unknown, even to himself. George W. Bush won because 9/11 had truly changed America and because he accurately reflected America’s resolve that the War on Terror has to be won. Not waged. Won. Voters concluded that while John Kerry could adequately

manage

a terrorist attack, it was President Bush who was more likely to

prevent

one. Two key campaign events enhanced Bush’s role as America’s Defender and Keny as weak and/or indecisive. The first was the Swift Boat ads. In my focus groups, Keny’s convention performance was effective enough to change a few minds. But the blizzard of TV ads unleashed by the group of Vietnam vets blanketed the airwaves in swing states and undid whatever benefit the convention provided. True, the Swift Boat veterans never fully convinced voters that Kerry

“betrayed”

his country in wartime, but they did raise nagging and unresolved doubts about Kerry’ s character and judgment at the very moment that voters had begun to make up their minds. The Luntz Research Companies 1 The second key event was the Republican convention itself. Swing voters swung to Bush because of a powerfully delivered convention speech that was the right balance of domestic agenda and national security, and because he effectively communicated that he was truly a man on an unyielding mission. They heard a President who heard them, understood their concerns, addressed their fears,. and made them feel safer and more secure in their homes and in their country. The President stormed out of New York with a double-digit lead that helped him survive the first debate and sustained him through Election Day, It also helped that he had the best communication team of this era in his corner. Sure, the Democrats have clung to a desperate belief that Bush won because he waged a campaign of fear, The exact opposite was the case. Americans turned to him precisely because they saw him as the antidote to that fear. The results on Election Day iflustrated an essential principle of electoral success: it is no longer enough to say no. Voters need someone who will say yes. John Kerry became a symbol for voters opposed to the President’s policies and procedures, but not much else. Conversely, George W. Bush became the vehicle for those who wanted an affirmative, proactive, preventative approach to homeland security. Americans will tell you that it was Bush, not Kerry, who offered the hope that personal security could be restored. And in this election, hope won. When it came to the war on terror, Americans knew where their President stood and exactly what he believed. They simply did not share the same level of confidence in John Keny. The events and aftermath of

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