Home > Bush campaign is crying wolf
BY WILLIAM O’ROURKE
The first thing to notice about the elevated orange terror alert is that it is confined to Democratic stronghold cities and states. The next is to realize that no battleground states will be subjected to formal elevated alerts, lest the security interruptions sour the swing voters residing therein.
Terror alerts are mini-"October surprises" for this administration, ready to be employed anytime President Bush wants to move the Kerry-Edwards campaign off the front page for a few days. The ’’cry wolf’’ factor is high. Tom Ridge’s claim that his Homeland Security Department ’’doesn’t do politics" rings hollow, given his political background and the boss he is beholden to. Bush can shout, ’’We’re a nation in danger’’ in the Rose Garden anytime he wishes, but the public may yet conclude that the danger is the president’s judgment.
George W. Bush, though, has begun a new campaign of limited candor: He told the National Urban League on July 23 that the Republican Party has ’’a lot of work to do’’ if it wants to gain black support and votes. And last week he told an Ohio crowd that the economy ’’lags’’ there and that he had spoken with Timken workers who were ’’nervous about their future’’ — which they should be, because Timken has laid off more than 1,200 employees in Ohio just this year.
But such admissions are just that: Bush says them and just does what he does. The remarks are to prove he is not completely out of touch; though, in Ohio, as Bush tried to boast of a rebounding economy, his host, Republican Sen. George Voinovich, had already admitted, in introducing him, that Ohio’s economy hadn’t improved ’’as robustly as some other states.’’
It is not likely that Bush will display this new candor — however sporadic — for long, but it may continue until the GOP convention. That affair, doubtless, will be a festival of non-candor, highlighting diversity and moderation foreign to the practices of the Bush administration. If the Democrats framed John Kerry in their convention as a warrior candidate, the Republicans will doubtless present Bush as the peace president, wanting no more than peace abroad and prosperity at home.
There was a lot of talk among Democrats before the convention about the need to introduce Kerry to the nation. The GOP’s task is different. The public doesn’t want to know more about Bush, because when it has looked into his background, it has found a nest of bad news: Bush’s sketchy military service, his drinking, his various failed businesses. The two Kerry daughters managed to make their father seem like ’’the real deal’’ in their convention speeches, but it is difficult to imagine the Bush twins introducing their father with amusing anecdotes about the early years with dad.
But Bush has been "born again" in a number of ways: his election to governor of Texas and his embracing of Jesus as his savior canceled, more or less, his previous history. And his presidency was born again on 9/11. The White House characterizes this campaign as one about the "future," not the "past."
Unlike Ronald Reagan, Bush is no father figure: He is the big brother who will beat up — or have beaten up — anyone who offends his family. The latest elevated terror alert will make it easier to turn mid-Manhattan into an armed camp for the upcoming Republican convention.
As much as possible, the Bush campaign will try to keep the public focused on the homeland. The 9/11 Commission has become a blessing for Bush. The hearings, as well as the president’s feints toward approving some of its recommendations — including another terror czar — lets what is happening here be the news throughout the fall, rather than what is going on in Iraq.
For what is going on in Iraq is more bad news for Bush. Al-Qaida in the Big Apple is, perversely, a safer topic. The president will keep reminding the public that ’’We’re a nation in danger.’’ The photos associated with terror alerts are now familiar: police wearing layers of military protection, an arm cradling an automatic rifle. It’s the GOP convention theme to come — A Nation in Danger: Re-elect Bush-Cheney.