Re: Local viewers give win to Bush.

Dear Ithaca Journal,

As a Democrat, I would like to chastise strongly Larry and Nathan Shinagawa for their remarks on John Kerry’s debate performance. Perhaps they were not watching the same coverage as myself, the majority of Gallup respondents, or news organizations from the most liberal blogs to Fox News. The evidence is clear that Kerry won the debate, and for two self-avowed Democrats to concede otherwise is to show a dangerous lack of confidence at a time when the party needs all the momentum it can get.

Their remarks smack of the most repugnant type of liberal elitism. In the end, being right for America cannot be the goal of the Democratic Party. Doing right for America must be. Pretending falsely that John Kerry is our party’s sacrificial lamb will win you points at the Democratic pity party, but it will not change the direction of this country, and the stakes are simply too high to make that mistake.

Opinions about Bush aside, one thing is clear in this election cycle. The Republican Party does an excellent job of appearing confident in its candidate, and Bush, for all his mistakes on Thursday night, is trying very hard to stand on that appearance of confidence. Until we can learn to be confident in our candidate, the Democratic Party will never wield the agenda control that the Republicans now enjoy. That can only hurt America.

Lee Tucker

Gotta love high quality local journalism. Look for my letter in Monday’s paper.

Posted on October 1st, 2004 by Lee
Tagged: Politics