Whether by serendipity or calculation, President Bush has the opportunity to change his mind on two issues that, were he to do so, would redound decidedly to his political benefit.
- For reasons inexplicable from a tactical standpoint, he is resisting pressure to let Ralph Nader in the presidential debates, insisting on going mano-a-mano with John Kerry. LetNaderDebate.org is taking out BlogAds in various places (such as Dan Drezner‘s site) trying to get people to write letters to Bush demanding that Nader be allowed in. I say he should relent. While it’s true that this would result in a 2 vs. 1 contest ideologically, raising Nader’s credibility can only help Bush get re-elected.
- Bush is refusing to call Congress back from their traditional recess to debate and enact intelligence reform. Now that John Kerry has called for, nay, demanded, that he do so, Bush should relent, even giving Kerry credit for helping him change his mind. He then forces his opponent to either spend valuable campaigning time sitting around committee rooms or to skip these meetings–that he called for!–to go campaigning. Either way, Bush wins.
