right or left?

Cheney ripped on Kerry today because Kerry apparently took a poll to gauge the American public’s reaction to the new Osama Bin Laden tape. Or, in other words: “Kerry chose to consult his electors, the American public, rather than acting on blind conviction.” This is the story of the whole election year. On the right … Continue reading “right or left?”

Cheney ripped on Kerry today because Kerry apparently took a poll to gauge the American public’s reaction to the new Osama Bin Laden tape. Or, in other words: “Kerry chose to consult his electors, the American public, rather than acting on blind conviction.”

This is the story of the whole election year. On the right we have a candidate called “blind faith; act based on rigid convictions” and on the left we have a candidate called “consult the American public before embarking upon reckless policy”.

On the right we have the side who says that “you’re with us or against us” and on the left we have the side who says “we want to build genuine multinational force, not a ‘coalition of the willing’, where the US does the grunt work and has a few ‘allies’ tacked on for the sole purpose of perceived legitimacy”.

On the right we have the side whose sole criterion for making any decision is whether something is “good or evil; right or wrong” and on the left we have a side that attempts to engage in some level of cost-benefit analysis to arrive at policy decsions based on rational thought.

On the right we have the side who has attempted to quash the freedoms of the American people, and has offered false hope of freedom to those abroad. It is the side who wants to ‘strengthen’ the Patriot Act by enacting a second bill and eliminating all sunset clauses on the first. On the left we have the side who is open to re-examing the Patriot Act, and will stand up for the individual rights of all Americans, especially those falsely accused of terrorism.

On the right we have the side who has attempted to polarise the public using the (irrelevant) issues of homosexual marriage and abortion. On the left we have the side who chooses to respect the individuality of Americans and focus on substantive issues.

On the right we have George W. Bush. On the left we have John Kerry. You know what needs to be done; vote Kerry!

UPDATE: Also of interest is a simulation done by Jesse Ruderman, which calculates that only 22% of the popular vote is technically required to win a US presidential election (based on census data for 2000).