Is there anything that people won't use against Kerry?

[Cocoa]

Seriously, I don't think there's anything left.

He protested the Vietnam war, and people found the medals thing to use against him.

He investigated BCCI, and people found shortcomings in the result.

People see meida attacks against him, and say "see! They have too much on Kerry!"

At the same time, they say the media is giving him a pass.

Try it, it's fun and easy, every single thing in the world can and has been spun against John Kerry.

[XanaDUer]

1. For over 35 years and NOTHING has stuck

COnsidering how Repukes like to play hardball, I think that is important.

[JaneQPublic]

34. Not in liberal MA, but Kerry's playing on a national stage now (nt)

[Walt Starr]

2. I think the health issue is the most important

Look back to '92 and the issue with Tsongas. It was the RIGHT thing not to nominate Tsongas specifically because of his helath issues.

[Monte Carlo]

4. Kerry has been cured of cancer, for your information.

As he has been saying a lot recently, he has a very good health plan and they caught the cancer growth in an early stage.

And hindsight is the luxury of historians. Tsongas may have died of cancer, but that can't be a disqualifier. What he stood for will continue to live beyond him.

[sandnsea]

9. Dean is mentally ill

Clark is a maniacal general who got fired. Dennis wants to protect the earth from beams from outer space. How sick do we have to be around here?

[hellhathnofury]

18. Dean is not mentally ill.

[Ripley]

20. Nor is Clark a maniacal General.

But let's not let facts get in our way. :eyes:

[sandnsea]

22. Not what some report

Starting WWIII sounds pretty maniacal to me. Dean himself says he has panic attacks, sorry that's mentally ill. It's just as disgusting as somebody using cancer against Kerry. I'm pretty well convinced we won't win in November and we will actually defeat ourselves.

[Ripley]

25. I have had panic attacks before and I am not mentally ill.

You are not very well informed about mental health issues. I've never used Kerry's cancer against him. And that WWIII-Clark thing has been debunked many times.

Also, Dean said he had some anxiety and tried to take care of it. Much different than what you are portraying it as.

[emulatorloo]

29. Exactly sandnsea's point

This stuff is all junk. Mental Illness WWWIII Prostate Cancer. Tabloid-style junk.

[sandnsea]

32. It's a mental diagnosis

I'm not trying to be mean to you personally, just saying, some people seem to be willing to sink to any level.

[Walt Starr]

27. Kerry did have prostate cancer surgery, though

And that is definitely an issue.

I guarantee, the Republicans will bring up some statistics in commercials and ask if the risk of a president who had prostate cancer is worth it.

Tsongas had cancer. He was treated for it. It was "cured". Had he been elected, he would have not been able to run for re-election because he was dying of cancer.

It's a huge issue.

[sandnsea]

33. And Dean has a mental diagnosis

And has exhibited behavior to give it credence as well. You want to go there, I'll go there.

[Ripley]

35. LOL! What exhibited behavior has Dean shown?

You mean his wooping it up at a rally was his sign of panic attacks? Clearly you don't know what anxiety does to someone. It does not make them relaxed enough in front of 3500 that they "let their hair down."

Cancer used to be a campaign killer, however I don't think prostate cancer will hurt Kerry because so many men have recovered fully from it.

You are playing really dirty.

[Valjean]

36. Small Cancers are NOT an issue.

Yeah I don't LIKE Kerry, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

When a major government official disappears for two weeks into an "undisclosed location" THAT is a problem.

[IndianaGreen]

43. And Kerry is Bush's Skull & Bones brother

and your point was...

[JI7]

3. how about the whole dukakis liberal thing ?

and what exactly do people want him to be attacked for ? the best they can do is criticize his record as being too liberal, but there is nothing illegal or corrupt about that.

[Cocoa]

7. may of the attacks are ridiculously contradictory

On Iraq, for example, a certain group of people congratulate Harkin for expressing his regret over his IWR vote. That's how it's rationalized to keep liking Harkin.

But then they say that Kerry flip-flopped, which he didn't, and at the same time denounce him for not doing what Harkin did, which was actually flip-flopping.

It makes my head spin, these incredibly inconsistent attacks on Kerry for the alternating offenses of being inconsistent and consistent.

:crazy:

[WiseMen]

37. Someone has poisoned the well. It worries me for the whole movement

[Monte Carlo]

14. How strong will that effect be on potential Democratic voters?

Seriously, I am asking. Tell me what you think.

Kerry would not repeat Dukakis' mistakes and simply ignore the vicious attacks against him. He would not ride in a tank. He has experience in the uniform whereas Dukakis had none, which is why he looked like a teenager with a tank helmet too big for his head.

[Leilani]

28. Untrue

Dukakis was in the Army.

[Monte Carlo]

30. Well, whatever. He still won't ride in a tank. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

45. One difference with Dukakis is that Kerry is going to get flak from...

both the Left and the Right on a number of issues. Every time Kerry has waffled, he has opened himself up as a target for proponents on both sides of an issue.

Kerry is going to spend so much time defending himself that he will have little time to defend himself from Bush, much less have time to speak of his vision for America.

Kerry is unelectable!

I will vote for this Bonesman sob in the Fall, but I will tell you "I told you so!" when the election returns come.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

5. Looking at his record is legitimate

Since Kerry has posed as a big Bush fighter, his record of complete and utter failure to successfully do anything about the Bushs is a legitimate criticism, don't you think?

[Ripley]

12. I'm tired of that argument as well.

Clearly he failed at all of his BCCI hearings, etc. What did they accomplish? We now have a Bush in the White House, a Bush as Governor of Florida, a Bush making millions off of testing used in No Child Left Behind, a Bush making millions off of Carlysle. How exactly did Kerry do anything to harm any Bush in America?

[isbister]

39. Yes, looking at his record is legitimate

Stating why you disagree with the ideas he puts forth is legit too.

[sandnsea]

6. He's fought for us his whole life

People say they want real change, they want real liberal values talked about and the country moved back towards the left. Then the man comes along who has the guts to do just that, and they shit on him. I am not feeling very hopeful about our party these days.

[JohnKleeb]

11. shame isnt it

I feel I can keep a good amount of my liberal ideals and support Kerry, and I can feel he can win.

[drfemoe]

40. That's a realistic assessment imo

I am not feeling very hopeful about our party these days.

[IndianaGreen]

42. Kerry's public image is that he fought for us, like Teddy Kennedy has

in reality Kerry has betrayed us just as often as he has sided with us. Kerry is no Kennedy!

[Kipepeo]

44. what?

How exactly did Kerry fight for us when we were out in the streets protesting this ridiculous war in Iraq before it even started? How did he fight for the men and women who would be sent over there to die for no reason when he voted for Bush and the war?

[Ripley]

8. Oh brother, now I'm supposed to feel sorry for him?

Like he has had the media dig into him anything even remotely close to the hysterical rantings against Dean.

Come on, you guys were all over Dean with crap like "his state is mostly white" and "his grandmother was in Bush's grandmother's wedding."

What goes around, comes around.

[Cocoa]

13. absolutely not

I am absolutely not saying anyone should feel sorry for him, particularly since he's running so strong, very likely to win.

Just observing something interesting and infuriating about the way people are criticizing him.

[Ripley]

15. You mean like criticizing Dean for yelling at a rally?

Did he yell something obnoxious, a swear word, a threat, a lie?

No, but a pep talk. And look at the hundreds of threads about how un-Presidential he is for that. Kerry's pretend-toking a joint is more un-Presidential than Dean fired up with his supporters. It doesn't bother me, because it can be explained as a joke about a song from the 1960's...but Dean will never get a break.

[Cocoa]

21. yes, exactly right

that's the same thing I'm talking about.

[jpgpenn]

10. "use" how can bringing back Kerry's own words be seen as "used"

Explain your thinking behind this.

[Cocoa]

17. I'll give an example

Kerry makes a comment about Iraq, and that comment becomes the basis of a criticism of Kerry.

That's what I mean by "used against him."

[Renew Deal]

16. He is married to a foriegner.

The wing nuts will like that one.

[Cocoa]

23. that's actually a counter-example

thankfully, I haven't seen that used against him here at DU, though I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up soon.

And you're right, the freepers will be very unkind to Teresa.

[quinnox]

19. Nothing that is significant

Here is a list:

Skull and bones - laughable to most Americans

Medals "incident" - silly and trivial

Health scare tactics - desperation

Wealth - won't work, other great prez's came from money

Massachussets liberal - this is what the GOP will try, but it is not that great or effective of an attack because of Kerry's war hero record

[Nicholas_J]

24. For 35 years

Nothing that has been thrown at Kerry has stuck, but if you look at other candidates in the race, they have been seriously taken down by the press due to their behavior in public over just a few months in the race, after more than a decade of serving in public office.

Lieberman who has been a great public servant, very Liberal, has simply been taken down by the fact that he is running as a conservative, and touting his conservative religious belief.

Dean a conservative, running far to the left, has been taken down by his repeated misrepresentation of other candidates for which he has had to apologize for, and finally what appeared to some to be his bufoonery, and by others, what appeared to be his frightening unpresidential lack of control. Anger, and passion whith cool reserve is what makes it in a president, and Dean has finally let his hand bee seen, and he seems to not have that control.

Kerry has dealt with everything that his opponents could throw at him with cool detatchment and more important not letting those personal attacks deter him from thecourse he had set to go after those in government who were abusing their power and deciving the American people, from Nixon to Bush.

Dean did not show such determinations in opposing those who abuse power. When Monsanto fought legislation requiring consumer notification on which dairy products came from cows in which Bovine Growth Hormones were used, Dean supported such legislation, until Monsanto threatened to sue the state, had a private meeting with Dean, and then Dean had a suddden change of heart, and decided to veto the bill. Th same thing happened with Dean many times, in which he initially supprted legislation that favored the public and opposed special interests in which he then turned around and favored the special interests. Dean has flip flopped on pharmaceutical controls, and the sale of the states nuclear plant, among other things.
As candidate, he has wavered from supporting unilateral intervention in Iraq, to stating that the U.S. needs U.N. permission for it.

Kerry doesnot get bullied to change his direction ,nor does other incitement work on him. He alsways stays the course of promised legislation, and again, that can not be said of Dean, who promised universal health care in Vermont during his tenuire as governor, several times, and then reversed himself on that promise. Dean mandated a comittee to look at the possibility of universal health care in Vemront in 1992, and by 1994, when his preferred multiple user plan failed, he threatened to veto a single payer plan before the legislature even considered such a possibility, and so killed universal health in Vermont. In 2000, he promised universal health in Vermont by 2002, and as soon as re-elected, droppoed the whole idea.


Kerry has shown marked consistancy in what he will and wont do, He can be persuaded to compromise, with rational artgument. but he cannot be bullied or bought.

Deans record is something else entirely.

[Cocoa]

26. nicely said

The whores seem sullen to me, at the prospect of Kerry winning. I think they see that their task of destroying the dem candidate will be real work. It won't be fun, like it would be with Dean, for example, it will be difficult and distasteful, and will probably fail.

I think the same about Clark, he's another tough target.

[SheilaT]

31. Get used to it.

The sad truth is that the general election campaign is going to be very ugly, and whoever our nominee is will face unrelenting attacks and lies from the Republicans. Not a one of the candidates is pure and unsullied. They all have negatives. The important thing in the end is going to be to stand up to the attacks in whatever way is appropriate.

For me, personally, certain things matter more than others and I make my decisions based on those.

[IndianaGreen]

38. Kerry has been involved in dirty tricks and campaining

and he deserves a dose of his own medication.

[CWebster]

41. You ain't seen nothing yet. nt

[kaitykaity]

46. Nope.

Turnabout is fair play AFAIC. Kerry will not excite
the base. Kerry is a muddle of the road pink tutu
DINO who only changed his tune and grew a spine when
when Dean gave him a good swift kick in the &ss.