Friday, March 12, 2004
Mohammed Horton
BushCo just went negative already with a series of ads attacking Kerry, shockingly admitting the weakness of their current position. Usually incumbent presidents campaigning for reelection coast along above the fray acting presidential until well into the summer but, I guess, such a strategy doesn't fly when you're 5 to 10 points down in the polls.
An ad called "Forward" features voice-over narration by Bush repeating the "dangerous illusion" catch-phrase that I think made its first appearance in Bush's not particularly well-received state of the union speech a few months ago.
Another spot, "100 Days", is a Willie Horton-esque attempt at fear-mongering complete with a swarthy Arab boogie man. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, has already spoken out against this blatant race-baiting:
This is the very thing that the president warned against after 9/11. He was so wise to tell the country not to fall prey to the negative stereotypes that exploit fear. Now the president seems to be doing what he warned against. If they wanted to put Osama bin Laden up there that's fine, but using just a face stereotypes."
I guess the Bushies have just written off getting many votes from Arab Americans. According to Zogby,
This community's vote is decidedly moving in a direction that is not in favor of Bush's re-election. Bush's numbers now are as low as we've seen a Republican president's be.
Billmon has a good post about the negative ads (and I stole the Mohammed Horton joke from him)