How Will Kerry Beat Bush? Strategy, Tactics? Can we Get Back Senate/House

[Raya]

Kerry said in Seattle "We Will Beat George W. Bush."

He seem pretty confident.

Any idea's on the strategy and tactics to make sure Bush is out come next January.

Is there any way to win back the Senate and House w Kerry the Nominiee.

I know Kerry supporters are a "minority group" here, but I am betting
that there a lot of smart people in all camps.

[onebigbadwulf]

1. Yeah Kerry will blindside Bush

with his pro-war pro-87 billion ....nevermind.

Kerry will defeat Bush by using his charisma and good looks... oh crap.

[Birthmark]

2. We will win it all this year.

Unless there is some amazing resurgence in the economy (which looks unlikely given oil prices), we will win the WH, Senate, and House. You heard it here first.

[WiseMen]

21. error

[Birthmark]

22. That was insightful.

[Sensitivity]

3. Needs a grass-roots strategy. Must have dedicated army of supporters

or else Rupub slime will work.

[AlinPA]

13. This is a "ground war". Repigs own the "air war" with full control

of broadcast media. We have to go house to house.

[WiseMen]

25. I agree. The meetup approach has to be expanded to the max

[absyntheNsugar]

4. Right now...as it stands

Kerry would win the popular vote. I'm not sure about the Electoral Votes.

We really have to win the South, or at least Florida. This means (bite your lip) he has to move to the center. Don't fault him for it, it's how he can win.

[aquart]

6. A hairbrush can beat Bush this year.

The vote is not FOR the Democratic nominee (nice of you to anoint Kerry before the majority of Democrats get a chance to vote), it is AGAINST Bush.

Bush has gained NO new votes (maybe a few truly stupid 18 year olds) and he has lost bloc after bloc after bloc of voters who were solidly behind him the last time.

Bush LIED. About everything.

[Raya]

24. Needed more that hairbrush to win even Iowa

[TheDonkey]

5. JK will have a platform on jobs, optimism, enviroment, and the war

He will blast spaceshrub for lying to the congress and people.
He will black shrub for not going to the UN or mobilizing until the last resort.

He will show off his veteran status to give people a image of stregnth and bravery.

Bush has limited ammo, it's JUST the war in Iraq and terrorism. JK can meet him on all those points saying Bush handled them all WRONG and he did.

People on DU forget that most Americans still agree with the war but not how it's being run.

[AlinPA]

14. How will he get the word out with media fully controlled by rpigs?

[WiseMen]

26. Kerry is going to be attacked from the left. Platform wont help

[WiseMen]

7. The Power of Incumbency should not be minimized. Bush bought Recovery

in the economy with massive deficits. Could be really booming by August.

Could pull back from Iraq in June and claim power tranferred to Iraqis and put U.N. in charge of military operation -- basically the Kucinich plan.

Dems have to run on a new vision for the country. Much harder than
running on bad news for Bush.

[ramapo]

8. Kerry must never let down his guard or his attacks on Bush

The attacks on Kerry are starting and will be relentness. The GOP will spend hundreds of millions of dollars. Dems need to try and match this spending.

Kerry MUST NOT let himself be defined by the media or the GOP. He must define himself. He must answer all attacks. Even character assassination, of which a good example was in the NY Post.

At the same time he has to specify where the Bush admin has gone wrong and how he will fix it. He must be positive yet realistic.

He can't screw up or allow stupid things bubble up (like Gore's color scheme). If he follows these simple yet critical rules, he has a very good chance.

The House and Senate will be much tougher. Kerry, Edwards, Graham and Miller will be gone (assuming Kerry wins). The House is rigged for little turnover, something like the Soviet Politboro. I think only outrage, possibly over economic conditions with Iraq/terror issues less likely, will put votersin a "toss the Repubs out they've had their chance" mood.

[Raya]

23. The Party has to do this. That was problem in the Past. Candidate looks

stupid constantly reacting to RNC dirt.

[corporatewhore]

9. well liberals and conservatives united to fight the patriot act alot of

cons hate bush for the patriot act... oh wait kerry is pro patriot act never mind

[Meldread]

10. Simple Answer: He won't.

He can't win. Although if you pay attention to the rumors he's planning on ignoring the south and focusing on swing states. Although if the rumor is true -- if Kerry wins Nader will run. So I guess it blows that strategy out of the water. So back to the simple answer: He will lose.

[WiseMen]

12. You mean you are going to work hard for Kerry without hope of winning?

[Meldread]

16. I'm not even going to bother voting for him.

I'll vote for a third party first. I refuse to support him with his robocalling, push polling, and OBL Ad Supporting. On top of that some of his supporters really have gotten under my skin, so I won't vote for him just to spite them.

That doesn't even go into the fact that Kerry supports the DLC and what they said about DK and Dean. They are worse than Rove.

[sventvkg]

20. I agree..I'm starting to get ready now for a false surge in the economy

capturing of Osama, and pulling out of Iraq to get Bush re-selected...Look People I think Kerry being the Nominee is a huge mistake on the Democrats part but don't underestimate the Stupidity of the American Sheeple...Bush is going to have a Blowout and then the worse period in American History will begin..All I can say is get ready. someone like Kerry doesn't represent enough of a difference then the administration that is already in there, hence people won't vote one out for another...

[GRClarkesq]

11. Kerry has an outside shot

but the Senate looks bleak and House worse. The House and Senate Republicans will rediscover their "fiscal responsibility" if Kerry is elected in order to sink his chances for a second term.

[THUNDER HANDS]

15. The election will come down to the last two weeks of the campaign

And that is Kerry's time. He shines in the closing minutes, when all hope seems lost.

He's done it throughout his entire career.

As for the House and Senate. We're not getting them back this year. Maybe 2006 for the Senate.

But it's not a great year for us, we have more seats up than the GOP does.

[indigo32]

17. I sure as hell hope so

Is all I can say. But your right... theres no way to know this early.

[DancingBear]

18. he's already tipped his hand re: strategy

He'll use the "Gore plus 1" strategy - i.e. win all the states that Gore carried, plus 1. Even with the new Electoral College map that should be enough.

No matter what anyone says, he has no chance for any southern states, save perhaps Florida, which is an entity of its own. If he gets Florida (which may be in play) he's home free.

The House and Senate are another story. Repugs will gain in the Senate, perhaps as many as 6 seats, due to his (Kerrys) lack of coattails. This will make it fillibuster proof on the Dem side, so the only power Dems will have is a presidential veto, which can be overriden.

The House is already safely in Repug hands - Kerry on the top of the ticket will only add to the majority (can't speak of ind. races, as I am not up to speed on House races this year).

In short, Kerry in the White House will be nice ('cause he's a Dem), but will not be very helpful in pushing Dem legislation. He is the ultimate good news/bad news President, if that comes to pass.

[WiseMen]

19. Has to be the PARTY that WINS not just Kerry. Without Unity the B.S. Stays