Dick Morris:
WITH only two weeks to go, President Bush and his campaign demon strated once again that they are playing chess while Kerry is playing checkers.In a feat of strategy worthy of the greatest admiration, they realized that the entire race would change complexion once the third debate kindled a focus on domestic disagreements in what had been, until then, a foreign-policy contest.
Knowing that Kerry — or any Democrat — has an advantage in a contest over domestic policy, they prepared for a parry during and after the third debate, which has given their candidate the lead once again.
To blunt the Kerry attacks on the president's foreign policy and, in particular, on the war in Iraq, Bush had accused the Democrat of flip-flopping on the war, voting for it, then opposing its funding, then supporting it again and now opposing it while saying, nevertheless, that he will fight it with more troops if he is elected.
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But as Kerry moved to domestic policy and extolled his "plan" for job creation, health care, Social Security and Medicare, Bush shifted his attack — much less calling Kerry a flip-flopper, much more accusing him of liberalism and tax-and-spend policies.
By declaring in the third debate that Kerry inhabits the far left bank of our politics, well away from the mainstream, Bush hit pay dirt.
Knowing that Kerry would seek to win the domestic issues by promising the moon, Bush, in great jujitsu style, used the Democrat's strength against him, coming around his right flank adding up the cost of the promises and underscoring his adversary's liberalism.
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The beauty of the Bush attack is that it is fueled as much by Kerry's proposals as by the Republican jabs. With every new speech, Kerry shows his liberalism and makes promises that dig him an ever deeper hole. Should he try to tack to the right to rebut the accusation, he will run into the old charge of flip-flopper and rekindle doubts about his ability to stick to a position.
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