What should voters be scared of?

Alan Reynolds, with the Cato Institute, has a list of things Kerry believes he can use to scare voters away from Bush.

When it comes to unfair gamesmanship, Sen. John Kerry hit a new low lately with campaign claims that President Bush is somehow responsible for contamination of flu vaccine at a plant in England, that the president's re-election portends a military draft and that the president plans, as January surprise, to slash Social Security benefits by 30 percent to 45 percent. An astute Washington Times cartoonist suggested Mr. Kerry might as well have also accused the president of eating puppy dogs.

The vaccine shortage is the result of the closure of a plant in England. The reasons the supply of vaccine is so precarious that one plant can make that much of a difference are costly regulations which make it more expensive to produce vaccines, and Government agencies hold vaccine prices down to a low level.

The draft was introduced by a Democrat. When it came to a vote, the Democrat who introduced the bill didn't have the soldierly virtues to vote for his own legislation. The voices that are calling for more troops in Iraq have all been Democratic voices.

Social Security benefits may well be cut – for those born after 1980. In exchange for lower benefits from Social Security, workers will receive more benefits from private retirement accounts. Studies have shown that even a bad investor can beat the returns available from Social Security, and unlike Social Security, a private account doesn't disappear when the recipient dies. It can be willed to heirs.

So what should voters be scared of?

In a well-informed world, such obviously deceitful tactics ought to backfire, and they probably will. Mr. Kerry has clearly been willing to say just about anything to scare people into not voting for his opponent. If that doesn't scare you, it should.