It gets worse. According to Kathryn-Jean Lopez of National Review, this morning on Good Morning America, John Kerry blamed his “I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it” gaffe on being tired at the end of a long day campaigning. But the record shows he said it at a noontime gathering. Trivial, I know. But if you’re a Democrat, this kind of stuff must drive you up the wall. I do think Kerry needs to pummel Bush Thursday night on Iraq; but I also fear that Kerry’s sheer awfulness as a candidate may do him in. I mean, Al Gore is more likable. Last time around, after just a few minutes of the first Bush-Gore debate, I turned to a friend and said that Bush had won. However well Kerry does on points, I have a feeling the same may be true Thursday night.
THE PRESS AS ENABLERS: Did NYT reporters tip off an Islamic “charity”? This story makes Mary Mapes seem positively above board. But the Times disputes it.
A GOP GAFFE: Here’s a story that reveals something. In the South Carolina Senate primary, a top aide to the Republican candidate, Jim Demint, sent out an email by mistake:
Lisa Hall, chairwoman of the Central Savannah River Area Rainbow Alliance, which works to raise awareness of gay and lesbian issues, in July invited both Senate campaigns to an Oct. 7 town hall meeting to discuss issues of interest to gay voters. Democratic nominee Inez Tenenbaum promptly promised to send a representative, but after receiving no reply from the DeMint campaign, Hall sent a follow-up e-mail Monday. Allen, apparently thinking she was forwarding the e-mail to someone inside the campaign, inadvertently replied to Hall. “Come on, fag, give this dike a reply,” Allen wrote.
Allen will merely be reprimanded. She wrote that email expecting this kind of joke to be understood and accepted within the campaign structure. Now ask yourself: if a top aide had written an email that contained the words “ni**er” or “k*ke” or “sp*c,” what would the consequences be?
EMAIL OF THE DAY: “Blair was eloquent, yes. And Iraq is indeed a key front–now–mainly because it is where we happen to have our troops. But it is plain that the battle should not have been carried to that front when it was, and we will be less safe in the years to come as a result. Blair’s eloquence can’t hide the evidence that Bush was intent before 9/11 on hitting Iraq at the earliest opportunity, and it is this that fuels the suspicions of an unwise diversion from the task at hand. Please, let’s not boil the issue down to who can most impressively stick out his chest and issue the most persuasive histrionics about “resolve.” This position reminds me of where Hannah Arendt quotes Rene Char about what he missed from his days in the Resistance–“the clarity”–except that now we have people rushing for the soothing balm of clarity–and falling in behind a leader who is drunk on it–when it is unwarranted by the complicated situation in front of us.”
The Dish 