I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from the vigorous pro-Kerry campaigning and get-out-the-vote that seems to be sweeping like wildfire...but I've long wondered if there would be a silver lining to a Bush victory. Now one of my favorite public intellectuals, William Greider, is saying in public something I've been thinking about myself: that whoever is in the White House the next four years is going to face a serious economic meltdown. That, combined with the Iraq quagmire, is likely to seriously undermine the next administration. The Bush Administration may not believe in reality-based decision-making, but reality (economic, imperial, and otherwise) has a way of asserting itself over the long run despite any level of denial.
That said, I am still predicting (and hoping for) a Kerry victory on Nov 2nd. Even if it dooms his presidency, Kerry will be far better able to handle the multiple crises when they explode in his face.
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Though I have a lot of respect for Greider, I think he's a bit too dour about Kerry as a prospective president. The Kerry *campaign*, I agree, has been far from spectacular. But the more I learn about Kerry, the more I like him. I think he'll work well w/ Republican moderates and that he won't let the country get bogged down in Iraq. He does have a more coherent set of ideas about combatting terrorism than his campaign rhetoric of 'kill kill kill' promises. Sure, I'm not 100% convinced this will be the case, but I'm hopefull.
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