John Kerry: Going the Distance
from
JoeUser Forums
I do a lot of my thinking while jogging in the morning -- up 1st Ave to East 59th St, west to Columbus Circle, and down Broadway to Union Square -- which has the strange result that a lot of my thinking is linked to the music to which I'm listening.
Part of my current rotation is Rocky's "Going the Distance", which plays during the climatic fight seat at the end of the movie. As any fan of the movie knows, Rocky isn't focused on actually winning the fight -- his self doubt keeps him from dreaming of that -- he just wants to make it through the fifteen rounds without embarrassing himself. He wants to go the distance.
Rocky's beaten to a pulp during the fight, dragging himself off the canvas repeatedly just to show that he can make it until the end. His girlfriend hides in the changing room, having her own reasons to be terrified of violence. Slowly she steps out of the shadowy entrace on the arena, captivated by the image of Rocky and his opponent, staggering around, the crowd forgetten to them as they both struggle to last to the closing bell.
There are only nineteen days left in this election, and Bush and Kerry are beating each other to a pulp; and I'm powerless to make a difference. As we move into the final days, all I can do is watch and be amazed at the battle being fought by these two men. Everything seems to be fading away as election day approaches.
But at least this time, the Democratic candidate is giving as good as he gets. Gore may have won more votes, but it never felt like his heart was in the race. Not only did Gore not go the distance, I'm not even sure he ever showed up. When Republicans went on the attack, it felt like Gore just stood there like a dope, and I watched appalled.
Not Kerry. Not the Democrats. Not this year. They're fighting back, and Kerry's hitting for every time Bush swings. Win or lose, Kerry's going to take the fight to the last second.
John Kerry is going the distance.
Part of my current rotation is Rocky's "Going the Distance", which plays during the climatic fight seat at the end of the movie. As any fan of the movie knows, Rocky isn't focused on actually winning the fight -- his self doubt keeps him from dreaming of that -- he just wants to make it through the fifteen rounds without embarrassing himself. He wants to go the distance.
Rocky's beaten to a pulp during the fight, dragging himself off the canvas repeatedly just to show that he can make it until the end. His girlfriend hides in the changing room, having her own reasons to be terrified of violence. Slowly she steps out of the shadowy entrace on the arena, captivated by the image of Rocky and his opponent, staggering around, the crowd forgetten to them as they both struggle to last to the closing bell.
There are only nineteen days left in this election, and Bush and Kerry are beating each other to a pulp; and I'm powerless to make a difference. As we move into the final days, all I can do is watch and be amazed at the battle being fought by these two men. Everything seems to be fading away as election day approaches.
But at least this time, the Democratic candidate is giving as good as he gets. Gore may have won more votes, but it never felt like his heart was in the race. Not only did Gore not go the distance, I'm not even sure he ever showed up. When Republicans went on the attack, it felt like Gore just stood there like a dope, and I watched appalled.
Not Kerry. Not the Democrats. Not this year. They're fighting back, and Kerry's hitting for every time Bush swings. Win or lose, Kerry's going to take the fight to the last second.
John Kerry is going the distance.
