Republican Convention
Robert G. Kaiser & Lucian Perkins
Washington Post Associate Managing Editor and Photographer
Friday, August 27, 2004; Noon ET
Washington Post associate editor Robert G. Kaiser and Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Lucian Perkins will be at the Republican Convention in New York collecting images and impressions in their Diary. They have a busy week ahead of them, but they want your help filling their multimedia scrapbook.
Kaiser and Perkins were online Friday, Aug. 27, at Noon ET to discuss the upcoming convention, the stories you want them to track down, the political players and the parties.
Submit your questions and comments before or during today's discussion.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
San Diego, Calif.:
Hi;
Do you guys expect a "convention bounce" for Bush after the RNC in New York?
Thanks!
Robert G. Kaiser: Greetings. We can start with this old favorite, though I can't say anything definitive about it. If you keep reading the polls as I like to do, you continue to find evidence of how close this race remains. But we're in August, when it's just not possible for me to gauge the way things will look in September, or, perhaps more important, after the first debate on Sept. 30. To me, the guy who is ahead AFTER that debate is going to be the early favorite for November, and that could easily be Bush or Kerry.
Contrary to much conventional wisdom, I think Kerry DID get a bounce from Boston. It wasn't a bounce in the horse race result, but in voters evaluations of him on a whole range of issues, in which he improved his position, sometimes quite a lot. But that has already eroded, according to the last poll I've read, the recent CNN-USA TOday Gallup Poll out yesterday.
Will Bush get something out of the convention? Maybe.
How's that for going out on a limb?
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Somewhere:
One thing I know will be totally different about the GOP convention is the number of protests and protesters in New York.
As someone who supports the protesters' positions nearly 100 percent -- I hope you will take some time to file some thoughtful reports on who is protesting what there and why.
In particular, having been to a dozen protests in the past 3 years myself, I am always struck by enjoyable and powerful it is to simply be in such a large crowd of good people marching peacefully.
George Bush's political blinders are causing him to miss at LEAST half of the solutions and directions he needs to be able to see to make good decisions for our country. The protesters are very familiar with those solutions! Lucian Perkins: I was just going over the list of activities in New York next week. The number of groups that will be protesting is phenomenal. How it actually materializes will be interesting to watch and we will be there to tell the story. I was surprised at how sparse the demonstrations were during the Democratic convention. This may well be very different.
Robert G. Kaiser: You won't need our Convention Diary to learn about the protestors in New York. They are likely to be the big story, especially on Monday and Tuesday when there is almost nothing else going on that seems newsworthy. McCain's speech Monday night could be an exception. But wait, the networks determined already that that won't be newsworthy either! Gosh they're clever.
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Washington, D.C.:
I've never seen a larger concentration of crazy (or at least crazy looking) people than in these conventions -- both Democratic and Republican. I mean, you see so many people wearing massive amounts of buttons, crazy hats, unnaturally puffy hair; a lot of people getting way too insanely excited (crying, screaming, wild-eyed) for the occasion; etc. Anyhow, which party should win the lifetime achievement award for "wackiest convention crowd"?
Lucian Perkins: Actually, I plan to spend more time asking delegates why they wear what they wear. Let's get to the heart of this important issue once and for all. Maybe we will give an award for the "wackiest convention crowd."
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Salem, Ore.:
Very little has been made about the GOP convention protests until today, and it looks as though it's going to be quite a spectacle. Do you agree with the idea that if the protests resemble the '68 Chicago debacle in any way, shape or form, that Bush will benefit from the chaos as Nixon did?
Robert G. Kaiser: Very little? News not reaching you out there in Salem? Our paper has had a lot on the protestors for weeks. So of course as our competitor up north, the NY Times.
Violent demonstrations are of course possible, and they might have some slight impact ont he race I suppose, but as someone who lived through those years in the '60s (though I wasn't in Chicago in '68), I think it's a big reach to compare 2004 to then. Vietnam so divided the country, so animated the protestors and gave the whole situation so much emotion that it was just profoundly different than anything we have seen in recent times.
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Rockville, Md.:
Is there any screening done by the RNC on speaker's speeches, or can they pretty much say what they want?
Robert G. Kaiser: Yes, they can say what they want, and you can write checks on Bill Gates' checking account...
By which wise crack I mean to say, if you thought the Democratic convention was scripted... The Republicans first invented the scripted convention. As we saw in 2000, they have now totally mastered the art. I don't expect any spontaneity or any surprise in NY, not even of the magnitude (?) of Al Sharpton's off-script performance in Boston.
I'd love to be proven wrong about this.
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Indianapolis, Ind.:
I'm interested in what you all expect to see and what you are looking for in terms of the image and message the GOP will be sending to the voters. Thanks so much and I look forward to a week of these chats!
Robert G. Kaiser: Thanks. We look forward to the Diary too--and not just the chats. And by the way, anyone who wants to ask us a specific question or make a suggestion for what we do in NY should e-mail us at conventiondiary@washingtonpost.com.
Message will primarily be the responsibility of our heavyweight colleagues, Dan Balz and David Broder and John Harris and the rest. We'll be trying to find events and people that help you understand what it's like to be at the convention, what the mood is, etc. We'll try to surprise you.
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San Antonio, Tex.:
My wish list for coverage of the RNC, much truncated, because of server problems:
The snitches; glitches; glamourati; the gossip; the glaring errors and snafus; Karl Rove and Karen Hughes and their movements, to be sure; the fun; the wacky; the absurd; the inconsistencies; the juice; more moles and polls, the gifted and unscripted; the trip, stumble and falls...and whatever strikes your verbal and visual fancies.
Robert G. Kaiser: A great list. thank you for it. We'll try!
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Saginaw, Mich.:
This convention provides an opportunity for the Bush Administration to redefine itself after 3.5 years of largely dismal to mediocre results. It's also an opportunity for the media to redeem itself after Iraq and WMD and finally hold the Bush administration to its own standards by reminding Americans of what Bush promised in 2000, and then what was actually delivered. Perhaps some analysis on what chances there are that Bush will deliver on the new promises he makes this week? Is there any chance that the electorate will be provided that informative service by the media?
Robert G. Kaiser: To start with the last, I hope we and our colleagues will do the job you outline of holding the Repubs accountable. In my view, that is the press's most important job.
As to the administration redefining itself, I don't think that will fly. With a four-year record, administrations are what they are. People have a view of them, and generally can't be convinced to abandon it for a new one. At least that's been my experience.
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Washington, D.C.:
The Post's coverage of the protesters at the Democratic convention was minimal and devoid of any reporting on the actual content of the protests against Kerry (check your archives). Should we expect similar treatment of the protesters this coming week?
Lucian Perkins: The coverage of the protests in Boston was minimal because the protests were minimal. I think coverage of the protests in New York will depend on how big they are and the impact they have on New York City and the convention. Already there is a lot of hype about next week's protests because of the large scale of groups involved and projected numbers of demonstrators expected.
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Stamford, Conn.:
McCain and Bush are getting pretty cozy these days. What are the chances that McCain is not trying to build support for 2008, but in fact gearing up to replace Cheney on the ticket? We know Cheney won't be running for president in 4 years, and it would give McCain a boost if he is sitting the the Veep seat. Along the same lines, how painful do you think it is for McCain to be putting on this happy face while he is around Bush?
Robert G. Kaiser: I can't put myself in McCain's head, but I've always believed that the presidential bug is a virus that cannot be cured. Once a politician has caught it, he is stuck with it. I think. So I just assume the McCain is still trying to maximize his future chances, and that we should bear that in mind when evaluating everything that he says or does.
Is this unfair on my part? Perhaps. I have to admit that he couldn't now SAY anything that would change my mind.
But McCain has no thought of being the VP candidate this time. Cheney will be the VP candidate this time.
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Ammon, New Brunswick, Canada:
As one of - what I am sure - are many people who tremendously enjoy your online chats, I would like to recall to you an observation you made recently that you (I paraphrase) couldn't imagine anyone in the Bush Campaign wanting Viet Nam war service to be an litmus issue in the campaign. In light of the polling (Los Angeles Times, etc.) in recent days, and your experience of several decades of covering national politics, could we have a brief, but somewhat candid, description of just how malleable/ignorant the average United States voter is? And if you are so retro as to allow a questioner a follow-up, as someone who reported from Viet Nam could you describe your experiences there of any personal animosity between soldiers fighting in Nam who supported the war and those who did not?
Robert G. Kaiser: Thanks for the good questions. And the nice words.
I will be surprised, I admit, if the flap over Vietnam really hurts Kerry in the end. I don't think the American voter is a gullible fool; on the contrary, in my long career covering this stuff and editing our coverage of it, I've repeatedly been impressed by the common sense of the American voter. Sure she/he makes mistakes sometimes, but over the long haul, I can't point to many cases where I thought the wrong person won for the wrong reason.
I have felt for months that the debates this time will be very important for Kerry, as the one debate in 1980 was for Reagan. They'll happen quickly between late Sept. and mid OCtober. Then we'll know a lot.
I could go on at length about Vietnam, but can't take the time to do so here, now. Yes, soldiers in the Nam disagreed about the war. By the last years of it there was a strong consensus that the war was nuts; in the early years feelings were much more evenly divided--among the troops, I mean. As a number of commentators have written recently, the basic disagreement between those who thought the war was worth fighting, and those who didn't, has survived for all these years.
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Annapolis, Md.:
You don't think the country is divided about Iraq as Vietnam? In some respects I think it is more divided almost 50/50. The protests in the 60's did eventually seemed to resonant, but it was the photographs and the live coverage of TV that made the issue. We are getting coverage of Iraq but I really don't think we are getting the same type footage that was seen from Vietnam. The girl running away from the napalm is a good example. We hear reports of how many Iraqis killed as a "Oh, by the way 100 Iraqis were killed today."
Robert G. Kaiser: There are many, many differences, but the most important by far is the fact that kids were drafted to fight in Vietnam, and all our soldiers in Iraq now are volunteers. The draft put the juice into the Vietnam protests, I always thought.
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Grifton, N.C.:
Since the Republican and Democratic conventions no longer play a role in selecting the nominees, and serve as little more than four-day pep rallies for the parties, why do taxpayers still subsidize them? It's fine for the parties to have their big shindigs if they want. But shouldn't the parties, not the public, foot the bill?
Robert G. Kaiser: cities still fall all over themselves trying to host a convention, though in Boston we saw how disappointed the locals ultimately were with the results for them--especially businessmen who dreamed of a windfall, and got a mini-depression from the Dem Convention.
I don't know of any big federal subsidy of the conventions, it's the local government in the convention city that pays. I hope I'm not forgetting something here!
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Washington, D.C.:
Do political conventions really make much of a difference in swaying independent voters? Does anyone really believe that convention speeches are a good source of quality (i.e., very honest) information that should help one choose who to vote for? What do the political operatives really believe? Thanks.
Robert G. Kaiser: No, no, and they believe in animating "the base." That's what a convention is mostly for today--getting your team excited. In that sense the Dems had a very good convention, and I expect the Repubs to have the same.
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Washington, D.C.:
Hi. I was a little surprised at Bob Dole's attack on Kerry's Vietnam service. Doesn't this show a high level of agressiveness / nastiness / desperation from the Bush-Cheney campaign coming into their convention? I just can't see Bob Dole resorting to this particular kind of attack on a fellow veteran unless he was heavily pressured to do so by the Bush-Cheney campaign (as opposed to by others whom Dole could easily blow off). Any thoughts?
Robert G. Kaiser: I was surprised as well. I am linking here to an op-ed piece that ran in The Post this week that I found very powerful:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34024-2004Aug25.html
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San Antonio, Tex.:
Quite seriously, I would like to see good, serious coverage of the protests. By all media accounts, the protests should be huge--biggest since Chicago 1968 and far larger than the ones in the Demo cage in Boston.
Since journalist/landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in on the family tree and designed Central Park, I'd like to know what happens this weekend regarding the marches, the park, and Mayor Bloomberg. It took awhile before Olmsted began writing his anti-slavery tracts, but I hardly think Olmsted would disapprove of today's dissent and civil disobedience--aside from Bloomberg's significant money to the grass restoration project.
Robert G. Kaiser: Thanks. I'm sure all your questions will get answers in the next few days!
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Anonymous:
I gather that the new poverty figures, showing a rise in the number of people below the poverty line for the last 3 years, won't get a lot of mention by Republicans at the convention. I'd also guess that it'll get less mention by journalists than weighty issues such as, say, Teresa Heinz-Kerry's accent or cookie-baking ability. washingtonpost.com:
Poverty Rate Up 3rd Year In a Row (Post, Aug. 27)
Robert G. Kaiser: Your first point is certainly accurate. I hope the second is not.
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Crofton, Md.:
At the Democratic Convention, Kerry was joined onstage by the veterans who actually served with him on his boat in Vietnam.
Can we expect to see Bush joined on stage by the people he served with while in the National Guard?
Robert G. Kaiser: nope
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St. Louis, Mo.:
After what I see as a small or negative bounce for Kerry, to what extent are the Bushies just trying to minimize a negative bounce. I (a Republican) watched some of the Dems convention and there decided to vote for Bush though I am not at all pleased with him. I worry if I watch the Republican convention I will again be undecided.
Robert G. Kaiser: Aren't you from the Show-Me state? Don't you therefore HAVE to watch?
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New York, N.Y.:
I've decided to name this convention "Smoke & Mirrors." Why are the Republicans so afraid to show the American people who they are? Arnold Schwarzeneger, Guiliani, Pataki? Come on..this is not the heart and soul of the Republican Party. What are they afraid of? Lucian Perkins: Both parties engage in "Smoke and Mirrors" in an attempt to win over as many votes as possible. Who is the most successful or deceptive is an important question. I'm curious to see if I can learn more about who in fact the Republican party is next week.
Robert G. Kaiser: Lucian is right, of course, but the last conventionand this one have featured a consistent GOP makeover clearly aimed at centrist voters. The muscle in the current Republican Party is all on the right; moderates are weak and steadily getting weaker inside the party.
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Rosslyn, Va.:
Okay, I wasn't alive during the Vietnam Era (born in the early 80's). So, as a young, voting age adult (voted in 2000), why should I care about Vietnam and some silly ribbons and who had them and how they got them? I have to admit, I am so fed up with the smear campaign by the Bush Admin, hated it 4 years ago as well! Will the Convention be a 'fear and smear' fest or a love-fest like the Dem's? Please... can we stop talking about Vietnam? We are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan now. The Vietnam War is long gone, move on.
Robert G. Kaiser: thanks for posting.
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Rockville, Md.:
When do you think the press will hear Bush's plans for the next few years, if he wins in 2004? Throughout next week? The day before the speech? Or when reading an embargoed version of his remarks prior to his acceptance speech?
It seems strange to me that we haven't heard too many details of Bush's agenda for the future?
Robert G. Kaiser: I would say that we can assume two things: there will be some new ideas inthe acceptance speech, and they will never be seen by the voters -- and probably by Bush and Cheney -- as particularly important or significant. Incumbents don't get reelected on the basis of a new agenda for a second term; they get reelected because the country decides to stick with them rather than switching to the other guy. Bush's whole campaign thus far has been about this: stick with me, I'm reliable, decisive, strong, etc. And it will continue to be about that, with or without a "new agenda." That's my view.
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San Antonio, Tex.:
I didn't know that your reported from Vietnam, Robert Kaiser. How about writing a piece, a 35-year-retrospective, on what it was like covering Vietnam and how the war and your coverage evolved over time? Did you do any stateside coverage such as Dewey Canyon III? Your response in today's chat has piqued my curiosity.
Robert G. Kaiser: well thanks. I have written quite a lot about my Vietnam experiences over the years (I was there in '69-'70, arriving, curiously, about a week after the swift boat incidents so much in the news of late). And I'm sure I will write about it again in the future. It was a grim, fabulous, fascinating experience for me, a very green and young (25) reporter when I got there.
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Arlington, Va.:
The "American voter" is not gullible? Bob, you need to start looking at the individual responses from these surveys. Take a look at the open-ended responses from the National Election Study, and consider that barely a TENTH of the respondents can recall the name of their member of Congress. Then tell me that American voters are not gullible.
Robert G. Kaiser: Is ignorant the same as gullible? I don't think so, though I'd agree that ignorance makes gullibility more possible.
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Kansas City, Mo.:
I was watching the Daily Show when Ed Gillespie was on and when he starting his talking points on Kerry's vote on the war, Jon Stewart stopped him and pointed out Kerry supported the authority rather than the war Gillespie had to backdown.
How come few in the broadcase and print media question just accept statements like that? Too often it's just "the GOP said this and the Democrats said this." It seems like the media could provide background on a claim without looking like they've chosen sides.
Robert G. Kaiser: I very much regret that, particularly on television, our journalists have become soft questioners. In Western Europe now there's an entirely different tradition of more aggressive television journalism about politics. I envy that.
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Monterey, Calif.:
In your preparations for the Republican Convention in New York City, what has stood out so far as different from the Democrats' meeting in Boston?
Robert G. Kaiser: not much, interestingly. I hope that doesn't mean we've missed something important.
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Washington, D.C.:
How much do these conventions cost the political parties that hold them? I mean, renting space in New York can't be cheap. How much of the cost is defrayed by lobbysts? Do political operatives believe they're really worth it in terms of cost-benefit? What have you heard off the record? Thanks!
Robert G. Kaiser: Millions and millions, scores of millions indeed. I've seen estimates but can't remember a precise one now. Measuring all the costs would be impossible. Each news organization like ours spends tens of thousands on a convention.
For political operatives, there's no real cost. If the money can be raised, why not spend it?
On your last point, at the risk of sounding like a preacher, let me say that when reporters hear something "off the record," that really means what it says--you can't then go on line and report, "I heard off the record that Lucian Perkins is REALLY good looking..." No, you either have to come that conclusion yourself, or leave it off the record.
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Anonymous:
Any chance of the GOP convention turning into a 1992 type convention?
Robert G. Kaiser: I presume you mean by this the rise of the right wing, led by Pat Buchanan, at the '92 convention, which the Bush people did not properly contain, and which some think cost the first President Bush in November. No, I don't expect anything like that.
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Washington, D.C.:
Already all the talk of protesters. Hasn't anyone figured out its not '68? There are no more moving and powerful marches designed to, as is constitutionally allowed, petition the government for a redress of grievances. It is an excuse for ignorant college-aged idiots to commit random acts of violence and pass it off as being political. Intelligent protestors organize groups to help register voters and enact laws, not stand in the streets and sing "Kumbaya" while punks burn tires and try to start fights with cops who are not going to see a penny of the overtime they are entitled to for standing there protecting "protesters" rights to congregate.
Do us all a service and report none of it. Or report it, then punch me in the neck six times as hard as you can. Then we'll be even.
Lucian Perkins: I remember listening to the 68 convention and the protests on the radio as a young kid. It had a huge impact on me. Years later, as someone who has covered protests from all sides of a multitude of issues and in other countries besides the U.S, I can vouch that a majority of protesters are deeply committed to their cause--in the case here, enough to travel by bus across the country to voice their concern and in some other countries enough to be willing to die for their cause. I've, also, met a lot of idiots participating in protests and a lot willing to take advantage of the situation, but most are there because of a strong passion to have their voice heard.
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San Antonio, Tex.:
Good question from the 20-something Gen-Xer (glad s/he is participating in the chat): Do old wars matter? Our family fought in the Pequot War, the French and Indian War. Six of my family were at Valley Forge; another at the battle of Gettysburg; a huge cluster of family aided Abe Lincoln in the Oval Office. Two of our family went to Kuwait and fought in Iraq. Should we as a nation only be concentrating on the most current conflicts in terms of today's presidential contest?
Robert G. Kaiser: Ahh, history! Wouldn't it be nice of a few more people actually knew some? Yes it would.
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Knoxville, Tenn.:
Is it true reporters will be playing the game "Where's Tom DeLay" to see if there will be any sightings of the "true" face of the Republican party?
Lucian Perkins: I'll keep an eye out for him. He is, definitely, a major player in the Republican party.
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Arlington, Va.:
So why is it news that Benjamin Ginsberg has ties to the Swift Boat organization, but not news that Robert Bauer, a prominent Kerry campaign lawyer and the law partner of the Kerry campaign's general counsel, also represents several Democratic 527s? Or that Joseph Sandler, a DNC lawyer, is also counsel to MoveOn? The Ginsberg connection was treated as front-page, headline news, while the Democratic connections were buried as afterthoughts. There was no indication that the Post had even talked to Bauer or Sandler beforing running the original Ginsberg article. So, why the difference in handling? washingtonpost.com:
Lawyer Quits Bush-Cheney Organization (Post, Aug. 26)
Robert G. Kaiser: Good question. I think the answer is that a dispute arose over who was behind the Swift Boat ads against Kerry: could they be connected to the Bush camp, or not? Evidently, even the Bush campaign agreed that Ginsberg's involvement in them didn't look good. Hence, I presume, his speedy departure.
There has been no comparable flap over any of the ads put on by the anti-Bush 527s. The news wasn't in the fact that a lawyer represented both a campaign and a 527, so much as it was the contribution that Ginsberg's involvement made to the question of whether the Bush camp was involved in these particular attacks on Kerry. Or so it seems to me.
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Wheaton, Md.:
At the convention, will the Repubicans re-affirm their strong commitment to the war on terrorism?
Robert G. Kaiser: Do New Yawkers talk funny? Is the Pope Polish? Is today Friday?
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Washington, D.C.:
What do you think the likelihood is of President Bush naming someone besides Dick Cheney as his running mate?
Robert G. Kaiser: zero.
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Anonymous:
There have been many important and peaceful public demonstrations against the Bush administration during the past 4 years, yet it seems people have great difficulty in getting the images of the more disruptive/violent protests (eg Seattle) out of their heads and are concerned about problems in New York.
How great is the danger of events getting out of control and violent in New York? How are you planning to cover the protests?
Robert G. Kaiser: Can't predict what may happen, but we'll certainly be paying attention. Lucian loves to take pictures of colorful protestors, I think he might confess.
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California:
I was a young boy when John F Kennedy was assissinated in Dallas. Of course I really couldn't understand it at the time, although I could certainly tell that a lot of the people around me had their hopes crushed that day.
While the details of JFK's assassination may forever be a mystery, but the motivations become clearer with age. Indeed, in the nearly fanatical/hysterical current political environment -- it is easy to find many examples of self righteous, violent and dismissive language which might easily move a less stable individual to take violent action.
I'm hoping you'll comment on this. Has this level of political intensity been going on forever -- just more behind the scenes perhaps or in different forms?
Robert G. Kaiser: This question is almost too thoughtful for a forum such as this one. You're making a number of assumptions, most importantly, that Lee Harvey Oswald (and others?) killed Kennedy was/were moved to violent action by political statements, or actions, of Kennedy's. In fact we don't know that. We never got anywhere near the bottom of Oswald's motivations, and we still have doubters, including smart doubters, that he acted alone.
That said, I think there has been a violent strain in American politics from the beginning. We had several assasinations in the 19th century, and more in the 20th, of presidents and public figures. We remain a society in which violence is normal, not unusual.
Our politics is particularly vituperative just now, but it was very similar in the late years of the 19th century, and at other moments.
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Rockville, Md.:
How would you rate the importance of Bush's acceptance speech for his re-election chances? 1-not being very important to 10-being extremely important. I noticed that even on Special Report with Brit Hume, Bush supporters like Fred Barnes said that his speech would be very important, considering that aside from the LA Times poll, his approval rating is in the 40s.
Also, I hope your paper reports more on the dissent within the Republican party over social and tax issues during the Convention. Any reports on trends towards implosion within the party would be fantastic!
Robert G. Kaiser: I see the acceptance speech as the beginning of a two-month effort to find language that will help Bush persuade voters that he's actually been a good president. His disapproval ratings are alarmingly high, and the Republicans know it.
Whether one speech can do the trick I doubt. Whatever the speeches say, I think Bush will also have to use the debates extremely effectively to overcome the doubts so many Americans have about him and his war. This isn't something that can be done with clever or eloquent rhetoric. To win people over, Bush has to lead them to reach, in their own minds, the conlcusions he hopes they will reach.
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Kerry and Vietnam:
Kerry made it the centerpiece of his campaign. Why shouldn't it be examined, especially in light of his activity after the war? And if it was an immoral war then how can he criticize those who chose not to go? Kerry wants it both ways and the non-gullible independent minded voters like me see right through it...
Robert G. Kaiser: Thanks for posting. To be fair to Kerry, I think he has studiously avoided ever criticising "those who chose not to go."
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San Antonio, Tex.:
What really gets Lucian's motor running, as far as taking pictures?
Lucian Perkins: Who is this person from San Antonio and my own home state???? I just had a tune-up, so my motor will be running in all gears starting tomorrow. I just hope I can keep the tank full through the week.
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Detroit, Mich.:
So, when Bush drops Cheney from the ticket and chooses someone else as VP will he be considered a flip-flopper or someone who wants change?
Robert G. Kaiser: He'll be considered the guy who ended Kaiser's career in on=line pundity, since i have said to often, so emphastically, that Cheney will NOT be dropped from the ticket. And he won't be.
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Washington, D.C.:
You wrote: "Lucian loves to take pictures of colorful protestors."
That's great; I just wish he'd done so in Boston as well.
Robert G. Kaiser: Hey, look up our convention diary from Boston, you'll see numerous Lucian photos of protestors.
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Rockville, Md.:
In response to San Antonio's question, I'm 27 and wasn't even born when we fought in Vietnam and I don't care what color of medal Kerry won in Vietnam!!
On a side note, I'll be glad when the Vietnam War generation passes the baton over to the next generation! Frankly, I'm tired of hearing the arguments over who dodged the draft; who deferred; who served!
Robert G. Kaiser: Thanks for the comment. Your second point evokes sympathy from me! But these were the most important events in many of our lives, and I am not surprised that many members of my generation can never let go of them.
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Kansas City, Mo.:
Isn't the difference on Benjamin Ginsberg and Robert Bauer that the White House said there was no connection between the Swift Vets and Bush/Cheney?
As I understand it, one can work for both the campaign and 527s, just there can't be corrdination between the two.
The White House implied no one was working for the campaign and Swift Vets, which was incorrect. The White House lied and got caught, that why it was a story.
Robert G. Kaiser: thanks for the comment.
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Rosslyn, Va.:
Kudos to those who fought in past wars, your honor and civic duty is turly commendable. Those Generation X'ers as you refer to us as simply don't care about Wars that we weren't alive during. Talking to us about Vietnam is like try to talk to us about the Franco-Prussian Wars. It's something of 'historical value'. This election will decide the direction our country is headed -- international isolation or international cooperation. My point was -- who cares about how Kerry got his medals -- he served, good job, thank you for your service. Stop the attacks on his service so we can actually learn about what Bush would do if he is elected this time around.
Robert G. Kaiser: thanks.
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Bob Dole . . .:
Thinks perhaps Kerry didn't bleed enough to deserve a medal. Has Dole ever commented on Bush and Cheney doing their best (successfully) to avoid fighting in Vietnam?
Robert G. Kaiser: Not to my knowledge.
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Michigan:
So, How come I get the strange feeling that Bush will TRY to make a joke in his opening statement of Kerry being on the Daily Show? Will the press be hounding the Bush cohorts to find out when Bush will be on the Daily Show?
Robert G. Kaiser: I'm sure Bush will find his way to the Daily Show before the election. Bush loves to joke; if you saw the documentary on his first campaign, whose name has flown out of my head, you saw a guy with a very active sense of humor. He will certainly make jokes on the Daily Show, if he gets on it.
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Robert G. Kaiser: Thanks to all. Please drop by the Convention Diary next week. We'll begin daily noon discussions on Monday, and we'll be posting pictures and words all week. One new feature this time will be regular reports onthe interviews the Washington Post has organized with prominent Republicans throughout the convention week. I won't be able to go to all of them myself (if I did I wouldn't do anything else!), but various colleagues, led by Bob McCartney, will be filing on these sessions to give everyone an insider's sense of what it's like for Post people at the convention.
Hope to hear from many of you next week. And remember our direct e-mail address: conventiondiary@washingtonpost.com.
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