Novak writes Bush backers have cause for worry

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak04.html

Depression among Democrats had reached new depths when the presidential candidates faced off Thursday night at the University of Miami. An hour and a half later, they were elated that John Kerry's candidacy had been saved. But none of the Democratic candidate's shortcomings really had been corrected.

Rather, the rise in Democratic spirits can be attributed to George W. Bush's defects in the first presidential debate. His stylistic deficiencies as a candidate in 2000, it turns out, have not been remedied. He was anything but relentless in exploiting his opponent's multiple weaknesses.

The gap in performance here between President Bush and Sen. Kerry hardly seemed wide enough to reverse the popular tide that had been flowing in the president's direction. Nevertheless, it was enough to still the exuberant optimism in Republican ranks. With two more debates and a month to go before the election, Bush has serious problems to solve.

<snip>

By 10:30 p.m. Thursday, the mood had changed abruptly. It was Republicans across the country who were depressed and panicky.

Many presidential debates are won on image rather than substance, as shown by the triumphs of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Republican inner circles have been grumbling for months about Bush's reluctance to take questions even from his own supporters. On occasion, he has seemed bored and petulant. Those characteristics were on display before the nation last week here.

I'd love it if "snippy" got snippy with a voter Friday.

[Jack_Dawson]

1. Glad to see Novak is taking Vicodin

for his broken hip. It's putting some sense into him.

[Infomaniac]

9. I had the same thought.

Pain killers provoke clarity from even the most fundamental RW douche-bag on the planet. Ahhh! The power of modern chemistry.

[skypilot]

2. If there's any justice in the world...

...Novak should have some "cause for worry" of his own.

[skylarmae]

3. I wonder if Novak wrote this before or after the fall?

[aden_nak]

4. Corrected Shortcomings.

"But none of the Democratic candidate's shortcomings really had been corrected."

Actually, I've always disliked the way he spoke (come on, even amongst ourselves we can admit he was long-winded), the fact that he backed down too often on issues that were matters of simple logic, and the fact that he never threw the Iraq issue into Bush's hands. . . as if everything wrong with Iraq has been Kerry's fault.

Kerry dealt with all three of those things at the debate very well.

And on an unrelated note, why isn't Robert Novak staring into the eyes of a firing squad right now?

[Ishoutandscream]

5. No facts - Your candidate has the shortcomings, not ours

The media has been covering for Bush's shortcomings for too long. He couldn't hide them in front of 62 million viewers. No matter how hard they try, the media can't save Bush from this disaster.

[Cassandra]

6. Novak had better hope...

that he's indicted before Bush* leaves office. How would * pardon him otherwise?

[Dudley_DUright]

7. A president can pardon someone retroactively (or is it proactively?)

before they are even indicted, for example Ford's pardon of Nixon.

[Cassandra]

8. Are you sure?

I remember Ford's idiotic pardon of Nixon, but has any other president ever pardoned anyone who hadn't been indicted. I hope not because * would then pardon the entire administration, including himself.