Election 2004: Some Historical Underpinnings
Military records are also a current point of contention between Bush and Kerry. Kerry wants to make the most of his service in Vietnam while not alienating veterans and supporters of the military. W. wants to carry his service in the National Guard as far as it will go but he may run into a brick wall when compared with Kerry's service record. Bush obviously does not want to make his service the main focus because it will be compared to Kerry's record which details his service in combat in Vietnam, whereas W.'s service was in Texas.
Bush 41 had a similar fight in 1988, although both Bush and Dukakis had served in the military and their records were not a major bone of contention in the 1988 election. In 1992, Clinton's service record came into question and it was discovered that he joined the R.O.T.C. to avoid being drafted but had never served. Currently, W. is having a hard time finding support for his service in the National Guard and fighting charges that he went A.W.O.L. and his family used unfair influence in getting W. into the National Guard at a time when there was a long waiting list.
A clearer issue seems to be support for military. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Kerry does not want to be seen as anti-military, even if he opposed or opposes now the war in Iraq. Republicans who support Bush also support the military and from what we have seen since that time, Bush's support for the military has not wavered and his stance has not seemed conflicted.
The newest buzz word of the 2004 election may be "electability." In 2000, Bush, by losing the popular vote but winning the electoral vote proved that he had a small electability outside his designated strongholds. Bush will certainly want to take advantage of his accomplishments and successes to improve his electability in places that he did not carry in 2000, namely liberal states such as Massachusetts, California, New York, and New Jersey among others. Kerry will want to do the obverse to increase his overall electability. He will need to boost his military support and shift the focus from his liberalism in rural places like Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, and the Deep South, where a great many of the current soldiers have roots or ties of some kind.
In the coming months, we will
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