Serious Times, Serious Choice
-- Ken Mehlman, the head of President Bush's reelection campaign, is clearly right about one thing. "This is a big-issue election," he said in an interview the other day. "We are not talking about trivial differences."</br></br>The truth of that statement is amply proved by the speech that Bush gave on Monday night, kicking off his campaign, and the response heard Thursday night in the Los Angeles debate from the leading Democratic candidates, John Kerry and John Edwards.</br></br>The public recognition that the stakes are larger than usual explains why interest in Tuesday's primaries here and in nine other states is greater than anyone expected. Even though the candidates have barely had time to touch down in New York, California, Ohio, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and the three smaller states also balloting, expectations are for big turnouts.</br></br>Americans understand how much rides on the impending choice. As the president said, "Great events will turn on this election. The man who sits in the Oval Office will set the course of the war on terror and the direction of our economy. The security and prosperity of America are at stake."</br></br>That is more than rhetoric. Two factors have merged to make this election consequential -- much more so than most second-term decisions usually entail. One is the emergence of genuinely new forces in the world and at home, demanding tough policy decisions. The other is the way Bush has responded -- or failed to respond -- to these changes.