Salon: Can John Kerry Turn It Around?

[LuminousX]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/09/19/kerry/index.html

This piece, while being a bit overly critical of Kerry, hits the nail on the head. I remember the Kerry the article talks about in the end. The one who had a forceful dynamic presence. The one who didn't need to worry about creating a visage of a leader because he was one naturally.

There is no reason why he shouldn't be the front runner. All he had to do is step out and tell all of us who were angry at Bush that he felt our angry and outrage and he would help channel it. If he would have done that, if he would have helped give action to my outrage, I wouldn't have even looked at Dean. Kerry's credentials are just too impressive. Yet, something happened to Kerry. Possibly being in Congress during September 11, 2001 changed something in him.

I want him to recapture his old voice. Recapture his spirit of rebellion against the establishment. John Kerry, this nation needs you.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blm]

17. This passage is significant....

and more people should contemplate what the writer is saying in this piece. I have said that people here at DU are attracted to Dean because he coopted the language of the internet.

Do the Dems really NOT want a man with the intellectual grasp of Clinton? Do they WANT the "coarseness" to continue?

>>>>>>>>
Still, the pre-mortems on Kerry may be premature. He continues to have enormous potential -- as a candidate, and as a president.

Former Kerry speechwriter Bill Woodward remembers the senator as "intellectually curious," interested in talking through complex positions on issues such as affirmative action and education reform. Former Clinton White House aide Minyon Moore recalls: "When the president invited senators to talk policy in his residence, Kerry always stood out. His depth, his knowledge of policy issues, his thoughtful line of questioning was always thorough and impressive. I said, at that time, This guy can be president."

But, to become president, Kerry will have to be more persuasive, and that means finding the voice he had years ago.

Long before Clark or Dean were well known, Kerry was seen as an eloquent orator, with a commanding presence. "When he was younger, he was a speaker of style and grace," recalls University of Massachusetts journalism professor Ralph Whitehead. "He modeled himself after President Kennedy. Since then, the country has changed, the culture has changed, public discussion has become coarser, and Kerry seems frozen in time."
>>>>>>>

[Demobrat]

2. I don't have strong feelings about Kerry one way or the other

but what I believe is that he was effectively cut off at the knees by Rove, and is now running on stumps. Of course, the others who voted for the war are in the same boat. They blinked. Rove won.

[blm]

3. He was post-cancer surgery when

Dean made his first big move to the left and started hammering other Dems. Kerry has regained his strength fully now.

Plus, he had been very substantive in his critques of Bush throughout 2002, but the press refused to acknowledge them seriously. Instead they laughed bemusedly at both Kerry and Gore for daring to snipe at Bush just to gain attention.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. But...

Dean was hammering Bush and got attention...

Or is it :tinfoilhat: time?


Make no mistake, Kerry is a powerful player with a powerless campaign. Address that before addressing :tinfoilhat:'s.

[blm]

14. He got the attention

hammering the Democrats. I watched it all go down, no tinfoil needed.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. Never critized Chimp. Ever.

I've seen Dean 4 times. He may throw out the "Chimp-lite*" comment and then proceeds to eviscerate Chimp for 20 minutes.

You watched what go down? You watched Dean stump? Or did you sit in front of a television? Makes a big difference.







*translated: "Why vote for 3/4 or 1/2 Chimp when you can get the real Chimp."

[blm]

19. I'm talking attention.

The media attention started with his hammering of the other Dems and the Dem party.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

21. Many, many people were pissed at

the run-up to war and those who supported, or seemed to have supported it. Dean vocalized that frustration. I'm not from the school that Dems are beyond criticism or reproach (That includes Dean as well). Also, criticism is not a one-way street. Dean issued an apology to Edwards after Edwards responded to Dean's claim that he had voted for the tax cuts. Rightfully so. You see, this anger that you have about those criticisms fails to take into account that they didn't occur in a vacuum, there was a response as well. Whether the response was effective or not rests on the shoulders of those doing the responding. In Edward's case it was effective. You can be the judge about the effectiveness of the other's responses.

[blm]

23. Dean never apologized for lying about the taxcuts.

He apologized to Edwards for saying last spring that he and Kerry were now pretending they were antiwar now in front of the audience when neither did.

[kang]

4. Kerry's a good Senator

and holds the right positions on most things (except the whole gay marriage btw man and woman thing...for the purpose of procreation). Problem is that I think the media has it in for him, even the liberal media. They like his war story, but can't get past this Gore-like thing that he's been eyeing the presidency from birth. I'm not sure I have a huge prob w/that unless he had no idea what he wanted to do once there and was only into the power/trappings/appearance of the office.

He's been a devoted public servant with the usual healthy Senator's ego. I wish people wouldn't demonize him just because his campaign's faltered and he seems to have trouble being concise and clear. I once heard Sen. Biden speak in person and I felt like he spoke FOREVER!! And I like him too.

[DJcairo]

6. There's nothing wrong with his campaign

His message is resonating with many thoughtful and cynamic liberal leaders in thsi country - hence an outpouring of heavy weight endorsements this week. And as long as we're on teh subject what is Dean's message "Take our Country Back" That's great. The only reason this kind of "inside the campaign" speculation is going on is because Kerry was annointed the frontrunner based on nothing early on by the press and now he's struggling four months before a vote is to be cast and the media needs a way to explain it. He'll come back strong and you all will be wishing you'd voted for him when he emerges the winner.

[kang]

8. I don't think people will regret who they choose

in the primary. No harm, no foul. Once in the general, we'll all rally around the Dem candidate and go full throttle against the GOP. I live in Boston right now and IMHO there's something missing from his campaign. I believe that he's a deep and thoughtful person, but that needs to resonate with voters. I think one of the problems is that there are a ton of candidates still and it's hard for us to really look at each of them when they're still fighting for the little available exposure. I think once a few candidates drop due to money or they think they'd rather back somebody else, it'll be easier to evaluate who's left.

[blm]

18. I expect the same.

I worry not one bit about rallying around the nominee.

[PATRICK]

5. He was actually lucky NOT to be

a frontrunner. Muskie was helped all the way down by Rove's teachers. I think Kerry is better than Muskie in many ways. If Muskie could have survived the dirt he would have beat Nixon, but he was had like all the other righteous Dems. Right now of course someone would love to break out of the pack and start the difficult task of organizing against Bush but maybe it is just as well not to have the top guy picked off and a losing reaction set in diverted away from target number one(W).

The press spin is negative no matter what but people will have some tough choices from this field. let's not do Rove's job with unnecessary activist infighting in creating an Achilles heel for EACH candidate.

[DJcairo]

7. I'm sure most Dean supporters would agree with you

But the fact is this is a nomination fight and no one should doubt that above all else Dems want to see Bush gone and will vote for whoever the nominee is.

if a particular candidate can't take the heat than he should go back to his tree house.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

9. Who exactly "can't take the heat"?

I don't get your inference. Well, I have an inkling, but it doesn't seem to jibe with the reality of the situation.

[DJcairo]

10. My new song

"I like trees, blowing in the breeze"

[NewYorkerfromMass]

12. after Kerry wins New Hampshire he'll be "the comeback kid"

Like the governor from Arkansas- although it will only seem that way in hindsight.
It's as if he's spotted Dean a few strides to set up the "comeback".

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. setting up the "comeback"

if I were Dean I'd be worried.

[blm]

15. Strategy of a long distance biker.

.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

20. and marathoner

...Des Moines' South Side is ethnic, union and Democratic, and State Sen. Matthew McCoy and his family are very, very big deals there. Kerry, who can talk knowledgeably on everything from monetary policy to missile throw-weights, chooses a little more pedestrian issues for McCoy. "I hear you just ran the San Diego marathon," Kerry says. "What was your time?"

"4:16," McCoy says.

"That's great, great," Kerry says. "I remember my first Boston Marathon ... it's a great run. You've got to come to Boston and do it."

"I gotta qualify," McCoy says with a laugh.

"If you want to come and do it, I can get you a number if you want to run this year," Kerry says.

"Fan-tas-tic!" McCoy says. "That is dynamite."

"I mean, seriously, tell me serious if you want to do it," Kerry says. "'Cause I'll get you one."

Who says John Kerry is a frozen fish? Not Matt McCoy! "I think Iowa is looking great for you," McCoy says.

"Can I get you committed?" Kerry asks.

"Absolutely!" McCoy says.

"That's fabulous," Kerry says. "That's enormous. I mean, that is really huge. Thank you. You've made my day. Take care of yourself. And keep in training cause we're going to get you into Boston!"

"You are going to be the next president, there is no doubt in my mind!" says McCoy.

"All right buddy. Take care. Thanks," says Kerry.

The next day, McCoy will get a call from a Kerry staffer telling him that on April 21 he is going to be running in the Boston Marathon.

"No, I could not have qualified on my own; I am a little too slow," McCoy later tells me. "This was Massachusetts-style politics."

McCoy also says he finds Kerry not the least bit aloof. "I find him warm and charming and likable, and I think he will sell very well," McCoy says....

Kerry helps out a fellow marathon runner

[Nicholas_J]

22. Kerry is also

Collecting suprtdelegates like mad. He has picked up more of them in the last month than any other candidate.