Don't articulate any strong positions or opinions, lay low in the media, and make as little effort as possible to inspire, ignite or challenge the electorate. Run as the "Anti-Bush." Let Bush and the Iraqi insurgency define the terms of the election, and let the election be a referendum on Bush and Iraq.

I'm betting that this strategy will turn out to nothing less than a humongous, historic miscalculation. The Bush guys have shown themselves to be very good at seizing and wielding power. They're probably good at holding on to it as well. Allowing Bush to define the terms of the election is a lousy idea for many reasons. First and foremost, we now know the terms by which he governs are, quite often, based on falsehoods and fundamentalism. Why continue to debate this administration's false premises?

It's a little hard to believe that Kerry's inability to inspire is an issue of personal style or a result of having worked in the Senate for too long. It seems more like a strategy. The saddest thing about his visionless campaign is that there are so many big, global issues that we need to be talking about and working on right now -- energy, the environment, AIDS, the widening gap between rich and poor, nuclear proliferation and fundamentalist religous insanity, to broadly name a few. Yet, the national dialogue is like a broken record, stuck on Iraq, Britney Spears, and abstract, simplistic discussion about "the economy." We need an opposition candidate who is willing or able to push the national conversation in a more substantive and meaningful direction. So far, Kerry appears not to be that candidate.

I suppose it could be a systemic problem -- Kerry may just be doing exactly what one must do to run for president in today's corporate media environment and polarized political culture. Yet, I still have the overwhelming feeling that the Democratic Party is, for the moment, bankrupt of ideas and vision. Talking to people and looking around at the culture, I get the sense that American voters would appreciate John F. Kerry acting and talking a little bit more like his hero, John F. Kennedy -- exciting, inspiring and challenging the American people to move the country and the world and humanity to a better place.

If putting some serious challenges to the American people will lose Kerry the presidency, then maybe the American people have the president they deserve in George W. Bush.

10:49 AM | Link |