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Attacks on gay marriage flimsy
Every presidential campaign needs a theme song. Right now, the supporters of John F. Kerry are singing a golden oldie: “My Boyfriend’s Back.” Addressed, of course, to George W. Bush. You’re gonna be sorry you were ever born. Hey la, hey la, my boyfriend’s back. Cause he’s kinda big and he’s awful strong. This is a long way from “all you need is love.” But the 1960s are finally over, and the Dems are ready to rumble. Yo, Dubya! You’re a big man now but he’ll cut you down to size. Wahoo. Wait and see! Kerry seems happy with the role of muscleman. Lately, he hardly utters a sentence without the word “fight” in it. He’s going to “stand toe to toe” with Bush, and show him what combat is like “for real.” Look out, Howard Dean. Jump back, Bill and Hillary. A man’s man is now on the party premises. Kerry’s pitch has been thrillingly attractive to the kind of Democrats who hate George W. Bush. It’s not simply that Kerry was a naval officer. Jimmy Carter, after all, was an Annapolis graduate who spent more time in uniform than Kerry did. Nor is it merely service in Vietnam. Al Gore was there, too. It’s not even Kerry’s Purple Hearts. Wes Clark was also wounded in Vietnam, and nobody thinks he can cut Bush down to size. No, Kerry’s special appeal, to put it plainly, is that he is a killer. Thirty-five years ago, under fire, he turned his boat toward enemy soldiers, chased them down and shot them dead. Bush, for all his Texas swagger, can’t match that. Hell, he doesn’t have a single notch on his belt. The Killer Qualification is a whole new thing in modern presidential politics. Kerry’s role model, John Kennedy, won glory for saving his crew, not sinking the enemy. George H.W. Bush’s most famous military exploit was bailing out of his plane. Ike commanded a vast army, but in his long career he never personally fired a shot in anger. Harry Truman was an artillery officer in World War I, but hardly a hero. You have to go all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt to find a President celebrated for personally charging the enemy. There’s no doubt that Kerry’s military record can be an electoral plus, especially when it’s stacked up against GWB’s National Guarding. But many Democrats seem to believe it is more than that. They imagine that battlefield courage automatically translates into political backbone. This is an illusion that Kerry’s “I’ve never run from a fight in my life” rhetoric is calculated to encourage. He should cut it out. Kerry has had a distinguished career in public life, including nearly 20 years in the Senate. He is a thoughtful, intelligent man and a strong campaigner. There are good reasons to take his candidacy seriously. Having bagged some Viet Cong is not one of them. Kerry himself knows this. Like all combat veterans, he is aware that there is no genuine correlation between youthful military ferocity and mature political virtue. The young Winston Churchill was a warrior. So was the young Idi Amin. Most guys with medals—including the guys Kerry served with—fall somewhere in between. It’s easy to understand Kerry’s willingness to play the hombre card. It has worked on a besotted Democratic base in the primaries. But it won’t win a general election. Most Americans don’t see George W. Bush as a bully, and besides, pushing 60, Kerry’s way too old to run as a teen-ager’s avenging boyfriend. If he wants to make it to the White House, he’ll need a campaign song—and a campaign—that allows him to act his age. — Zev Chafets is a columnist for the New York Daily News. Comments may also be sent to collegian@csufresno.edu |
