This year’s election, pitting Massachusetts’ native son, Democratic Sen. John Kerry, against President George W. Bush, may end up as close as 2000’s nail-biter.
After a divisive Democratic primary season, Kerry appears to have received the needed turn of events to weaken the president, unite his party and bolster his bid for the White House. At the same time, Bush has fortified his base of support by strengthening support for the war on terror and increasing defense spending.
Yet both Bush and Kerry are facing mini-scandals of their own, which are threatening to stall their respective campaigns.
Bush faced embarrassment as photos surfaced of U.S. troops mishandling and humiliating Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. As the scandal grew, Kerry pounced on the opportunity, slamming Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and calling for his resignation. But little did Kerry know he would soon be facing questions over his own military career.
In recent weeks, Kerry has faced a salvo of attacks from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a political action group that has attacked his military record in Vietnam. The group has aired the most controversial ad campaign of the summer, questioning Kerry’s Vietnam War record while branding him a cowardly lieutenant who exaggerated, and even lied, to win his medals.
Kerry’s campaign has retaliated by calling the Swift Boat Veterans a front for the Bush campaign even though the Bush-Cheney camp has tried to distance itself from the group by urging the veterans to stop running the ads.
As Bush and Kerry quarreled, the 9/11 commission’s final report was issued, exposing FBI and CIA intelligence failures. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld were left to explain the commissions assessment that Iraq and Al Qaeda had little or no collaborative relationship, let alone the still-missing weapons of mass destruction.
Even as Abu Ghraib and poor economic growth have helped Kerry politically, Bush has continued his outstanding fundraising efforts.
Incumbents have traditionally had a fundraising advantage because of their visibility prior to the election. Bush’s position has translated into record-breaking online contributions, as well as bank-busting Republican dinners, some capable of bringing in millions of dollars.
But Kerry has not yet lost the fundraising front, thanks partially to Democratic ally moveon.org. The so-called “527,” named for its tax-exempt status, is part of a new breed of political organizations that have eluded the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill’s ban on soft money. The group has raised upwards of $140 million and tried to rip apart the Bush through TV ads.
Staying somewhat outside the mudslinging, however, has been Kerry’s running mate, Sen. John Edwards (D-North Carolina). Edwards has added a youthful, energetic voice to the ticket, a stark contrast to Cheney’s gruff but seasoned demeanor.
The Kerry campaign hopes Edwards will garner votes in traditionally Republican Southern states, forcing the president to campaign in what was once his strongest base of support. Meanwhile, Bush has portrayed Edwards as inexperienced and unfit to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. Bush is also pushing north into Pennsylvania, hoping to take a chunk of the Mid-Atlantic from Kerry.
But Kerry has taken the brunt of the GOP’s criticism as the Bush campaign paints Kerry as indecisive and ill-prepared to lead America, particularly during wartime.
Kerry, on the other hand, has been feeding off instability in Iraq, urging a change in leadership to strengthen old alliances strained by Bush’s go-it-alone politics.
Even though the back-and-forth blame game of campaign 2004 appears to have no end, with the Republican National Convention finished, voters have only 60 days of mudslinging before heading to the polls on Nov. 2.