OHIO: Akron Beacon Journal -- Kerry for President

[NEOBuckeye]

Not terribly big news coming from this solidly Democratic town, but it does state the obvious, which a few more people may need to see.

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In recent years, the 1980 triumph of Ronald Reagan has proved the most significant, the conservative movement ascending to the White House and reshaping the national debate. Where does Bush vs. Kerry rank? This is the first presidential election since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the country having launched a unique and necessary war against the likes of Osama bin Laden. That battle alone doesn't translate into a watershed election. What gives this contest resonance (short of historic yet hardly the ho-hum of, say, Bill Clinton vs. Bob Dole) is the misplaced ambition of the incumbent.

George W. Bush has embarked on paths both at home and abroad that depart radically from the concept of sound stewardship.

A president should aim to leave the country better prepared for the challenges ahead. Ronald Reagan did so through his handling of the Soviet Union and his alerting Americans to think more clearly about the role of government. Bill Clinton embraced the test of globalization and rid the country of chronic budget deficits (with the help Congress and George Bush the elder). Bush the younger has presided over the squandering of the budget surplus. He has so poorly managed the war against terrorism that the unity of that ghastly day has virtually evaporated, the country neglecting alliances nurtured over generations, largely going alone in a fight that requires a corresponding network of countries to subdue a far-flung organization of killers.

John Kerry has shown a capacity to grow as a candidate and as a leader the past year (suggesting the value of a prolonged presidential race). That growth was particularly evident during the recent debates. He became more confident and comfortable. He began to define clearly critical differences with the president, and of all the distinctions drawn, the most telling involve those issues on which the president has failed profoundly, the fiscal health of the country and the conduct of the country abroad.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/editorial/9935543.htm">The Akron Beacon Journal