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Charles Jaco has written opinion and commentary pieces for dozens of
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Editorial 09/29/00
THE HUNT FOR UN-READ
OCTOBER
Not Paying Attention? Then the Candidates Want You!
About half of the
eligible voters in this country intend to vote. The other half still
aren't reading, listening, or watching the campaign. They may vote.
They probably won't. It's playoff time, with Gore and Bush dead even
in the standings. Now, they'll turn up the noise and bring in the funk,
trying to grab the attention of the non-voting half. A few votes can
make all the difference, so here's what to expect in the next five weeks:
It's Still
the Economy, Stupid.
In the end, people will vote their wallets, pay envelopes, and option
certificates.
Gore's the incumbent once removed, so he'll be hurt the most if the
market keeps wiggling downward and oil prices stay up. That's why the
shameless pander gambit by having the Prez release 36 hours worth of
oil consumption from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
But the economy also includes Social Security, Medicare, and the Federal
budget. Boomers are approaching geezerhood. For the first time, they
can see the Grim Reaper, a speck in the distance, practicing his sickle
stroke. They want to keep those benefits they'll be sucking up in a
few years. Bush's partial privatization plan for S.S. doesn't thrill
them as much as it does younger workers.
That's why some of them are thinking about the budget surplus. W's $1.3
trillion tax cut isn't playing as well as the GOP thought. Most voters
seem to agree with the Republicans in Congress, who want 90 per-cent
of the surplus to go toward paying off the national debt.
The Last One
to Screw Up Loses.
Most of us have already made up our minds. But Zogby claims six per-cent
are Honest-to-God undecideds, while another 20 per-cent or so are squishy
soft, moving back and forth. Add that to the half of potential voters
who don't give a rat's keister yet, and you've got an astonishingly
large number of people who can be swayed at the last minute.
So the unexpected bonehead move will make all the diff. Let's use a
GOP spokesman in Missouri as an example. He blathered on a website that
the Democrats were using the female Democratic state auditor like "...a
cheap hooker." Anyone on the national stage who says anything even
remotely that moronic in the next few weeks loses.
Which Means the
Debates Matter.
You betcha. Especially the last town hall forum-type encounter on
October 17. By that time, even the dimmest bulbs in the electoral circuit
will realize there's an election coming up. If Gore claims his mother-in-law's
dog invented e-mail, or if Bush can't pronounce "Montana,"
more people will notice than they do now.
Education is
Spelled F-E-A-R
Polls show most of us pick education as the number one issue. Why does
it matter in a Presidential race, since education success or failure
is at the local and state level? Easy. We're scared. Schools are filled
with too few Bill Gates's or Sally Rides and too many Emenims or Latrell
Sprewells. The corporate everythings-for-sale culture has made too many
kids cynical, bored, and violent. People worried about education are
actually worried about a culture that resembles a toxic waste dump.
The advantage here goes to Bush so far.
Do You Want This
Guy on the World Stage?
Image matters most coming down to the wire. Al Gore's known for burying
himself in CIA Briefing Books before National Security Council meetings.
He knows details, but then, so did Jimmy Carter. George W.'s missteps
open him up to comparisons with Dan Quayle, but Ronald Reagan might
be more apt.
The smartest guys are the ones who surround themselves with even smarter
guys. Prople want to see how cool these guys are under fire. A shifty
look, a sweaty lip, a nasty response--any of them might be enough to
swing millions of potential votes.
The Horserace
Part
Yeah, yeah, we media scum pay too much attention to the horse race and
not enough to the issues. But a close race, like the plague, leads to
cries of "Bring out the dead". In this case, the voting dead,
but in 1960, it was the real thing as Chicago's Richard J. Daley brought
forth the residents of Graceland Cemetery
to vote early and often, swinging victory to JFK, but barely. In 1976,
final polls showed Gerald Ford with a slight lead, which angered the
Nixon-haters so much that they propelled Jimmy Carter into office. Last-minute
polls showing Bush or Gore ahead will push people who can't stand the
front-runner into the voting booths.
But then again,
I could be wrong.
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