By Nathan Diebenow
Staff Writer - WWW.ICONOCLAST-TEXAS.COM

CRAWFORD, TX — Mitch Dworkin of Dallas has a piece of advice for Sen. John Kerry which might help the Democrat win the presidential election this year.
“President Bush dividing this country and many other countries in the world with his policies is probably one of the most important issue that is on the table in this election.” he said. “Bush has clearly proved himself to be a divider and not a uniter as he promised back in 2000 and that makes Bush extremely vulnerable, especially with getting international help in Iraq.”
Dworkin added, “John Kerry can turn this to his advantage by bringing up this issue constantly at campaign rallies, in media interviews, and in campaign press releases. He can state this obvious problem of heavy partisanship, present a valid plan to specifically deal with the issue of division at home and abroad, and then ask Bush publicly, ‘What is your plan to not only win the peace in Iraq but also to win the peace in this country and with the other civilized nations of the world who are now alienated from us?’”
Dworkin’s point hits the nerve of a growing group of Republicans worried about the future of the United States under the national leadership of neo-conservatives like President Bush whom Dworkin said he feels has “hijacked” his party.
Dworkin expressed the same advice prior to the Tempe Ariz. presidential debate on domestic issues on Sunday, Oct. 10, when he visited the Crawford Peace House to talk about his participation in a national grassroots organization called Republicans For Kerry, whose motto is “Country Must Come Before Party.”
“We’ve got to clean house and get new leadership—George W. Bush being president, Tom Delay being one of the leaders in the House, having the country do divided, having lost our world allies, giving tax cuts to the wealthy, squeezing out the middle class. This just can’t continue,” he said.
Started in March 2004 by a wide-range of independent-conservatives across the country, Republicans for Kerry has over 800 members registered through a Yahoo group site. Dworkin joined the group’s cause early last summer, he said, already a firm supporter of Kerry.
Dworkin said he originally supported Ret. General Wesley Clark, based on the belief that the presidential campaign would be won on terrorism/military issues; however, he later followed the general over to Kerry’s side after the former commander of NATO dropped out of the race.
“John Kerry is a mainstream, responsible person who I’d be very happy to have as my president,” he said. “He knows how to get along and work well with other people. He’s fiscally responsible. And he can admit to making mistakes and learn from his mistakes.”
Dworkin said he thought that Kerry was “very substantive” during the presidential debate in St. Louis, while Bush ducked a question about possible mistakes he had made during his presidency and then bullied the debate moderator.
“President Bush does not have the temperament to lead the Republican Party,” he said. “You don’t see that kind of behavior from John Kerry or John Edwards. From what I see, President Bush doesn’t like to take criticism.
“I’d rather have a president who comes across as more human who can admit to making mistakes and can change when he needs to do so as opposed to someone who claims to be firm and resolute and doesn’t change but at the same time will not admit making mistakes and goes on record saying he can’t think of any that he’s made,” he added. “Every president in modern history has admitted to their mistakes.”
Dworkin said that he believed that if President Bush is re-elected, the country will still not be united based on the president’s record of partisan appointments to leadership positions and firing dissidents in his own party, like former treasury secretary Paul O’Neill, former EPA secretary Christy Todd Whitman, and former U.S. Senate majority leader Trent Lott.
“If he has done this with Republicans, do you think he would appoint any Democrats?” he asked. “I don’t see it happening because of what has happened to Republicans he doesn’t like.”
In terms of the nation’s economy, conservative pundits like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Neil Cavuto, have openly disagreed with President Bush’s spending, that it’s even worse than President Clifton’s in the 1990s, he said.
However, despite the political unrest in the Republican Party on President Bush’s policies on trade, immigration, big government, and the invasion of Iraq, Dworkin agreed with Pat Buchanan’s assessment of the way the party members will vote in the coming Nov. 2 election.
“Pat Buchanan says 80 to 90 percent of the Republicans are willing to settle with what they consider to be the lesser of two evils, and I personally would hate to see that. I believe they would stand by President Bush,” he said, adding reluctantly that the possibility exists that the republican party might split into two parties if President Bush is reelected.
“These are just facts: the rich are getting richer, job quality is going down. Job pay is going down. Household income is going down. College tuition is going up. Healthcare costs are going up, and if you reelect him, you’re just asking for more of the same,” said Dworkin.
Dworkin said that he is doing his part to reclaim his party by working with the opposition as the full-time campaign manager for Gary R. Page, a Democrat running against Republican Kenny Marchant in the newly redrawn 24th U.S. Congressional District.
“Marchant is close to Tom Delay, and Tom Delay let him carve up his own district literally to drive out Martin Frost,” Dworkin said.
Marchant is openly running on “a proven leader for George W. Bush,” according to his website.
“Sending someone like that to Congress isn’t sending a voice of the people. It’s sending someone whose just going to vote as he’s told by party leaders and senior party politicians,” said Dworkin.

INFO
www.republicansforkerry04.org

(This article was published on page 10 of the Wed. Oct. 13, 2004, edition of The Lone Star Iconoclast in Crawford, Texas.)