The President did not personally take too many tough swings at Kerry, preferring to stab him with a few pointed barbs. Bush has always been effective at going after his opponents without seeming mean. He chuckled as he portrayed Kerry as a flip-flopper who cannot be trusted, as if to share some private joke with his audience about politicians and how dishonest they are. He let other speakers do the harder work. Zell Miller, the retiring Democratic Senator from Georgia, got to mount the most vicious attacks because hes a member of Kerrys own party. Miller spent 20 minutes accusing Kerry of systematically weakening the U.S. military, nearly saying the Democratic nominee was a servant of the Soviets and al-Qaeda. And General Tommy Franks accused some of wanting the U.S. to stop fighting the terrorists and hope they didnt strike again.
By the night of Bushs speech, Democrats had to be asking why they had worked so hard at their own convention to limit Bush bashing. By pounding their theme repeatedly, the Republicans neutralized any advantage Kerry gained in Boston with the stories of his Vietnam service and the endorsements of generals and admirals. By the time Bush entered the arena Thursday, it was hard to remember what the upbeat message of the Democratic convention was.
Bushs speech dragged in the early parts, which he devoted to laying out his domestic agenda for a second-term. Many of the ideas were unfinished or expanded items from the first term — adding individual retirement accounts to social security, stopping frivolous lawsuits. And Bushs new ideas were rather short on details. He touted reforming the tax code, but his detailed agenda book on his Website only says: President Bush will work with Congress to make the tax code simpler for taxpayers.
No matter. The President has proven in the last two weeks while Kerry struggled and Bush regained momentum that he can win with national security alone. Once again, the President laid out his response to 9/11 and his reasons for invading Iraq. He stuck to his guns on that, not repeating any of his recent admissions that there had been miscalculations in planning for the war and post-war transition.
Bushs speech worked because he stressed what Americans have always liked about him, his straightforward attitude, his self-deprecating humor and his resolve. But Bush also left himself vulnerable. He clung to his insistence that both Iraq and the economy were improving, and all the country needed to do now was stick to the course. The slowly growing job numbers and the relative quiet in Iraq after weeks of fighting in Najaf support that for now. But if the situation on either front deteriorates — which is quite possible between now and Election Day — Kerry will be able to turn the tables and call Bushs resolve nothing but stubborn bullheadedness. For now, though, Bush has regained momentum when he most needed it, and he knows his battle plan between now and November.