catapult magazine

I’ve noticed in these discussions that there are several cino members who won’t be voting for either Bush or Kerry. You like Kerry a little bit better than Bush, but will either not vote at all or you’ll vote for a third party candidate. I know why Bush-supporters dislike Kerry, and I don’t want this thread to fill up with regurgitated Bush campaign ads. What I would like to hear is why specifically those of you who don’t approve of Bush have decided not to vote for Kerry.

I was talking to a bartender from Ireland in a pub where we were playing here in Chicago and was surprised to hear him say that “Chicagoans think they know stuff, but they really don’t. Like with the whole election thing. Yeah, Bush is an arrogant dick and everything, but at least he stands for something. Kerry just says what he thinks people want him to say”. I was surprised to hear him say this as a European. He said it like it was the difference between Americans and people who are more aware of what’s going on in the world—people from Europe. All the nice things world leaders said about Bush after he won made me wonder about how Bush is perceived by other world leaders in contrast to Kerry.