Is it all over? Is the double-digit lead George Bush attained after the Republican convention the beginning of the end? Is the American majority really going to re-elect one of the worst presidents in U.S. history because he seems more like someone they’d like to share a beer with?
I don’t want to believe that Americans are that short-sighted, superficial and afraid of John Kerry’s perceived intellectual aloofness. I don’t want to believe we are, for the most part, “that stupid.” But maybe I’ve been foolishly optimistic to think we could really vote George Bush out of a second term. Maybe I’ve been totally unplugged from reality to think John Kerry or anyone else could convince a majority that he would do a better job as president. Maybe I have underestimated the average American’s distrust of big words and patrician oratory.
Oh, god, I’m supposed to canvass in Wisconsin next weekend. I’ve volunteered to go door-to-door and talk to swing voters about John Kerry. How am I supposed to do that when my political morale is in the toilet?
It’s all over, isn’t it? Even though they said no president had ever recovered from approval ratings as bad as Bush’s were in May, so close to an election. Even though they said no president in our history had ever been re-elected for a second term who had the kind of approval ratings that G.W. had last spring.
Is it time to start preparing myself for the worst? Does anyone out there still think Kerry can beat Bush in November?