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October 25, 2006 | South Carolina Headlines

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Kerry's October Surprise: Be Like Bush
Jimmy Moore
October 25, 2004

For months now, we have been told to beware of the ominous "October surprise." For all the hand-wringing done on both sides, this mysterious zinger by one or both of the candidates is supposed to be a last-minute effort to make an impact on the presidential election.

Well, the October surprise for Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry has finally arrived. Kerry's strategy is to mimic the personal traits and characteristics of President George W. Bush in these final days as much as possible.

Liberals will quickly scoff at this suggestion by labeling it as absurd. But they need to look no further than one of their own, former President Bill Clinton, to see a precedence for this.

After all, it was Clinton who co-opted just about every conservative Republican issue known to man when he ran for president in both 1992 and 1996. In an election year, Clinton often touted these policies as his own although he never had any intention of getting any of them passed. His goal was just to get elected.

And the same can be said of Kerry. However, instead of adopting the policies of President Bush and the Republicans, Kerry has instead decided he needs to start acting more like the man who Americans believe is more likable and real in the race for president, none other than George W. Bush. It's an arduous task for a man such as Kerry, but he's trying really hard heading into November 2.

Last week's infamous goose hunting expedition in Ohio was just the beginning of Kerry trying to be like Bush. Everyone knows that was nothing more than a cheap publicity shot in what is arguably the biggest swing state for both candidates.

Is it me or am I the only one who saw that picture of Kerry wearing the camouflage hunting outfit and immediately thought of Massachusetts Democrat Michael Dukakis sticking his head out of the tank with a helmet on as he did in a publicity shot during the 1988 presidential campaign?

That picture of Kerry walking in a brand new jacket with a rifle in hand while all of his fellow hunters were carrying dead geese was just about as disingenuous as you can get for a photo op.

I can hear the conversation between Kerry and his adviser now...

"Okay, Sen. Kerry, it's time to put on the camouflage gear and march in front of the cameras to show you support the 2nd Amendment," the adviser would say.

"This thing is so uncomfortable, do they make it out of cashmere?" Kerry would respond.

"No sir. You'll only have to wear it just long enough to fool the voters in Ohio and the rest of the country that you care about them owning guns."

"But, I don't care about them owning guns. I want to ban them from being able to own a gun to protect their families."

"Yes, I know, sir, but you know that won't get you elected when the president is so beloved by gun owners and is endorsed by the National Rifle Association."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I'll carry a rifle, but I will not be touching one of those disgusting geese! You're not gonna make me carry..."

"Okay, sir, you won't have to carry a goose. We'll have someone else carry the one that 'you killed.' But you'll have to carry the rifle and act like you've done this before."

"Do you think people will believe it when I tell 'em I'm a hunter."

"I sure hope so, sir."

And so the transformation from John "Who Wants To Marry A Billionaire" Kerry to John "I'm An Avid Hunter" Kerry has begun.

Former Clinton White House press secretary and Kerry adviser Mike McCurry attempted to explain the purpose of Kerry's goose hunting trip and was surprisingly honest.

"What we're trying to do in all of these speeches is follow the frame that you've been hearing in over the last several days, that there is hope for the middle class if you can look at John Kerry as the guy who's going to fight for you," McCurry told reporters last week following Goosegate. "We have got to press as hard as we can in this coming week to define that choice."

And part of that is to make Kerry look as much like Bush the man as possible, McCurry said, explaining that Kerry has a "personal dimension" that can overcome his "likability" issues.

"We want people to have a better sense of John Kerry the guy," McCurry revealed, stating that Kerry has to prove he can relate with the common man, something the president has never had to work hard at doing because it comes so natural to him.

In fact, President Bush had a little fun at Kerry's expense in a campaign speech late last week when he said, Kerry "can even run in camo -- but he cannot hide."

And Vice President Dick Cheney said Kerry's hunting trip was "part of an effort he is making to hide the fact that he votes against gun owners' rights at every turn" but added that "this cover-up isn't going to work because you and I know the Second Amendment is more than a photo opportunity."

As if Goosegate weren't bad enough for Kerry trying to be like Bush, then he turns around on Sunday and starts quoting Scripture and touting his faith, something the president has received much grief from the mainstream media about since even before his presidency began.

Although Kerry is a Roman Catholic, he has been reluctant on the campaign trail over the past year to talk about his faith in the context of how it shapes his public policy decisions.

And yet we saw a small glimpse of the Massachusetts senator in the third debate trying to be like Bush by speaking more openly about his faith in God, despite telling Democrats at the convention in Boston in July that he won't "wear my own faith on my sleeve."

Why then would Kerry suddenly change his tune just days before the election to start talking about his faith? The answer is simple. He wants to be like Bush who has never been ashamed to proclaim that he is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings and prays to him for strength and wisdom for every decision he makes.

But Kerry's facade about his faith is so transparent to anyone who looks at his core values and beliefs.

As a strong supporter of pro-abortion groups such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood, Kerry has taken the side of babies dying for the sake of convenience, which is what over 95 percent of abortions are for. These radical leftists groups have literally poured millions of dollars into the Kerry campaign to get him elected because they are so afraid Bush is going to take away their precious right to killing babies through the Supreme Court.

Yet Kerry now says his faith guides his decisions just like Bush. Is the killing of innocent babies what God would have a man of faith in Him support? Not hardly.

Kerry has already promised that he would not even consider voting for a pro-life judge to the federal courts. But you won't hear the Democratic presidential nominee talk about that during these last few days of the election because he's trying to be like Bush.

In addition to abortion, Kerry's failure to support a constitutional amendment declaring marriage as between a man and a woman has already cost him a large portion of the black vote, a constituency that has traditionally given whoever the Democrat candidate is a huge advantage on election day. Recent polls show Bush is expected to get 18 percent of the black vote on election, which is more than double the 8 percent he received in 2000.

That's why you won't hear Kerry talking about traditional marriage in these final days either. He'll talk about his faith in, of all places, black churches, as he did on Sunday. But he will not tell the truth about what he really believes because he's trying to be like Bush.

Furthermore, although he is a Catholic, Kerry's support among the group is just 42 percent compared with 49 percent for Bush, according to a recent Pew institute poll. Democrats have scrambled to try and turn this tide by creating a web site in September called KerrySharesOurValues.org, touting the faith of the Democratic ticket in yet another attempt to be like Bush.

When he was asked directly about his faith during the third debate, Bush said he was a man who prayed a lot.

"And my faith is a very -- it's very personal. I pray for strength. I pray for wisdom. I pray for our troops in harm's way. I pray for my family. I pray for my little girls," Bush stated in response.

While Bush has made prayer and his faith in God an active part of his daily life since long before he was elected president, Kerry is now hoping that talking about his own faith for just a few more days will give him the keys to the White House. But it's gonna take a lot more than talk for Kerry to be like Bush in this manner.

If this is Kerry's "October surprise," then I'm believe he's gonna meet a "November demise." You gotta love it!




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Comments


Jimmy, seriously, do you ever get anything right? First of all, it's Bush who's trying to emulate Kerry. Remember the photo op of Bush's that backfired? Remember when he landed on the aircraft carrier in a flight suit that he hadn't worn since he went AWOL from the National Guard and declared "Mission Accomplished." Seems like he was trying to be like the war hero that Kerry truly was in spite of the swift boat liars claims. . . .

Read the rest.





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