John Kerry said that we ought to reduce the terror threat so it's just a "nuisance." The Bush campaign is currently flogging the idea that the use of this word tells us something — I'm not clear on what — about Kerry and his wrong attitude towards terrorists. This strikes me, and probably even a lot of Bush voters, as a naked ploy to deliberately misinterpret what Kerry said.
I am honestly unsure if Bush's position is that we can win the war on terror…and if so, precisely what that means. I would like to think that we can win it to the extent that it becomes so rare that the word "war" no longer applies. Either that or we accept that forever and ever, there will always be the very real possibility of a chemical attack, a suicide bomber on a bus, another 9/11…or worse. There was a time when we didn't worry about such things and I would think that if and when that time comes again, it would not be improper to say we've won the "war." We could then say we'd reduced the terrorist threat to…well, if "nuisance" is the wrong word, let's find another one that denotes something that is a slight worry, the way it's a slight worry just to get on an airplane or just to drive on the freeway in bad weather.
I think the use of "nuisance" is just fine in that context…but if it isn't, so what? George W. Bush, of all people, should be tolerant of folks who use awkward phrasing.
Bush is the first person I can think of who has managed to convince a substantial part of America that he's not to blame for what comes out of his mouth. If Kerry uses the wrong word, people jump all over him. When Bush uses the wrong word, which is often, those same people say, "Oh, that's just the way he talks. You know what he really meant."
In the last debate, Bush made reference to "The Internets," plural. How fair would it be for the Kerry campaign to whip up an ad saying, "George Bush is so out of touch with the world today, he thinks there's more than one Internet"? Every time Bush opens his yap, he provides fodder for that kind of commercial. I'm not wild about a lot of the pro-Kerry ads but at least he hasn't resorted to that kind of gotcha.