Monday, June 14, 2004
"John Kerry and Ralph Nader are glum and glummer"
Calvin Woodward: As John Kerry and Ralph Nader compete for votes in their common cause of beating President Bush, they risk coming across not just as agents of change, but as Glum and Glummer.
The America that John Kerry sees is weighted by millions of job losses, millions of people without health insurance, a "wage recession" for those who do have work, schools begging for money, exploding gas prices and "poisoned" alliances worldwide.
Then there's the America that Ralph Nader sees. It's in really bad shape.
He talks about foul air, impure food, 13 million hungry children, corporate domination, "mindless" SAT scores "controlling our definition of intelligence," kids who need love being put on antidepressants instead, corrupt political parties, a government that hasn't had a good idea in 30 years, and a president who acts like an "out-of-control, West Texas sheriff."
If this is morning in America, Americans may want to crawl back into bed.
Candidates risk 'glum' label for criticism
Ronald Reagan personified the upbeat, his vision of morning in America attractive even to many with a hard life.
"There's a difference between prudent optimism and ostrich optimism," said Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist. He credits Bush with confidence in his own abilities, "not an optimism that buries its head."
Nader attacks everything under the cancer-causing sun.
Asked Thursday whether he thought conditions are worse in the country than when he ran in 2000, "It's almost like time has stood still. Just add 9-11 and Iraq -- it's a society caught in a traffic jam."
Nader said enough people die as a result of having no health insurance that it's as if the country suffers six 9-11 terrorist attacks a year.
What is a corporation anyway?" he demanded. "It doesn't vote. It doesn't die in Iraq.... It dominates us. It's as if a robot emerges in our midst."
Third World countries? "We suck the minerals out of them. We brain drain them."
Bush-Cheney '04
PRESIDENT BUSH: "I'm optimistic about America because I believe in the people of America."
"1.4 million jobs added since August."
"John Kerry's response? He's talking about the Great Depression. One thing's sure… Pessimism never created a job."
Calvin Woodward: As John Kerry and Ralph Nader compete for votes in their common cause of beating President Bush, they risk coming across not just as agents of change, but as Glum and Glummer.
The America that John Kerry sees is weighted by millions of job losses, millions of people without health insurance, a "wage recession" for those who do have work, schools begging for money, exploding gas prices and "poisoned" alliances worldwide.
Then there's the America that Ralph Nader sees. It's in really bad shape.
He talks about foul air, impure food, 13 million hungry children, corporate domination, "mindless" SAT scores "controlling our definition of intelligence," kids who need love being put on antidepressants instead, corrupt political parties, a government that hasn't had a good idea in 30 years, and a president who acts like an "out-of-control, West Texas sheriff."
If this is morning in America, Americans may want to crawl back into bed.
Candidates risk 'glum' label for criticism
Ronald Reagan personified the upbeat, his vision of morning in America attractive even to many with a hard life.
"There's a difference between prudent optimism and ostrich optimism," said Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist. He credits Bush with confidence in his own abilities, "not an optimism that buries its head."
Nader attacks everything under the cancer-causing sun.
Asked Thursday whether he thought conditions are worse in the country than when he ran in 2000, "It's almost like time has stood still. Just add 9-11 and Iraq -- it's a society caught in a traffic jam."
Nader said enough people die as a result of having no health insurance that it's as if the country suffers six 9-11 terrorist attacks a year.
What is a corporation anyway?" he demanded. "It doesn't vote. It doesn't die in Iraq.... It dominates us. It's as if a robot emerges in our midst."
Third World countries? "We suck the minerals out of them. We brain drain them."
Bush-Cheney '04
PRESIDENT BUSH: "I'm optimistic about America because I believe in the people of America."
"1.4 million jobs added since August."
"John Kerry's response? He's talking about the Great Depression. One thing's sure… Pessimism never created a job."
