Sunday, March 07, 2004
A week gone by...
Maybe it's the fact that Kerry's expected Super Tuesday romp offered little in the way of surprises. Maybe it's that Spring seems to have come a bit early to Vermont. Maybe I just got tired of the forum for a few days and needed a break to charge up the analytical juices. Whatever the reason, I'm back to reorient my postings for the months and months of political/cultural jousting ahead of the Nation.
Not many people are paying attention any longer and the campaign office is largely cleared out, but the Deaniacs are still looking forward to March 18th when the Gov will be giving a speech intended to reintroduce the Campaign's mission for 2004. Until that time, there's a CNN documentary on the Dean Machine (a ridiculous moniker) airing tonight at 8pm EST. Some of the bloggers like Mathew Gross and Carl with a 'K' that worked with the campaign have already commented on being pleased with the rough cut they've seen. Aside from that, almost all the coverage has shifted into General Election mode - lots of backgrounders on Kerry, plenty of matchup polling, handicapping of the money race from here on out. In short, the race is just beginning but already I'm somewhat bored by the subjects in play. But if the polarized rhetoric generated by the entirely manufactured Gay Marriage debate is any indication, we ain't seen nothin' yet.
The silly media-criticism debate surrounding the first Bush campaign ads has been going on for days and most of it has been utterly predictable. The deliberate choice to use bleak images from 9/11 admist all the gauzy bunk that typically make up non-issue ads is a textbook approach (ponder in comparison the "it's morning in America" ads that Reagan used to such great effect in '84). My take is that the ads are wonderfully produced, intentionally empty of real meat, and totally appalling for Dems. Not at all unexpected for a first buy (even if this one cost Bush/Cheney $10M in 17 states). The resulting free media replays must please some short-sighted strategists in the Bush camp. But to specifically use the fleeting image of firefighters carrying a flag draped coffin of assumedly a fallen brother is in such bad taste that I can't imagine who aside from the truest of Bush supporters would be swayed by such reminders. Don't get me wrong - I can see the validity in both sides of this argument for the most part. But until Bush gives his one-hour of conversation (not testimony, mind you) to the 9/11 Commission, this debate of whether Bush should invoke discussion of his actions with regard to that national tragedy will go on and on and on. My favorite absurd defense of the ads came from Rudy Guiliani - "He did such a good job it would almost be false advertising not to include images of 9/11." That's so laughably stretched I can hardly hold my water, so to speak.
There's so much else going on in the world aside from political baseball, though. Spring training is under way - as I get older I find myself more attached to the seasonal cycle that is Major League Baseball even if the Milwaukee Brewers (my still lingering choice of small market poison) are a cruel joke yet again this year. The NCAA Basketball tourneys are almost here. And that's just a small piece of the sports world.
Maybe it's the fact that Kerry's expected Super Tuesday romp offered little in the way of surprises. Maybe it's that Spring seems to have come a bit early to Vermont. Maybe I just got tired of the forum for a few days and needed a break to charge up the analytical juices. Whatever the reason, I'm back to reorient my postings for the months and months of political/cultural jousting ahead of the Nation.
Not many people are paying attention any longer and the campaign office is largely cleared out, but the Deaniacs are still looking forward to March 18th when the Gov will be giving a speech intended to reintroduce the Campaign's mission for 2004. Until that time, there's a CNN documentary on the Dean Machine (a ridiculous moniker) airing tonight at 8pm EST. Some of the bloggers like Mathew Gross and Carl with a 'K' that worked with the campaign have already commented on being pleased with the rough cut they've seen. Aside from that, almost all the coverage has shifted into General Election mode - lots of backgrounders on Kerry, plenty of matchup polling, handicapping of the money race from here on out. In short, the race is just beginning but already I'm somewhat bored by the subjects in play. But if the polarized rhetoric generated by the entirely manufactured Gay Marriage debate is any indication, we ain't seen nothin' yet.
The silly media-criticism debate surrounding the first Bush campaign ads has been going on for days and most of it has been utterly predictable. The deliberate choice to use bleak images from 9/11 admist all the gauzy bunk that typically make up non-issue ads is a textbook approach (ponder in comparison the "it's morning in America" ads that Reagan used to such great effect in '84). My take is that the ads are wonderfully produced, intentionally empty of real meat, and totally appalling for Dems. Not at all unexpected for a first buy (even if this one cost Bush/Cheney $10M in 17 states). The resulting free media replays must please some short-sighted strategists in the Bush camp. But to specifically use the fleeting image of firefighters carrying a flag draped coffin of assumedly a fallen brother is in such bad taste that I can't imagine who aside from the truest of Bush supporters would be swayed by such reminders. Don't get me wrong - I can see the validity in both sides of this argument for the most part. But until Bush gives his one-hour of conversation (not testimony, mind you) to the 9/11 Commission, this debate of whether Bush should invoke discussion of his actions with regard to that national tragedy will go on and on and on. My favorite absurd defense of the ads came from Rudy Guiliani - "He did such a good job it would almost be false advertising not to include images of 9/11." That's so laughably stretched I can hardly hold my water, so to speak.
There's so much else going on in the world aside from political baseball, though. Spring training is under way - as I get older I find myself more attached to the seasonal cycle that is Major League Baseball even if the Milwaukee Brewers (my still lingering choice of small market poison) are a cruel joke yet again this year. The NCAA Basketball tourneys are almost here. And that's just a small piece of the sports world.
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