Another Hypothesis Bites the Dust
I have been guessing that whatever policy President Bush adopts on any given issue, John Kerry will find a way to second-guess regardless of the positions Kerry has adopted in the past. That is, after all, the challenger's prerogative when battling an incumbent, and I'm not accustomed to seeing candidates for elected office neglect opportunities, however squalid, to win votes. Alas, here is Kerry's statement on the President's endorsement of Israeli President Sharon's policy on Palestinian lands and refugees: "I think that could be a positive step. What's important obviously is the security of the state of Israel, and that's what the prime minister and the president, I think, are trying to address." My hypothesis isn't strictly refuted, though. Kerry doesn't say the Bush policy is a positive step, but rather that it could be one, and politicians, like cats, have evolved whiskers long enough to enable them to recognize small spaces which are just large enough for them to wriggle through. Nevertheless, to the best of my knowledge, this is the only issue, foreign or domestic, on which the major party candidates for the presidency have publicly agreed this year. Given the sad state of American electoral politics since politicians - paradigmatically, the original JFK - discovered the efficacy of marketing techniques developed for the purpose of selling goods and services, I suppose that this convergence of views is evidence that both Bush and Kerry believe they stand to gain more votes than they will lose by adopting this position, rather than evidence for or against its wisdom.