Nov. 1, 2006 - There’s no fight like an old fight. And this week’s emotional exchanges between President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry were nothing if not old. Kerry screwed up what he called a “botched joke” about Bush’s brainpower when it comes to Iraq; Bush pounced by challenging his ex-rival’s commitment to the troops.
Memo to Bush and Kerry: neither of you are on the ballot next week. And while it may be satisfying to rehash the last election, you both run the risk of looking totally out of touch.
The risks for President Bush are greater than they are for Senator Kerry, who may have suffered the deep embarrassment of falling into a familiar self-made trap. But he leads nothing inside his party, sets no strategy and the Democrats can easily disown him—as several candidates have done by canceling events with him this week.
President Bush, on the other hand, enjoys no such luxuries. In fact, the concerted attack on Kerry—complete with White House and Republican National Committee press releases—threatens to undermine a central premise of the party’s strategy. For months on the campaign trail, GOP candidates have insisted the election isn’t a referendum on Bush or national politics; it’s a choice between two local contenders. The president may have diverted attention back onto Democrats, but he also turned the focus back on himself and the war.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15512649/site/newsweek/
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