This is true... but when there's a
pattern stretching back 30 years, and even his own words today reinforce the image, I don't think "changed" is a word you can use.
Bush is reborn, pretty much a zealot, though Liberals are quick to call him a hypocrite, coming up with wild evidence (Kitty Kelly's fabrication about drug usage in Camp David, the infamous G-8 picture, which was likely near bear or somebody else's bottle sitting in front of the President at a social gathering) and implanting the idea, regardless of it's truth ("Got Coke" image), using repetition and funny images or skits. I haven't seen any proof that Bush is anything other than what he says, and that he has done anything other than what he's said he would do.
Kerry, on the other hand, has a track record stretching 20 years as a Senator, by which we can gauge his current mindset, as well as the statements he makes,
even today. Most troublesome are his statements to undermine the Iraqi Interem Prime Minister, his alienation of our entire coalition of allies, and his odd belief that France and Germany will somehow help bail us out of a situation that's more hype than substance when you look at the facts (the UN, Germany, Russia and France had no interest in ousting saddam or changing the status quo, thanks to the massively corrupt "Food for Oil" program Saddam was using to punish Iraqis and line his pockets).
Worse is that a guy who's practically a billionaire pays only 12.8% in taxes, while I'm paying something over 20%, and
he's going to fix my tax situation? I already got my tax cut, but he wants to stop it.
...and still funnier, in a tragic way, is the idea of a pair of lawyers fixing the health care system, particularly when one is a personal injury lawyer who got rich helping malpractice insurance rates rise uncontrollably.
For 20 years, these guys have been doing all the things that have squeezed the life out of the vitality of the United States, but we are suddenly supposed to believe that they've somehow changed their stripes and will miraculously lead the country to "renewed" greatness? Pffttt...
This isn't the 60's, the 70's, the 80's or even the 90's.... world power is shifting, and there are those who would see it shift away from the United States, by whatever means. Kerry has always been a part of that movement, on the inside. I wouldn't trust him with my kid's halloween candy sack, let alone with our nation. Too much is at stake.
Think about it.... you imagine the theory I posted above sounds farfetched, but you would accept what Kerry has been blabbing about a draft if Bush stays in office? How about the story of the death of social security (same story told in 2000, as well, but never materialized)? Bush inherited a recession AND a massively ruinous attack on New York City and the central operations of world trade... moved on terrorist sponsoring countries, to answer those attacks with the one thing that scares the terrorists... immediate and unstoppable force. Through all of that, the economy
is recovering, and will continue to do so. If Bush was as inept or evil as the Democrats claim, how could the economy be recovering?
Did you know that Afghanistan had elections last week, without any incidents of violence to mar them? Turnout was strong, and included women voters?
As bleak as the Democrats paint Iraq, do you know
the truth about the situation? There will be upheavals, particularly as countries like Iran and Syria attempt to influence things there, but every day, their effort to upset democracy and freedom in Iraq continues to dwindle away. Everything Kerry has done and stated from a decade ago, until now, points to a man who has no desire to see this through to a democracy.
It's about perspective, experience, and action. Kerry seems to be lacking on all three counts, with a history that dates back 30 years. Yes, I think it matters. It mattered before Kerry used/spun his war service of 30 years ago as some sort of indication that he had leadership skills. It was a centerpiece of his campaign during the convention, used in commercials, until Swiftboat vets objected to their implied support when he used a photo of them.
What's more telling is that if you find what he did objectionable 30 years ago, remember one thing: he's
never apologized for it. He's sidestepped the issue countless times, avoided answering the hard questions of the time, but he's never said "I'm Sorry" for all the obvious harm he's done. 30 years and still waiting.... even a changed man apologizes for the things he believes are wrong now.