Why has yet another prominent Democrat, former mayor Ed Koch of New York City, decided to vote for George Bush in 2004?

Another Democrat turns for Republican George W. Bush. It is Edward I. Koch, who served as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.

He faults the Democratic candidates for the presidency as lacking inspiration. They instead are panderers of the negative and despondent as well as the unreasonable and shallow.

On January 8, Mr. Koch stated in an editorial entitled, "Why I, Koch, Am bolting For Bush" (World Tribune): "I am a lifelong Democrat. I was elected to New York’s City Council, Congress and three terms as mayor of New York City on the Democratic Party line. . .Nevertheless, I intend to vote in 2004 to reelect President Bush. . .President Bush has earned my vote because he has shown the resolve and courage necessary to wage the war against terrorism."

Mr. Koch goes on to underline his disappointment in the Democratic candidates for the highest office in America. "The Democratic presidential contenders, unfortunately, inspire no such confidence. With the exception of Senator Joseph Lieberman, who has no chance of winning, the Democrats have decided that in order to get their party's nomination, they must pander to its radical left wing. As a result, the Democratic candidates, even those who voted to authorize the war in Iraq, have attacked the Bush administration for its successful effort to remove a regime that was a sponsor of terrorism and a threat to world peace."

Mr. Koch spares no words for former Vermont governor Howard Dean when he states that "the Democrat now leading in the race, former governor Howard Dean, is a disgrace. His willingness to publicly entertain the slander that President Bush had advance warning of the September 11 attacks and his statement that America is no safer as a result of the capture of Saddam Hussein should have been sufficient to end his candidacy. But the radicals who dominate the primaries love the red meat that is thrown to them, even when it comes from a mad cow."

Lauding President Bush, Mr. Koch states that Mr. Bush has "confronted the terrorist threat head on. Immediately following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the president presented the core principle of what has become known as the Bush Doctrine. . .The Bush Doctrine, simply stated by the president, is: ‘We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.’

"President Bush has lived up to that credo. . . This record and the Democratic candidates' irresponsible rhetoric are the reasons why I will vote for a second term for President Bush."