Who Should Win the Race on November 2?

Why President Bush Should be Reelected
by Sue Rankin

George W. Bush should be reelected as president because he is a better man for the job and a better man for the times. Every morning in the Oval Office, hundreds of critical issues beg for resolution. An effective president, like President Bush, makes decisions and sticks to them. A man with one eye on the road not taken, like John Kerry, cannot be trusted to hold a steady course in demanding times.

During the days immediately following September 11, 2001, most Americans, regardless of their political persuasion, were relieved to see George Bush occupying the Oval Office. We needed his kind of moral clarity. We needed his certainty and his resolve. We needed a leader who cared enough to get tears in his eyes but was strong enough not to blink. In the face of a threat we had never even imagined, he spoke simply and powerfully. By defining what we faced and by committing to victory, he framed our situation in ways that made it tolerable.

It was not inevitable that the course of events following September 11 would be the steadily more stable situation that we have experienced. President Bush set that course and made decisions, none of which was easy or inevitable, that restored the possibility of ordinary life. In the past, presidents of both parties had treated terrorists’ actions as law enforcement problems and responded with warrants and legal proceedings or, worse still, withdrawal from the region of conflict. A different president might have equivocated, begun a discussion of “root causes” of Arab unrest, or begun appeasement by supporting anti-Israeli policies. A less practical president with a less seasoned attorney general might not have sponsored legislation to give law enforcement new tools to fight terrorists. What might Osama bin Laden have achieved in 2002 if his base in Afghanistan had not been annihilated? What might Saddam Hussein have built or sold in 2003 if he had not been removed from power? We are not yet safe, but we are far safer than we were before George Bush took office.

Does anyone doubt that George Bush means what he says? Does anyone doubt that he will stay the course on the course he has set? These are essential characteristics for a leader in these times. We face an enemy with a keen sense for the smell of weakness. With all due respect to Senator Kerry, his is a mind that can be changed—rather easily and rather often. His history is a history of being ambivalent. Senator Kerry worries a lot about what the French and the Germans think of us. Our reputation in the world does matter. But where it matters most is not in Europe. The French will not attack us. What matters most is what our enemies think, not our friends. There are many good reasons to return George Bush to power, but perhaps the most critical is this: What will our enemies think if we don’t? The networks of fanatics with a mission to kill as many of us as possible are watching this election. They may try to disrupt it. They will certainly try to affect it. If we remove our leader from office in the middle of a war, they will see that removal as their victory. The sophisticated nuances of party politics in a Western democracy are lost on cavemen.

We look to a president for leadership in strategic planning on domestic issues as well as national security. Only from his vantage point can he work toward the long-term, big-picture goals: How can we get our economic growth rate high enough to support Social Security and Medicare for an aging population? What kind of healthcare system do we want for America in 2020? How do we move increasing numbers of Americans into the ownership society? George Bush has plans not just for our safety but also for our prosperity. At the core of his vision is a respect for every individual and a belief, founded in his faith, that everyone has a right to freedom and opportunity. Again and again George Bush has rejected identity politics. When he looks at America, he sees Americans, not the hyphenated, Balkanized collection of ethnicities that dominate the thinking of his opponent. George Bush’s signature education initiative was founded on a rejection of the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” He continues to insist that every child can and must learn. His healthcare initiatives are based on a respect for the doctor-patient relationship and a rejection of one-size-fits-all systems. His healthcare ideas, health savings accounts and association health plans, can bring down the cost of health insurance and offer real hope of putting competitive pressure on health costs. He speaks often of creating “an ownership society.” His policies have led to record-breaking levels of home ownership. His vision is of a nation of individuals who start their own businesses, own their own homes, own their retirement funds, use tax-free savings to purchase ordinary health expenses, and pursue their dreams equipped with the finest education. His vision, unlike his opponent’s, is of a nation where more and more people thrive in the private sector and the heavy hand of government is reserved for fewer and fewer tasks.

One of the key goals of a successful presidency is the promotion of economic growth. Growth, like security, is not inevitable. Our president inherited a recession compounded by an unprecedented attack on our soil and faced the necessity to wage two military campaigns. When the stock market reopened following 9/11, our economic infrastructure was reeling. Despite these Job-like challenges, President Bush has kept this economy growing with a series of good decisions. His package of tax cuts, opposed by Senator Kerry, set the conditions essential to the gradual improvement in our economy. Unemployment is low and falling.

Being a pro-growth president begins with a deep respect for the role of small business and entrepreneurship. Before coming to office, George Bush had the personal experience of trying to run a business, meet a payroll, face a bottom line, and deal with the frustration of excessive regulation and litigation. He has worked to remove obstacles impairing the formation and operation of small business. He pushed for additional expensing of investments, lower taxes on capital gains, caps on lawsuits, and changes in rigid overtime rules. President Bush understands that America needs more employers—more men and women willing to take a chance and try a new idea, risking failure in the hope of profit. He knows that in the absence of meaningful profits, risk-taking does not occur. President Bush’s across-the-board tax relief allows every American to keep more of what is earned and gives employers the means to grow their businesses. In a world of global markets, the excessive demands of labor unions and trial lawyers handicap our small businesses and destroy jobs. With the help of a larger majority in the U.S. Senate, President Bush is ready to curtail the abuses of the plaintiff’s trial bar. The selection of Senator Edwards as a running mate demonstrates that Senator Kerry remains squarely in the camp of multimillion dollar fees for trial lawyers and relentless classaction litigation.

The nominee of the Democratic party is once again offering America only the Robin Hood economic plan—rob the rich, feed the poor. Kerry assumes a zero-sum game, encourages the less successful to envy the more successful, and promises to use the democratic process to expropriate more of their earnings. Senator Kerry proposes an additional two trillion dollars in benefits and entitlements and points to tax increases on high-income Americans as the only funding source. As an accounting matter, the plan doesn’t compute. As strategy, it amounts to killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Our prosperity depends on the willingness of successful people to work hard, take risks, and hire new employees. We need more successes, not more entitlements.

Differences on domestic policy are large and important—President Bush has faith in equal opportunity; Senator Kerry has faith in the redistribution of income. These differences, however, pale in significance compared to their differing views on how to keep America safe in the coming years. In the absence of a secure homeland, economic prosperity is unachievable. President Bush is an idealistic realist. He knows peace is impossible without an unmistakable, consistent show of strength. He knows our enemies can never be appeased or accommodated in any way. He knows that to cut and run in the middle of a conflict encourages more, not less, aggression against us. Is anyone certain that John Kerry is certain of those truths? Kerry’s record in the Senate on military matters is the record of a Massachusetts liberal—deeply suspicious of the power of the military and routinely begrudging of the resources necessary to produce key weapons systems and a strong intelligence network. We cannot win a worldwide war on terror with a commander in chief who vacillates or equivocates or leaves any doubt about the American commitment to victory.

And this is a war we must win, against an enemy prepared to wage war on our soil against every civilian in America. For the sake of our children’s future, we should give George W. Bush four more years to bring peace and prosperity through consistency and strength.

Sue Rankin is a political consultant specializing in message development, strategy, and debate preparation for Republican candidates and officeholders.

Why John Kerry Should be Elected
by Larry D. Woods

Four years ago the election mantra was which candidate would you rather have a beer with, but in our post-9/11 world the vital question is which candidate would you rather share a foxhole with. Senator John Kerry volunteered for two tours of military duty in Vietnam, successfully prosecuted criminals in a career as an assistant district attorney, and in the U.S. Senate chaired the effective anti-terrorist investigation in the international BCCI inquiry (Bank of Credit and Commerce International). We have important choices to make about our safety, our jobs, our educational opportunities, our healthcare, and our hopes for the future in this November 2004 election.

In our information-superhighway world, it is increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction, substance from shadow, and the significant from the irrelevant, but almost every political poll for both major parties concludes that American voters in the presidential election are primarily interested in the issues of the economy, healthcare, education, the war on terror, homeland security, and the war in Iraq. The winning candidate must provide critical leadership for our nation and for the world on these issues. While recognizing that neither President George Bush nor Senator John Kerry will perform perfectly as President, voters must make a conscious decision whether Kerry or Bush will provide the necessary leadership.

Stronger Economy

Remember the Clinton days? One of the strongest economic booms in our history. Job growth, personal income, and profits set records for much of our nation, but in the past three years of the Bush administration our economy has lagged, recessed, and sputtered. As billionairesforbush.com would probably suggest, the Bush economy leaves no billionaire behind, with overseas tax breaks, sole-source multimillion dollar contracts, and tax cuts heavily weighted to the wealthy. We all want to be rich and know we will hit that winning lottery number soon, but meanwhile the economy requires sophisticated, steady maintenance and guidance that is sorely lacking in the Bush administration as it continues to juggle financial numbers and “revise” national economic data.

Stop the Job Loss

The Bush administration has failed the test of leadership in the fight against unemployment and its support for the catastrophic loss of American jobs overseas through corporate outsourcing. More than two million private jobs have disappeared in America due to our weak national economy during the Bush administration—the sorriest performance since President Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression. It matters not whether this historic record setting loss of jobs is due to the economic recession, the tragedy and shock of 9/11, the stock market instability, overseas outsourcing of jobs, corporate shenanigans like Enron, or Bush’s voodoo tax cuts (remember the President’s claim that his massive tax cuts would create millions of jobs?). What counts now is that America deserves a president who can solve problems and lead rather than blindly blaming his and our problems on everyone else.

The Grandchildren Tax

I like getting money sent to me in the mail. Who doesn’t? But that kind of tax cut money is not an economic policy—it is more like holiday gifts promised to young children. The parents who work (if they can find a job) to pay for those gifts understand there is a price to be paid. Bush’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum stating that after the November 2004 election, it would cut federal budget dollars for Head Start, Homeland Security, and nutrition programs. In the case of the Bush tax cuts, the price is an annual deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars instead of the record surplus of the Clinton years and a federal debt of almost five trillion dollars that our grandchildren will have to pay because we cannot pay it, and if we miraculously had the money to pay, Bush would just promise another tax cut. In fact, on March 25, 2004, the New York Times reported that the Republicans now support a new $100 billion tax cut for corporations. Personal bankruptcies and foreclosures are at record levels in America. Bush’s government finances are debts that we and our children and grandchildren will have to pay. Bush’s economic failure means that millions are out of work and therefore cannot afford healthcare, cannot afford education and job training, cannot adequately watch over their children and loved ones, and cannot live the American dream. Kerry would give everyone access to the healthcare plans available to members of Congress and reduce family insurance premiums by almost $1,000 per year.

Fuzzy Math—Bush Can’t Count

After three years of Bush’s fuzzy math, no one knows how much the war is costing or how fast the national debt will continue to increase. How much does the new Medicare prescription drug benefit cost? The $400 billion that Bush claimed? The $540 billion that Bush’s expert told Bush at the time it would cost? Some unknown number that we will hear about after the election in November? How much money does the Social Security Trust Fund need, and why does that number change with every shift in politics? How much funding does Bush need for No Child Left Behind, and why is it not in the budget? Why does Bush promise $15 billion for AIDS in Africa and then ask Congress for $200 million? How many weapons of mass destruction were there in Iraq? How much money are we spending in Iraq, and why won’t Bush include that Iraq money in his budget?

America deserves a president who can add and subtract and, if we are lucky, maybe perform long division, or at least a president who does not plot to win by dividing our nation. Unlike our governor, Bush does not appear to be able to read a spreadsheet or balance a budget. Bush admits that his proposal for Social Security private retirement accounts would increase the federal deficit every year for the next 15 years. The latest Bush math snafu is his attack ad on Kerry’s taxes, flip flops, and voting record. The Bush propaganda fails to admit that almost all of Kerry’s votes were in support of President Clinton’s 1993 deficit reduction package that produced the great Clinton economic boom, Senator John McCain’s legislation to increase cigarette taxes, and increased veteran benefits.

War Requires Strategy and Leadership

Bush has an attitude problem that hurts America. Bush continues to act as if the interests of corporate business are exactly the same as the concerns of individual Americans without even stopping to think about the difference. Bush continues to support the export of American jobs to China and other foreign nations when more than eight million Americans cannot find work and more than four million are so discouraged they have stopped looking for work. The Bush attitude is “you are out of work due to outsourcing jobs overseas, and that is good for the economy,” as stated by N. Gregory Mankiw, the chair of Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors, on February 12, 2004, and John Snow, Bush’s secretary of the treasury, on March 30, 2004. These guys just don’t get it. How does this affect our national security and the war on terror? Sending and selling our business assets to China, Pakistan (whose national spy agency helped create the Taliban), and other nations who do not have our best interests at heart or share American democratic values is shortsighted, dangerous, and counterproductive.

The War on Terror

Bush’s economic failure threatens our national security. How safe are we? Our government does not have enough money to hire the necessary first responders and police to protect us. Ask your local police chief and fire captain if they have the funding promised by Bush to buy the communications equipment they need to be able to talk directly to each other and to other first responders when a national emergency occurs in your community. Lack of funding has slowed Bush’s unsuccessful investigation of the anthrax attack on our nation’s leaders. Bush has cut back the number of federal air marshals. The Bush administration inspects less than 2 percent of all cargo containers shipped here from overseas. The only way we can maintain our present level of military force in Iraq is by forcing soldiers to extend their tours of duty because Bush cannot afford the cost of a larger military. America deserves a president with a clear sense of priorities.

Bush is obsessed with his political image when he should be obsessed with the war on terror. Bush admitted to Bob Woodward that he was not focused on al Qaeda before the tragedy and horror of 9/11. Richard Clarke, our chief counterterrorism leader for 10 years under Clinton and Bush, now says the same thing, and the White House focuses its attacks on Clarke instead of Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar or the Saudi charities that helped finance the 9/11 attacks. Bush wants to investigate Clarke but has failed to identify and prosecute his own senior staff members who conspired to out a secret CIA spy. The Washington Post reported on September 28, 2003, “two top White House officials called at least six journalists and disclosed the identity and occupation” of a CIA secret agent, Valerie Plame. Bush is obsessed with Iraq when he should be obsessed with the war on terror. His strategy failed to capture Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora in Afghanistan because he was focused on Iraq. Bush has now diverted most of our military focus to Iraq and away from Afghanistan even though Osama bin Laden and the leadership of al Qaeda hide in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The president of Egypt, who is on our side, predicted our invasion of Iraq and overthrow of the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein would create 100 new Osama bin Ladens and spread the terrorist theology of al Qaeda throughou the Middle East and south Asia. Bush cannot see the spreading forest of al Qaeda for the trees of Iraqi bombings, Iraqi oil, Iraqi religious fights, Iraqi newspapers that he wants closed, and private war profits that will be tax sheltered through offshore island, Benedict Arnold type incorporations the Bush administration has authorized.

The Kerry Solution

Will Kerry provide more effective leadership for our economy? Yes, through increased funding for job training to counter corporate layoffs and outsourcing, through targeted tax cuts for middle-class Americans and 98 percent of all businesses so they will spend that extra money and stimulate the economy, and through reducing the ove/rwhelming federal debt reignited under the Bush presidency. Kerry provides hope for progress through strengthening Social Security, supporting stem cell research funding, stopping the lax enforcement of clean air and clean water laws, and increasing funding for education. Will Kerry provide more effective leadership in the war on terror? Yes, through his program to free America from dangerous dependence on Mideast oil; through controlling the purchase and spread of nuclear weapons in North Korea, Iran, and other rogue nations; through strengthening our immigration control procedures; and through encouraging other countries to help in Iraq and thus reduce the number of American troops and the cost to our economy. In our post 9/11 world, Kerry’s actual combat experience, international strategy, and resolve will guide us.

Kerry volunteered for two tours of combat duty in Vietnam. Kerry put criminals in jail. Kerry expanded healthcare coverage. Kerry opposes the weakening of Social Security. In the U.S. Senate, Kerry led the fight against terrorism in the late 1980s by exposing the international BCCI conspiracy. John Kerry offers hope, true leadership, and a stronger America.

Larry D. Woods is a Nashville attorney who is active in state and national Democratic campaigns and serves as a senior strategist for Governor Phil Bredesen.