The Kerry Debate Shiv

In 1980, Ronald Reagan asked a famous question in his debate with Jimmy Carter: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" It was a question with a rhetorical punch and it helped him win the election.

Is there a rhetorical question John Kerry might ask in the debate summation that would cut to the electorate's discontent in the same way?  How about this:

"The President has shown disastrous judgement in Iraq; he still does not realize his mistakes. So tonight I ask every voter in America: Do you want more Iraqs? Can you trust George Bush to not make more terrible mistakes?"

This formulation does two things:

• John Kerry usually appeals to reason. He says "George Bush was wrong about this... he was wrong about that." This question appeals to a more primal instinct: fear. Republicans know all about this. They try to make us think that a terrorist attack will be more likely if Kerry is elected. They know that fear sticks while reason often comes loose. (The big difference is that the fear this question evokes is justified; the fear Republicans evoke is not.)
  
• In martial arts you are taught to use your opponent's force against him. What is George Bush's thrust? "I'm a strong, aggressive leader; the other guy is a wimpy flip-flopper." This question turns his aggression against him: the issue is no longer who has the greater resolve. It suddenly becomes: "Gee, is this guy so rash that he would get us into another mess?"

In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson won in a landslide mainly because he made people believe that Goldwater would have a quick finger on the nuclear button. There is hay to made from the accusation of rashness. For that reason I find it hard to understand why the Kerry campaign doesn't at least hint at the dark potential of another Bush term.

It could all be done with a simple question: "Do you want more Iraqs?"