Flip Flop Part Deux: The "Swift Boating" of John Kerry and the Democrats in 2006

Remember 2004? When President Bush, that master of the English language, managed to defeat decorated war veteran and Democratic Senator John Kerry by hiding behind the rhetoric of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and other 527 groups? Well, it seems that both Bush and Kerry, neither on the ballot, are back at it again.

John Kerry's speech before supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides of California has been run over and over again, with a variety of cuts to ensure the maximum amount of obfuscation. Kerry tried making a joke about George W. Bush's intelligence but instead made the mistake of leaving out a single word. Sorry, Kerry-philes, looks like he won't be performing at Caroline's or running for president again.

However, Republicans can see blood in the water. Almost as soon as Kerry made his mistake, the Republican campaign machine mobilized everyone's favorite war hero, John McCain, to defend Bush and denounce Kerry as unpatriotic. Bush, in a speech in Republican friendly Statesboro, Georgia, drew cheers for his denunciation of Kerry and jeers for his stuttering attempt at repeating the ubiquitously repeated statement. Finally, party hack turned White House press secretary Tony Snow attempted to show that Kerry's words AND his intent were to make fun of the troops. In one line, Snow was feebly trying to show that no one word could have been put back into that statement to make it better.

The media has jumped all over this "controversy." Kerry even deigned to speak to Don Imus on his radio show. Imus told him to stay at home until November 7th and Kerry certainly did his best impression of someone who could use the media to his advantage. Other networks, such as CNN, Fox News, and the broadcast nightly news programs have gone as far as to ask if this imbroglio would influence the election. The fact that the media is asking a question that only it can answer shows how bad our politicians are at asserting their independence.

John Kerry relented due to all of the bad press that was coming toward Democratic candidates he was campaigning for, or at least that is what he says. Kerry's apology is yet another example of why he will never be president and why politicians of both sides who show some backbone or make a joke making faux pas will never win the hearts and minds of every American. If anything is going to influence the election, it won't be Kerry's statement but his ambivalent apology. Americans can appreciate the efforts of someone they disagree with as long as they are honest and genuine in their efforts.

However, Americans are also at bay to the whims of the media, who control access to politicians who are too often inaccessible to one-on-one conversations. If the media feels like they can benefit from two more years of Republican rule, they will keep pressing the Kerry button and the botched joke will become as big a part of our political consciousness as the Howard Dean scream speech. Expect that to happen because the media thrives on a good page scandal, a ridiculous border fence to keep out piece workers, and other Republican favorites. Democrats will just need to relax until 2008 and hope for the best.