Editorial
Kerry and Bush for Vice President!
by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior EditorThe U.S. government has declared that Al-Qaeda is planning a major destructive attack against the United States sometime this summer or fall.
The information the government reportedly obtained does not indicate the timing of the attack. Assuming this information is correct, it seems that Al-Qaeda aims to influence the American elections in November, just as it timed the bomb attack in Spain prior to its election in a successful attempt to expel the party in power. In that case, the attacks would take place after the Republicans and Democrats have held their conventions.
Al-Qaeda evidently does not understand American politics. Rather than bring the Democratic Party to power, an attack against the US would rally Americans behind the current chiefs of state and favor the Republicans. The election in Spain threw out the party in power because its chiefs falsely blamed the attack on the Basque rebellion, which disgusted the voters. In the US, Al-Qaeda would be correctly accused, so there would not be a similar backlash against the Republicans.
It is in the vital interest of both major political parties and Americans generally to prevent such an attack. The way to prevent an attack meant to influence the election is to make the election immune to such interference, so that if there is an attack, it does not matter who is elected. The Democrats and Republicans should therefore create an anti-terror grand coalition.
John Kerry, the democratic leading candidate, should name the president, George Bush, as his vice presidential candidate, and George Bush should name John Kerry as his vice president. Both would be nominated at the conventions to take place this summer. Bush and Kerry would pledge to share power in the event of a terrorist attack. The vice-presidential candidate would promise to immediately resign the vice-presidency if there is no terror attack by election day, in which case a new vice president would be selected.
This anti-terror grand coalition would thwart any political aim that Al-Qaeda may have. If they attacked, there would be in effect a Bush-Kerry or Kerry-Bush joint presidency. The attack would overwhelm any other political issue, and there would be a united political front. By naming each other as the vice-presidential candidate, Bush and Kerry would signal to the terrorists that any attempt to change the outcome would be futile, because the outcome would be unity.
The politicians of both parties will balk at such a strategy. Many Democrats intensely dislike Bush and conservatives, and many Republicans are disgusted with Democrats and liberals. But if the terrorist threat is real, then to make such political issues the top priority would be like arguing about the seating arrangements on deck while the Titanic is about to hit an iceberg. The top priority should be the prevention of a catastrophic terrorist attack. The only way to do this is to eliminate the possibility of a political influence from such an attack. The grand coalition with reciprocal vice-presidential candidacies would be the best way to accomplish this.
So, let's have Kerry and Bush as vice presidential candidates!
Copyright 2004 by Fred E. Foldvary. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, which includes but is not limited to facsimile transmission, photocopying, recording, rekeying, or using any information storage or retrieval system, without giving full credit to Fred Foldvary and The Progress Report.
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