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Jewish World Review Oct. 30, 2000 / 1 Mar-Cheshvan, 5761

David Limbaugh

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Consumer Reports


George: Give Gore the ball back


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- GEORGE BUSH has been baiting Bill Clinton to inject himself into the presidential race, knowing that Clinton's heightened visibility will damage Gore. Polls bear this out. I have a better idea. Bush should encourage Gore to make himself more visible. That would hurt Gore even more.

Why? Because the dirty little secret of the Gore campaign is that it has finally discovered that most voters don't much like Al Gore, especially when he's in attack mode. So his handlers are doing everything they can to keep him in the closet. To have any chance of winning they have to keep the focus on Bush; keep the ball in his possession. How do they do that?

First, they minimize Gore's chances to extemporize -- when he's left to his own devices and without a script, more likely than not he'll descend into embellishment, fabrication and prevarication. Even though the media is not likely to call him on his lies this late in the game, his campaign quarterbacks don't want to take unnecessary chances.

Next, they focus on Bush's record in Texas through "independent" groups who can plausibly deny their connection to Gore. With this strategy, Gore's campaign tries for two separate twofers. Let me explain.

By assigning surrogates the task of undercutting Bush's record and his proposals, they simultaneously 1) minimize Gore's personal negatives and 2) foster the perception that truly objective sources are criticizing Bush's record and policies. We see less negative Gore and more negative Bush.

What about these "independent" surrogates? Are we to believe that the Rand Corporation just happened to reverse itself on Bush's Texas education record two weeks before the election? Are we to believe that Hillary's friend, Dr. Irwin Redlener, is acting in his professional capacity when he writes in the New York Post that Bush's Texas record has been harmful to children's health and education? (Redlener is the New York pediatrician who, without ever having met Elian Gonzalez, concluded that his Miami relatives were abusive to him.)

By attacking Bush's Texas record, they simultaneously undermine 1) Bush's record and 2) his credibility, by implying that he has been distorting his record to make himself look better.

Before you start to feel sorry for Gore because he is the most unlikable presidential candidate since Richard Nixon, remember that the feeling's mutual. He apparently doesn't like voters either.

Gore, like many of his media cheerleaders, has contempt for the average person he holds himself out as championing. If he liked, respected and trusted people would he constantly lie to them about his record and that of Gov. Bush? Didn't the media assure us that Gore's issues were overwhelmingly popular with the American people? If so, then why can't he come clean on his and Bush's respective positions on taxes, guns, Social Security, prescription drugs, Medicare, education, charter schools, partial-birth abortion, the death penalty, health care and energy?

Gore's press colleagues are every bit as disdainful of Bush and the average voter. Salon's Tod Gitlin writes, "Bush gives ample evidence that he does not reason." The International Herald Tribune's Hope Keller says that Bush is unfit to be president. The New Republic's Martin Peretz asks, "Doesn't a man who asks for public power and public trust have a moral obligation to be intelligent about public issues?" The arrogance drips from their pens.

In the minds of Gore and the media elite, George W. Bush, like Ronald Reagan, is a simpleton -- and so are people who are inclined to vote for him. In their view, Bush is an imbecile, not because he isn't eloquent, but because he's conservative. Smart people, with the possible exceptions of Bill Buckley, George Will and Rush Limbaugh, are not conservative.

A public that would elect such dimwits as Bush and Reagan is not to be trusted with all the facts. That's why they tell us only what they think we can handle. That's why Hillary directed her health care task force to meet in private in violation of sunshine laws. That's why Al Gore made a secret, illegal deal with Russia to allow her to sell weapons to Iran.

I believe the wisest course for the Bush campaign is to throw an interception to get the ball back in Gore's hands and let him run it in reverse. Neither he nor his issues can stand the light of day.



JWR contributor David Limbaugh is an attorney practicing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and a political analyst and commentator. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

WND

Up

10/25/00: Mr. Gore: A few more questions
10/23/00: It's the big government, stupid
10/18/00: Gore's down, so will he panic?
10/16/00: We're fresh out of new Al Gores
10/11/00: Gore: Fuzzy math = dirty politics
10/10/00:Gore: Renaissance man or unbalanced?
10/04/00: Where have you been, Albert Jr.?
10/02/00: Clinton’s fragmented presidency
09/27/00: Liberal media doth protest too much
09/25/00: AlGore: Turning dreams into nightmares
09/20/00: Something fishy's going on
09/18/00: It's the liberalism, stupid
09/13/00: An open letter to open-minded cynics
09/11/00: The virtues of going negative
09/06/00: On a mission for marriage
09/04/00: Al Gore's 'Trivial Pursuits'
08/30/00: Lieberman and the paradox of liberal 'tolerance'
08/28/00: A campaign divided against itself
08/23/00: Al Gore's trickle-down populism
08/21/00: Prosperity without a clue
08/16/00: AlGore can run but he can't hide
08/14/00: When hate speech is OK
08/09/00: Bush: The pundits' enigma
08/07/00: GOP convention: Live or Memorex?
08/02/00: The first attack dog
07/31/00: The Cheney taint?
07/26/00: The anti-gun bogeyman
07/24/00: The raging culture war
07/19/00: Is Hillary 'Good for the Jews'?
07/17/00: How dare you, George?
07/12/00: Jacoby's raw deal
07/10/00: The perplexities of liberalism
07/05/00: Big Al and big oil
07/03/00: Partial-birth and total death
06/28/00: Some questions for you, Mr. Gore
06/26/00: Supreme Court assaults religious freedom
06/21/00: Waco: We are the jury
06/19/00: "Outrage" just doesn't quite cut it anymore!
06/14/00: Al Gore: Government's best friend
06/12/00: Say goodbye to medical privacy
06/07/00: Elian: Whose hands were tied?
06/05/00: Who, which, what is the real Al Gore?
06/01/00: Legacy-building idea for Clinton
05/30/00: Clinton: Above the law or not?
05/24/00: Not so fast, Hillary
05/22/00: Gore's risky, fear-mongering schemes
05/17/00: Can Bush risk pro-choice running mate?
05/15/00: Right to privacy, Clinton-style
05/10/00: Patrick Kennedy and his suit-happy fiddlers
05/08/00: Don't shoot Eddie Eagle
05/03/00: Congress caves to Clinton, again?
05/01/00: The resurrection of outrage
04/28/00: A picture of Bill Clinton's America
04/19/00: President Clinton: Teaching children responsibility
04/17/00: Elian, Marx and parental rights
04/12/00: Elian, freedom deserve a hearing
04/10/00:The fraying of America
04/05/00: Noonan: End Clintonism now
04/03/00: Bush: On going for the gold
03/29/00: Phantasma-Gore-ia
03/27/00: Treaties, triggers, tobacco and tyrants
03/22/00: Media to Bush: Go left, young man
03/20/00: Stop the insanity
03/15/00: OK Al Gore: Let's go negative
03/13/00: Deifying of the center
03/08/00: The media, the establishment and the people
03/01/00: McCain's coalition-busting daggers in GOP's heart
02/28/00: Bush's silver lining in McMichigan
02/24/00: A conservative firewall, after all
02/22/00: Bush or four more of Clinton-Gore?
02/16/00: Substance trumps process
02/14/00: The campaign finance reform mirage
02/09/00: President McCain: End of the GOP as we know it?
02/07/00: From New Hampshire to South Carolina
02/02/00: SDI must fly
01/31/00: Veep gores Bradley
01/26/00: The issues gap
01/24/00: GOP: Exit, stage left
01/20/00: Nationalizing congressional elections
01/18/00: Do voters really prefer straight talk?
01/12/00: Media's McCain efforts may backfire
01/10/00: Conservative racism myth
01/05/00: Just one more year of Clintonian politics
01/03/00: McMedia?
12/27/99: Al Gore: Bullish on government
12/22/99: Bradley's full-court press
12/20/99: Bush: Rendering unto Caesar
12/15/99: Beltway media bias
12/13/99: White House ambulance chasing
12/08/99: Clinton's labor pains
12/06/99:The lust for power
12/01/99: In defense of liberty
11/29/99: Are Republicans obsolete?
11/24/99: Say you're sorry, Mr. President
11/22/99: Architects of victory
11/17/99: Trump's tax on freedom
11/15/99: GOP caves again
11/10/99: Triangulation and 'The Third Way'
11/08/99: Sticks and stones
11/03/99: Keyes vs. media lapdogs
11/01/99: Signs of the times
10/27/99: The false charge of isolationism
10/25/99: A matter of freedom
10/20/99: Clinton's mini-meltdown
10/18/99: Senate GOP shows statesmanship
10/13/99: Senate must reject nuclear treaty
10/11/99: Bush bites feeding hand
10/06/99: Jesse accidentally opens door for Pat
10/04/99: Clinton and his media enablers
09/29/99: Reagan: Big-tent conservatism
09/27/99: The Clinton/Gore taint?
09/22/99: Have gun (tragedy), will travel
09/20/99: Hillary's blunders and bloopers
09/15/99: GOP must remain conservative
09/13/99:Time for Bush to take charge, please
09/10/99: Bush's education plan: Dubya confounds again
09/07/99: Pat, savior or spoiler?
09/02/99: Character doesn't matter?
08/30/99: Should we judge?
08/25/99: Dubyah's drug question: Not a hill to die on
08/23/99: Should Dubyah start buying soap ... for all that mud?
08/16/99: 'W' stands for 'winner'
08/11/99: The truth about tax cuts
08/09/99: Hillary: Threading the needle
08/04/99: What would you do?
08/02/99: No appeasement for China
07/30/99: Hate Crimes Bill: Cynical Symbolism
07/26/99: It’s the 'moderates', stupid
07/21/99: JFK Jr. and Diana: the pain of privilege
07/19/99: Smith, Bush and the GOP
07/14/99: GOP must be a party of ideas
07/12/99: Gore's gender gap
07/08/99: Clinton’s faustian bargain: our justice
07/06/99: The key to Bush's $36 million
06/30/99: Gore: a soda in every fountain
06/28/99: 'Sacred wall' or religious barrier?
06/23/99: GOP must lead in foreign policy
06/21/99: Crumbs of compassion
06/16/99: Compassionate conservatism: face-lift or body transplant?
06/10/99: Victory in Kosovo? Now What?

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