, there is legitimate cause to question the quality of his decision making. And I think that poor quality decision making may come down to his poor emotional intelligence.
Think of it from a trader's perspective: Kerry is like the guy trying to make sense of fundamentals with no emotional grounding. He's so "nuanced" that he's forever dithering under a massive pile of contradictory evidence with no ability to make a decision. And so, like emotionally unbalanced traders, he gets stuck in analysis paralysis and then makes a decision on a whim at the last minute (while convincing himself it was based on 'a subtle weighting of issues').
Most people have a subconscious ability to sense the basic alignment in other people: how dedicated they are, how true they are to bedrock principles, how committed they are. Democrats hate Bush, but they generally don't doubt his commitment level; they hate him precisely because he's committed and aligned to goals and methods they can't stand.
Kerry, on the other hand, is a ship at sea. He has no discernible reason for running other than the fact that he wants to be President - that he's clung to the fantasy of mouthing "John F Kerry, President" to his bathroom mirror for thirty or forty years.
And quite frankly, if Bush's lack of intellectual intelligence is dangerous, I think Kerry's lack of emotional intelligence is dangerous. If Kerry were president when big decisions were on the line, I doubt he'd be able to find his ass with both hands and a flashlight.
If he shows a Deanlike inability to keep from shooting himself in the foot with off the cuff statements that make him look immature and mean, how is he going to handle actual high pressure decisions under the spotlight?
Unless things go to hell in a handbasket, Kerry is going to defeat himself. He just doesn't have what it takes to lead.
