Great article in the January Commentary by Joshua Muravchik
on the 2004 presidential campaign. I
read the article because I liked his article on the emerging triumph of
democracy in yesterday’s the Wall Street Journal (1/25). He is emerging as a
public intellectual.
I miss the Teddy White series on the Making of The President
from 1960 to 1980. I loved his beautifully written, politics-loving, birds-eye
view of the campaigns. Murvachik comes
as close as anyone since Teddy.
The interesting point for my readers is a new insight into the animosity that we all felt. The Bush hate was open and palpable. The reaction of the pro-Bush people (me included) was hard to describe. The issue is evident in Muravchik’s polling data. The Bush voters particularly liked the candidate; overwhelmingly voted for him because they liked him personally as honest and sincere.
That means the Bush supporters were offended by the hate Bush campaign. The Bush supporters had no antagonism toward Kerry (except for the Viet Nam vets), they saw the Democrats and Kerry as mean spirited, attacking Bush at a personal level.