I hitched a ride with a different candidate each week in the
last presidential campaign, and acquaintances back home would often ask if
George W. Bush was the lightweight he appeared to be.
Absolutely not, I told them. If you want to talk dim, take a look at the Al
Gore campaign. From one day to the next, the Democratic heir to the throne
couldn't decide who he was or what to say. He couldn't even decide whether to
wear wingtips or cowboy boots.
Bush was smart enough to know it takes
very little to sell yourself to the American public. With a twinkle in
his eye, he kept it simple and conveyed warmth and conviction, even when his
actions contradicted his words.
He kept saying the GOP had to throw open the country club doors and become the
party of inclusion, for instance. And then his first campaign speech in South
Carolina was at Bob Jones University, where interracial dating was banned.
How did he get away with it?
Same way he got away with zipping his lip for a full week after Sen. Trent
Lott turned a birthday bash for Strom Thurmond into a Klan rally.
Bush understands that we expect little
of our political leaders these days and demand even less.
Sure, he finally condemned Lott when it was clear he had no choice. He cut him
loose and Trent was left to remake himself on Black Entertainment Television.
(I don't know what the next stop is on the salvation tour, but I'd pay money
to see Lott on "Soul Train.")
The thing is, if segregation so troubled Bush's soul, what was he doing in the
company of those backwater crackers at Bob Jones University in early 2000?
I've got a theory about political sleight-of-hand like this. Here it is:
Nobody ever said politics was the cradle of truth and virtue, and Bill Clinton
certainly upheld that tradition in his championship season. But I
think there's a plot underway. A plot to make us even more cynical than
we already are.
This isn't just a Republican conspiracy, either. Think of the last time a
Democrat had a bold idea that roused civic interest. Wait a minute, let me
lower the stakes. Think of the last time a Democrat had an idea, period.
See what I mean?
I'm telling you the devil himself is in on a plan to extinguish interest in
public affairs, so a small group of
political leaders and several friends of Dick Cheney can rule the world
without any interference from us.
The evidence is everywhere.
We say we're disgusted by the influence of money in political campaigns, and what
do our fearless leaders do?
They spend more, more, more.
A Los Angeles Times poll says 90% of
respondents claim that the president has failed to make a case for war with
Iraq, and what happens?
The Bush administration practically sets a date for the bombing to begin.
Is there marching in the streets? No. Not even any loitering. Is there a
scream from anyone who thinks it makes more sense to go after terrorists
first, and deal with Saddam later? Not even a whisper.
I think they've got us where they want
us now. We're turned off and tuned out -- our attention span shorter
than the nap on Trent Lott's rug.
Do you have any idea what voter
turnout was this year in major elections across the country? It
was one of the lowest numbers in history, according to the Alliance for
Better Campaigns, at a paltry 39.3%.
We're on the brink of a confrontation
that could lead to a global clash of cultures, and what did American patriots
do in November?
We went shopping.
"A surge in spending on furniture and on electronics at stores such as
Best Buy Co. pushed retail sales 0.5% higher" in November, The Times
reported, even as "first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose to an
eight-month high."
Catch all the action from Baghdad on a big-screen TV.
I swear the people in charge are
laughing at us. It's crystal clear that our thirst for oil put us in bed with
Middle Eastern countries that produced the Sept. 11 terrorists, and what did
Congress do?
It crushed a bill requiring better gas
mileage, and nobody out here raised much of a stink. We
just kept buying bigger cars and putting flags in the windows. You think this
is OK with the White House, which is run by former oil executives?
To answer the question at the top of the column once more, George Bush is no
dummy. Ten days away from the year that could change the world, he's got
everything under control, and he's smarter than you might have thought.
Steve Lopez writes Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.
Reach him at steve.lopez @latimes.com.
