WP: Bush Scores Points By Defining Kerry

[kskiska]

Wednesday, March 31, 2004; Page A01

Since the end of the Democratic primaries, attacks on John F. Kerry by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, backed by millions of dollars in negative ads, have wiped out the narrow lead Kerry enjoyed at the beginning of the month and damaged his public image.

The senator from Massachusetts emerged from the primaries unscathed but still little known, a condition Bush's team set about to change with an aggressive plan to define the senator before he could define himself. A month later, more voters see Kerry as "too liberal," and a solid majority says he is someone who has changed his positions on issues for political reasons -- both charges leveled by the Bush campaign's daily attacks through ads and public statements.

The damage to Kerry has been partially obscured by the controversy over the new book and public testimony of former White House counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke, who has charged that Bush let his personal obsession with Iraq overshadow more important priorities in the war on terrorism.

Bush has suffered some erosion in public perceptions of his handling of terrorism, according to new polls, but still holds a strong advantage over Kerry on that issue. The president's decision yesterday to allow national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify before the independent commission investigating the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was seen by strategists in both parties as an effort to cut short a potentially damaging public relations battle that threatens to chip away at the broader gains he has made in the past month.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37462-2004Mar30.html

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. Still early...

That's total bullshit to extrapolate that from one poll.

Gottas love the Washington Post.

[MidwestTransplant]

3. I think it's true

the lies have hurt.

[Gloria]

2. Poll or no poll....that's their tactics--it's like carpet bombing....

I think that Kerry better figure out a way to start slamming.

Vacations, rotator cuffs do no make momentum....

[Cush]

4. agree, he chose a poor time to take a vaction

He's letting Bush & the media define him. But it's still early.

[Malikshah]

6. It's not early

It's four+ years too late.

Stop letting the bastards define.

It is never "too early"

We've been down this road before.

[MajorFlaw]

8. I dissent.

Unless something seriously bad happens or shrub's story completely unravels, Kerry shouldn't be expected to get a bump until the convention. After that, we'll have to wait for debates.

Other than that, we're just killing time until the GE. Most people know who they are going to vote for and nothing will change their opinion. Kerry's job is to raise funds, create alliances of supporters, and to put togethere a viable, on the ground, nationwide political organization for GE day. He's also got to avoid doing or saying anything dumb. Kerry is quick on his feet and has actually thought through many important issues. When was the last time he made a gaffe. (The comments about the bushies being a bunch of crooks and liars and his remark that he never expected that shrub would fuck up in Iraq as badly as he has do not count as truth is a defense).
What comes out of a campaign is slogans and a platform; what comes out of an election is a person, so far only white Christian males need apply, who will be the President of the United States. I'm confident that people will realize that shrub isn't half the man that Kerry is and he never will be.
It's good, frankly, to have a bit of a break after someone clinches so that people can rest up and organize for the next round. Kerry looked like he needed some rest, when should he take it, in July?

[aquart]

5. Bush capitulated because his back was against the wall

but BUSH is defining Kerry???

Yeah, right.

[fizzana]

7. I heard CNN mention a poll today that 58% believe that their

taxes will be raised by Kerry. While this is complete bullshit, Kerry needs to start fighting back hard and soon. I know it's still 7 months to the election but if these lies start sticking they will be hard to dispel down the road.

[The Zanti Regent]

14. Yeah and 0% believe Bush will raise the deficit

We need to pound, pound and pound on the Borrow and Spend republiKKKans!

[depakid]

9. Whatever the whoring post says- spin it the other way

and you'll likely to be closer to the truth. That rag lost all credibility years ago on matters like this. You'd be better off reading tea leaves.

[IndianaGreen]

10. "We have a plan. We're following a plan."

But Elmendorf dismissed the significance of the damage, saying it comes at the beginning of what both sides expect to be a long and relentlessly negative campaign. "We're responding, and we're going to have a dialogue with them," he said. "We don't get up every morning and look at the latest poll and decide what to do. We have a plan. We're following a plan."

You are either attacking or you are under attack. Babbling about a "plan" while the opposition is coming out with things like the "Kerry gas tax calculator" is leaving you open to serious damage.

Throw the "plan" away and attack, attack, attack!

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[IndianaGreen]

17. Kerry's record is his own worst enemy

that doesn't change the fact that Kerry's campaign is more concerned about their "plan" than tactics.

Everyone knows that in war the first thing that goes out the window is the war plan.

[Dr Fate]

19. What do you care.

n/t

[Name removed]

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[Dr Fate]

34. Victim? I just want to know who you are voting for, for President?

Comparing Kerry to Otto Reich, a man he opposed and investigated, is not a "legitimate criticism", but whatever...

There was no unprovoked attack- you are criticising kerry for not handling attackers- so a possible topic is "attacking Kerry"...

If you are not voting for Kerry, then why do you care how he is handling Bush/media attacks? That was my question/point.

[Name removed]

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[Dr Fate]

37. Um, you brought up Venezuela...

So I guess that means I'll alert you!

You also said that I "launched a campaign against progressives"- apparently this wild accusation is rooted in another thread as well-

Looks like you broke that rule too- twice.

[IndianaGreen]

38. You mentioned Otto Reich and distorted what I said

and all of that goes back to the Venezuela thread.

Here are the DU rules that are involved here:

Do not "stalk" another member from one discussion thread to another. Do not follow someone into another thread to try to continue a disagreement you had elsewhere

<snip>

If you are going to disagree with someone, please stick to the message rather than the messenger. For example, if someone posts factually incorrect information, it is appropriate to say, "your facts are wrong," but it is not appropriate to say "you are a liar."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html#disruption

[Dr Fate]

40. No one is stalking you...

but when somone constantly attacks Kerry, it becomes easy to remember.

You referenced me to other threads too,- you accused me of some sort of anti-progressive campaign to silence those I disagree with... so we both did it...

[Wonk]

36. How Kerry handles *'s various attacks will have more to do with how many

votes he eventually gets in November than loyalty oaths in March on internet message forums like DU will, I think.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled flamewar :bounce:

[Dr Fate]

39. Who asked for a loyalty oath?

I just asked if the poster was voting Democratic for President.

Why is that such a shameful question to ask?

I never said anyone cant say or do anything they want- but I can comment and ask questions still, right?

[Democat]

11. The media, not Bush, are defining Kerry

Every day another 1000 stories from the mainstream media repeating Bush's lies as facts and defending Bush from any attack from people with facts.

The entire mainstream media favors Bush. This is Al Gore 2000 all over again, only worse.

[IndianaGreen]

18. I see no difference between the media and the Bush campaign

One is an extension of the other.

[Chitown_Dem]

12. Bush attack ads debunked

There was a report tonight on MSNBC of all of the false or misleading information in Bush's attack ads, but I can't find a link for it specifically.

I did find some debunking info on Kerry's web site:

1. http://blog.johnkerry.com/dbunker/
BUSH FICTION: Bush Ad: Kerry “supported a 50-cent-a-gallon gas tax.”

FACT: John Kerry has never sponsored or voted for a 50 cent gas tax increase.

Sen. Charles Robb introduced legislation in 1993 that phased in a 50-cent increase. John Kerry did not vote for or co-sponsor this bill. (S. 1068, Introduced 5/28/93)...

...* George Bush counts airplane fuel as gas tax: One vote Bush uses is a vote to exempt airplane fuel from the proposed BTU tax. Keep that in mind next time you pull your 747 to the local Exxon pump. <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d103:SP00203:>

2. http://blog.johnkerry.com/dbunker/archives/001366.html
BUSH FICTION: John Kerry has voted to raise taxes 350 times.

FACT: Bush and Cheney's fabricated "350 tax hike" attack has already been D-Bunked by FactCheck.org. FactCheck looked into the "350" claim and said this: "The President misled voters and reporters in a March 20 speech when he claimed that Kerry “voted over 350 times for higher taxes on the American people” during his 20-year Senate career."

According to FactCheck, "the Bush campaign’s list of Kerry’s votes for “higher taxes” is padded. It includes votes Kerry cast to leave taxes unchanged (when Republicans proposed cuts), and even votes in favor of alternative Democratic tax cuts that Bush aides characterized as “watered down.”

The March 30th issue of the Los Angeles Times writes, "One example was found on page 83 of the Bush campaign's 87-page listing of Kerry's votes. Listed as "Senate Vote 167-S 1054," the measure was the Senate Democrats' substitute to counter Bush's 2003 economic stimulus package. The Democratic plan, which Kerry voted for, and the Republican plan, which Kerry voted against, would have lowered taxes. Why did it end up on a list of "votes for higher taxes"?"
(more at links)

[Dr Fate]

13. Kerry needs to start INSISTING on "Man to Man" Debates...

And challenge Bush to come out from behind his TV ads...

[question everything]

15. Anyone seen this one?

http://revbilly.com/revsite/sloganator1/sloganator/index.html

[DeepModem Mom]

26. My biggest worries: media bias, and campaign leadership

I know for certain that the media is biased, and serves the Bush campaign, and that makes things very difficult. I don't know much about Kerry's campaign organization, but I do notice some old, familiar names popping up. These seasoned professionals may be exactly what we need, but somehow I wish we had some new blood, with maybe a better recognition that this election is not politics as usual, and that these are opponents who work outside the parameters of traditional American politics.

[Merlin]

29. Kerry is on the edge of losing it right now.

It is INCREDIBLE and INFURIATING that the Kerry people have let this happen.

For God sake, Bush has said consistently for 4 years now that the secret of his political success is to define his opponent and to prevent his opponent from defining him. HE'S SAID IT OUT LOUD, PUBLICLY, MANY TIMES! (I try never to listen to him, but I've STILL heard him say it at least 3 times).

So Kerry had better start pulling rabbits out of hats now, or it's over. His hill is even steeper than it was before.

The Sheeple are completely, utterly vulnerable to first impressions forged by a barrage of TV attacks. Did it take a genius to figure out what the Bushies were gonna do???????!!!!!!!!

Godam it! Do I really want these people guarding our country when they can't even guard our guy's candidacy!!!!

I'm PISSED!

[minkyboodle]

32. If Bush can gain points

with all the stuff that has broken in the last two weeks..... wow I really don't know what to say. I'll be throwing some money Kerry's way in the next week but man this is disheartening.
Scott

[xchrom]

41. exactly

to be behind after the 9-11, condaleeza, clarke dust-up is alarming.
one would hope it isn't a pattern -- but look at his dip before the dean gaffes, how many of those does he get?
and lately -- and perhaps he's tired -- he seems as stiff as an ironing board.

[leesa]

43. It's a media lie minkyboodle. They have been manipulating

the polls and revamping the outcomes since the GOP purchased our media and the polling companies. Do not stop fighting against it because the reality is that Bush is the most unpopular president ever. They will continue to lie and print fake polls and fake articles. Expect it. They must create the illusion that it is close so that they can steal the election with their election fraud tricks, Diebold voting machines, disappearing eligible voters, etc.

The only way Republicans win is via lies and tricks, they have to cheat because what they stand for is despicable.

[leesa]

42. Of course not one bit of this is true. They don't specify WHY Bush is

still stronger on terrorism even though we know he is the weakest President on terrorism we have ever had and he has expanded terrorists probably by the same number as the jobs he has lost us. This is strictly media propaganda. These "newspaper" owners need to be dragged to court for conspiracy to overthrow our country.

They report from their own bogus polls. The rich are destroying us.