Reply #20: I hate to say it, but the doofus is correct.

[secular_warrior]

Americans of every political stripe like a fight -- it's what separates us from most other cultures.

Americans like to think of themselves as fighters, that if someone attacks their character they will fight back. It's hard for the folks out in swing voter land to understand why a decorated war hero, a distinguished US Senator, a great American like John Kerry would not fight back. I blame this on the mindset of the Democratic establishment (exemplified best by Cahill and Shrum), and has been a problem to lesser and greater degrees for the past 30 years. Since 1968, the Democrats have wanted a polite game of chess and the Republicans have repeatedly beat us up, stolen our lunch money and stuffed us in our lockers.

See, the problem is if Americans don't view the candidate as a fighter, they're not willing to listen to anything else he/she has to say. Dukakis syndrome.

Luckily, we have John Kerry as our candidate. He will defy the Democratic establishment/nannies, fight back and close the Republicans down at the end, just when they think they've won it. The Republicans' loss will be even more brutal, to see the victory slip away right before their eyes...