Contest: Name the 'October Surprise' in the US Elections...

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press

Thursday September 16, 2004 13:17

by redjade

sure, its predictable, but what do you predict?

I invite readers to submit entries to the "Name the October Surprise" contest by answering this question: "What do you think is a possible October Surprise that Bush will announce in order to try to win a close election?"

This contest emerges out of history -- political history and Bush history.

[....]

Here's the deal: please send me your prediction of a possible and creative October Surprise. It must be described in 100 words or less and there is only one entry per person (also, please summarize it in up to five words in the Subject line). On Wednesday, September 30th, we'll announce preliminary results - e.g., several of the most interesting submissions as well as the volume of similar submissions per surprise. Then on Sunday, October 30, we'll announce the "winners" based on the submission(s) which predicted what actually happened.

[....]

The goal is to anticipate particular "surprises" in the hope, however small, that Bushies may shy away from what's widely anticipated because it reeks of a political ploy. That is, I believe in preventive wars politically, not militarily.

Is this contest cynical? No, just realistic. A governing elite which seems to embody Mark Twain's axiom that "a lie gets halfway around the world before truth puts on her boots" should be presumed capable of saying or doing almost anything to hold onto power.