May 11, 2004

Rebel Yell

John Kerry is a roughhewn sort of guy. The kind of guy who wears flannel shirts and spits his chewing tobacco into a styrofoam coffee cup. Here's how Mr. Kerry says it,

"Have you had a beer with me yet? I like to have fun as much as the next person, and go out and hack around and have a good time."
And you better not mess with his woman. Mess with her and you're messin' with him,
"If they want to attack her, they're going to have to go through me. I'll be the first to defend anything she does. ... She doesn't pull her punches"

The Kerry's are just commoners like us. One imagines spending a night with them at their doublewide, sitting around the kitchen table playing poker, beer cans strewn all over the floor. Heck, they might even show you their tatoos.

The rest of the story is here.

Posted by jdmays at May 11, 2004 08:47 PM | TrackBack
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Comments

Don't fall off your 40-year-old rocker, JDM, but I agree with your analysis here.

However, I also believe that readers can replace the name KERRY with that of any other elected official in Washington and not notice the difference. Try it ... let's see, DURBIN, KOHL, FITZGERALD, GRASSLEY ... gosh, even BUSH seems to fit.

But, of course, George W. would rather split a (root)beer with us instead of a Bud. And, that is OK, at least with this voter.

The point is that every elected official wants voters to believe he/she (the elected official) would fit in at our cookouts. Personally, I don't allow weiners (or any other hot dog!) at my cookouts.

And, at the same time, I and many other voters expect an elected official to be "top grade" so to speak.

One more thing. Can anyone name an elected male official (in Washington) who has not had to defend his spouse from criticism, whether that criticism be from the press or the public? It's all part of the game of politics.

Posted by: Sarah at May 11, 2004 09:26 PM

You're right. We want our politicians to be approachable and "regular guys" but at the same time we want them to be super-geniuses.
Both Bush and Kerry are children of privilege but Bush comes across as being much more genuine on a personal level. Like Bill Clinton, I've seen members of the press almost universally describe him as a very likable guy.
On the other hand, I've seen even avid supporters of John Kerry admit that he's not a real charmer on a personal level.
Stories about Bush like this one:
http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/000613.html
Seem to be pretty common.

Posted by: JD Mays at May 12, 2004 06:27 PM