IS IT 1992 ALL OVER AGAIN? Well, maybe, but in reverse. Tim Blair quotes from an interview in which Christopher Hitchens says:
One reason I think this campaign is very lame — it’s supposed to have momentum, I wouldn’t say it had much enthusiasm behind it — [John Kerry] gives the impression that it’s kind of his turn to be president and that he has a feeling of entitlement to the job.
I think that is a very great disadvantage.
I’ve never heard him or any of his supporters make any case why this is the moment for John Kerry.
He hasn’t been able to come up with a reason that would even persuade his wife, as far as I can see.
“A feeling of entitlement” was exactly the feeling that Bush 41 gave in 1992, along with a general feeling of disdain for the whole campaign process. Remember his looking at his wristwatch during the debates? He looked tired and haggard during the rest of the campaign, making the younger, flashier Bill Clinton look all the more appealing. Somehow, I don’t think Bush 43 will make the same mistakes his father did when campaigning, not the least of which is because he got to observe those mistakes firsthand.
And unlike his father or Kerry, Bush may be a multimillionaire, but disdain and entitlement are not auras he projects.
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