The U.S. presidential election of 2004

The Side Show: Edwards chides Cheney for eBay comment

A.H. Jaffor Ullah

The U.S. presidential election is hardly less than seven weeks from today (September 16, 2004) but the campaigning has become outright nasty as it moved into a high gear.  Mr. Bush and his running mate Dick Cheney had received a bump in popularity contest since the Republicans staged their convention only miles away from 9-11 ground zero.  The very idea was that Mr. Bush could point out at the destruction site from the podium to remind the TV viewers what such catastrophe could do America.  The “solemn” purpose was to remind the voters that America is at good hand under him.  In fact, the Republican speakers at the convention sold fear to the voters.  The message was very clear.  Mr. Bush knows how to keep America safe and voting for the other candidate could spell disaster as far as fighting global terrorism is concerned.  Therefore, do not rock the boat by electing a new captain.

The latest polls taken by various agencies have indicated that the ephemeral nudge in the poll in favor of Messrs. Bush and Cheney has all but evaporated.  The contest is dead even as of this writing and it will remain so until November 2, 2004, the election day.  Therefore, in a bid to outdo one another in terms of election campaign both sides are crisscrossing America with an accelerated pace.  We all know where the election will be decided; therefore, one could find both Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry and their running mates in battleground states of Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Missouri, and few other Midwestern cities.  Since the voters in some populous states have already made up their mind, neither Mr. Bush nor Mr. Kerry is visiting New York, California, Texas, Illinois, as much as they should.  Both the candidates and their running mates are zooming on Midwestern states spending both their energy and campaign dollars. 

On September 16, 2004, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Senator John Edwards, campaigned in a small prairie town by the name Piketown (population about 2000; 96% white) in Ohio.  Since the race is very tight in Ohio, the candidates are not even ignoring the backwaters of Ohio.  No Republican candidate for the president has won the election without carrying Ohio.  It is a small wonder why both Mr. Kerry and Edwards are covering literally every inch of this Midwestern state to garner votes.  Indeed Ohio has truly become a battleground state.  Now both Bush and Kerry are sending their running mates to campaign in Ohio.   

On September 16, 2004, John Edwards poked fun at Vice President Dick Cheney’s claim that standard economic indicators those that are published by the governmental agencies fail to measure the financial gains of Americans selling items on eBay (electronic auction place where both new and secondhand items from needles to cars can be auctioned by any seller).  Mr. Dick Cheney to combat Kerry’s statement that Americans are earning less because high-paying jobs are not created in abundance for Americans under Mr. Bush’s presidency had said that many people are making money by selling items in eBay.

Senator Edwards to poke fun at Mr. Cheney’s wild assertion told a union hall rally at Piketown: “He (Cheney) said people are selling a lot of stuff on eBay.  When we count the bake sales and lemonade stands, we'll have a roaring economy.”  In America, many organizations such as Boys and Girls scout host cookie (biscuit) sales for fund raising and neighborhood kids sell lemonade to earn smidgens.  Thus, Senator Edwards referred to those sales to mock the vice president. 

Senator Kerry and Edwards have been saying that what Americans need is high-paying jobs but the economy under Bush and Cheney cannot generate enough of them; thus stifling a healthy job growth.  In the last couple of years, the economy is creating jobs but mainly in the service sector.  Those newly created jobs mostly pay a minimum wage, which are shunned by college graduates.  The Democratic ticket is campaigning vigorously on the job issue blaming Messrs. Bush and Cheney for managing an economy that failed to generate high paying jobs in the manufacturing sector.  It is noteworthy that many medium-paying jobs in the service sector had moved overseas where labor cost is next to nothing compared to wages earned in America.  Corporations are taking advantage of broadband services to send data overseas for processing, which is costing them a smidgen.  Because of this cost-cutting measure, corporations are showing more profits, which is propelling their share price in the capital market.  Senator Kerry has promised to implement measure to keep those high-paying jobs at home.         

In the second week of September 2004, Mr. Cheney told voters that government’s financial indicator missed the hundreds of thousands who make money selling on eBay.  Mr. Cheney said, “That’s a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago.  Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay.”

There is a good reason for Messrs. Kerry and Edwards to talk about job issues amongst voters in Ohio.  Since Bush took office in January 2001, Ohio has suffered economically, with 229,600 jobs lost and an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent, which is slightly above the national average.  President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are fiercely contesting the battleground state, which went for George W. Bush in 2000.  At stake in Ohio are 20 very valuable electoral votes.

Edwards came to swing state Ohio to criticize the Republicans, praise Kerry, and pledge his support for a federal program aimed at helping workers from the government’s nuclear facilities located in Piketown, Ohio.  Responding to Republicans’ scathing criticism that Kerry would be soft on terrorism, Edwards said, “John will actually do the hard work of leading alliances around the world.  We’ll do what must be done to keep the American people safe, and we're going to restore the image of America we all know and love.”

The episode of Cheney’s inane remarks centering eBay, which he delivered in Cincinnati—a sizable city in Ohio—, brought a sharp criticism from Senator Edwards.  Nonetheless, Edwards’s tone was mocking.  This campaign was becoming very boring and to inject some jests Senator Edwards alluded to girls scout’s cookie and bake sale.  In a campaign, aspiring politicians would say anything to garner votes.  Mr. Dick Cheney is no different from other politicians.  To reply to the criticism from Demos on weak job growth Mr. Cheney mentioned how Americans are making hand over fist selling goodies at eBay auctions.  Senator Edwards could not pass up this opportunity to reply to Mr. Cheney’s inane quip.

In American politics, the candidate for vice president is considered the point man (a man who has a crucial, often hazardous role in the forefront of an enterprise) who delivers the scathing criticism against the rival candidate.  Thus far, we have seen Mr. Cheney delivering some nasty and incisive comments on Senator Kerry’s past experiences both in Vietnam and Washington D.C. 

In the next few weeks, Americans expect to view a minimum of three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate in television.  The vice-presidential debate is going to be the nastiest one because traditionally the candidate for VP can say outrageous things and almost get away with it.  Mr. Edwards used to be a trial lawyer with finesse who may corner down Mr. Cheney who is often blunt in his statement.  Therefore, we have to stay tuned for the debate in the final weeks of this political horserace.

In summary, as election date nears, the campaign is becoming outright nasty with the bombardment of negative radio and television ads.  Senator Edwards being the proverbial hatchet man for Senator Kerry had recently mocked at Mr. Dick Cheney for making some asinine comments regarding how Americans are making a sizable amount of money in the electronic auction market.  As election time nears, we expect to hear more wild assertions.  Considering how flamboyant Mr. Dick Cheney is, he will make more colorful remarks to show that America was blessed to have Bush and him as the captain and vice captain of the ship.  Of course, Senators Kerry and Edwards will refute theirs assertions.  These kinds of arguments and counter-arguments make the presidential election an interesting horserace.  Expect to hear more stump speeches from both the candidates and their running mates.  There is no telling when will the most hilarious moment come.  Surely, it will.  We just saw a sample in this week’s campaign when Dick Cheney said that Americans are making money hand over fist while auctioning all kinds of goodies in eBay.  Senator Edwards think Americans are making a smidgen in the electronic auction block, the eBay.

------------------------------       

Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA

This article was also syndicated by SAN-Feature Service