Comments: Anger Points
I agree with your concept of "anger points" and I think they have always played a large part in the campaigning for both parties. Republicans say "They're going to take away your guns!" while Democrats say "They're going to pollute your drinking water!" Republicans say "They're going to raise your taxes!" and Democrats say "They're going to take away your social security!"
Still, I don't think Bush claimed his victory by pushing the anger buttons particularly well. Kerry just spent too much time pushing the wrong buttons. Bush was the most beatable president in a long time, but Kerry was the wrong candidate with the wrong campaign at the wrong time. In the middle of a war did we really think the people would elect a war-protester to command the military?
So, instead of pushing the right "anger points", Kerry spent a ludicrous amount of time trying to look like a military leader, which just didn't ever ring true. Here's why: Remember the debate with the questions from the audience? Bush was asked an environmental question. He responded by talking about the Clean Skies initiative and said the waters were cleaner now than when he took office. Probably his most solidly delivered response of the evening, and exactly the way he should have answered it in a debate . . . but anyone who cares about environmental issues saw right through him and laughed. There's no way Bush could play himself as an environmentalist and convince anyone except those who wanted to be fooled.
Kerry did the same thing to himself on military matters. No matter how many times he trumpeted his purple hearts and Vietnam service, nobody could see him leading the military unless they were blinded by their hatred for Bush.
Bush didn't WIN the election. Kerry LOST it, and by putting his face at the front, the Dems lost more elections than just the White House.
I see great similarities to the way Gray Davis was horribly unpopular in California, but still managed to get re-elected because his opponent was just the wrong guy with a lousy campaign. Then right afterward, Schwarzenegger ran a decent campaign and California was delighted to finally have a good excuse to toss Davis out of Sacramento.
Posted by Wamba at January 11, 2005 03:26 PM
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