The Bush campaign, in speeches and ads, has targeted John Kerry’s credibility as a primary target. He’s a flip-flopper, they say. He waffles, they insist. He can’t be trusted, they argue.
The attacks are infuriating, of course, because they are equal parts false and hypocritical. On the one hand, the charges are just factually wrong — Kerry never voted to increase gas taxes, for example — and on the other hand, Bush has a lot of nerve accusing anyone of being untrustworthy.
As the LA Times’ Mark Barabak wrote today, Kerry is responding in kind. I’m glad to see it.
After months of attacking President Bush’s policies, Sen. John F. Kerry is stepping up an assault on his rival’s character, challenging Bush’s credibility on everything from job creation to the war in Iraq.
Stopping just short of calling the president a liar, Kerry routinely accuses Bush of “running up a truth deficit” and compiling “a long list of broken promises.”
“The American people have a right to the truth,” Kerry said Wednesday, in a characteristic jab at a town hall meeting in New York City. Afterward, he questioned Bush’s candor during Tuesday’s prime-time news conference, which was dominated by discussion of Iraq.
“The American people are owed a directness and an honesty about how we protect our troops and how we stand up for our interests,” Kerry told reporters.
This line of criticism, I believe, is absolutely necessary. In fact, it’s a no-brainer. Bush’s constant deceptions are outrageous and his credibility as a president has to be a campaign issue. Bush has a reputation as an honest, straight-shooter who says what he means. Those of us who follow politics closely know that’s utter nonsense. All the more reason for Kerry to dispel this myth.
In fact, you might be reading this and thinking, “Duh, of course Kerry will attack Bush’s credibility.” Shockingly, though, not everyone agrees. Some argue that candidates should avoid the opponent’s strength at all costs. If Bush is perceived as generally credible, then Kerry should de-emphasize credibility as a campaign issue. As far as I can tell, this is a recipe for disaster.
The Bush campaign would welcome a thematic replay of 2000. Bush plays the role of the honest simpleton who listens to his gut, not the polls; Kerry plays the role of the competent Washington insider who likes to try to play both sides of an issue. It’s a complete scam, but Bush’s ads, ineffectual though they may be, are already seeking to reinforce this meta-premise.
It’s not enough for Kerry to say Bush is wrong on the issues. The truth is, people already seem to know that. The next step, and the one that Kerry is emphasizing, is that Bush is also deceiving people.
Matthew Dowd, a top strategist for the president’s campaign, told the Times that Kerry is “swimming way upstream on this one.” Oddly enough, I think that’s largely true. A lot of voters, even those who may disagree with Bush’s agenda, haven’t heard nearly as much about Bush’s deceptions over the last four years. In that sense, Kerry is introducing a new issue into the campaign dynamic, which is inherently difficult.
But it’s worth doing anyway. If people believe Bush is wrong but trustworthy, we need to convince them that he’s wrong and dishonest.
“It doesn’t merely take on the president on one issue, or one subject or one decision,” said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan elections analyst. “If successful, it undercuts him across the board.”
In fact, there are signs that this is already starting to work.
Recent opinion polls showed not just a decline in Bush’s job approval and performance ratings, but also growing doubts about his veracity and character. A Los Angeles Times survey conducted in late March, found that 47% of the 1,616 people interviewed believed Bush had the honesty and integrity to be president, down from 56% who described Bush as honest and trustworthy in a survey in November.
Among independents — the swing voters likely to tip a close election — the percentage of respondents who described Bush as honest fell from 54% in November to 43% in the most recent Times Poll.