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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:00 PM
Original message
Unimpressed by Kerry
OK, I'm not trying to sound like the right wing media machine, but I just don't think Kerry is doing a good job. The neocons are running him into the ground, and he's not fighting back all that well. We can complain that the attacks are unrelenting and unfair, but blaming the other side isn't going to help when we lose. He's letting himself be pegged as a flip-flopper who voted for the war and then wouldn't give the soldiers money. I know, I know, this is wrong, but Kerry isn't making himself clear. He doesn't get the attack machine he's facing and I think he's doing a poor job of answering his critics.

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Caution Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:02 PM
Response to Original message
1. provide solutions
If you feel this way than help the campaign out...provide some suggestions and solutions and forward them along to the campaign
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liberalnurse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:00 AM
Response to Reply #1
41. I don't see his campaign offices
being available and accessible. It's like the only way we hear about kerry is on the new media channels or through the web sites. I am concerned that the bulk of American voters are not getting any information......
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Norquist Nemesis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:14 AM
Response to Reply #1
46. Did that once
and got an autoreply, no followup except for a campaign soliciation.
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JI7 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:03 PM
Response to Original message
2. he needs money for ads
the right wing has so much money. kerry doesn't have enough to spend much at the moment to counter them each time.
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blm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:04 PM
Response to Original message
3. Feint of heart.
I see Kerry letting them play out their tired hand and then, once they've exposed their piddly arguments, CLOBBER 'EM relentlessly.

Too many of you are unaware of how Kerry operates.
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Debi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:09 PM
Response to Reply #3
7. So the whole taking a week long vacation...
at one of his mansions around the world is a campaign tactic?
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movonne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:14 PM
Response to Reply #7
10. Don't you think he needs a vacation???? after all bush takes
a month and he doesn't even work hard. Kerry has been working very hard and needs to get his mojo back.
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blm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:15 PM
Response to Reply #7
11. No. He's resting after campaigning nonstop for a year.
But, not reacting like chicken little to every rebuke by a repuke IS smarter than some realize.
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Arkana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:02 AM
Response to Reply #11
42. Dukakis effect
Exactly. That has a name--see the subject line, and that's what lost the election to Bush the Elder in '88.
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phantom power Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:14 PM
Response to Reply #3
9. he'd better be careful

I would be extremely cautious about this approach. GOP arguments may seem "piddly" to us, but we aren't their audience. People hear something a few times on TV, they believe it.

Once you get a meme planted in somebody's head, it takes 10x the effort to get it out. Whether it's "true" or not is barely relevant at all. The GOP seems to understand that intuitively, but we seem to have a
mental block against it.
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sadiesworld Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:05 PM
Response to Original message
4. Actually, I've been pretty impressed with his strength...
but fighting the media and *'s war chest will be/is depressingly difficult.
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vi5 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:07 PM
Response to Original message
5. Look at it this way...I empathize with your concerns...
even before he was the nom I was never a rah-rah Kerry guy.

But now at this point it is 7 months before the election, and buscho is already forced to be pulling out their big guns and using money on ads and going negative. People don't like negative. So bush is pulling that out very early. And besides, with all this stuff going poorly (economy, the Spain thing, the attacks in Iraq, the casualties) Kerry is saying little because at this point the events of the past week are doing the talking for him. If he were to throw everything out there now it would be bad I think.

As I mentioned yesterday, Bush's attacks are getting lost in the din of everything else that is going on. Even the right wing media are being forced to report things that reflect poorly on bush because they are the big news stories of the day. If Kerry wasted his time and money and energy and resources now, it would only get lost amidst the cacaphony as much of what bush and cheney are doing now is.
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hackwriter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:51 PM
Response to Reply #5
24. People RESPOND to negative
They may not LIKE it, but they RESPOND to it. Every campaign, we get the same outcry against negative campaigning, but every time, people respond to the smears.

So why should Shrubco stop using what works?

I too am not happy with the fact that Kerry's playing defense already.
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Darkamber Donating Member (507 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 10:49 PM
Response to Reply #24
37. You want offense?
All Kerry has to do is point to the balloon deficit and the fact that social security will be gone thanks to Bush.

What Kerry's problem is he hasn't crunched the numbers on his health care plan as far as I know. If he can come back with a plan that shows that he can do what he promises AND reduce the deficit and save social security in his first four years, it won't matter if he's viewed as soft on defense.
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sangh0 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:07 PM
Response to Original message
6. What you don't see or have seen but forgotten
The neocons are running him into the ground...

And for months the White House has been saying they wouldn't even begin to campaign until AFTER the Democratic convention. They started earlier than they planned, MONTHS EARLIER, because of the attacks Kerry and the Dems have made which have caused Bush*'s approval ratings to fall below 50%.

Kerry's numbers are going up, Bush*'s are going down, and it's Kerry that's being run into the ground

:crazy:
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still_one Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:13 PM
Response to Original message
8. The biggest problem he has is that
the press won't cover him
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factroid Donating Member (30 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:16 PM
Response to Original message
12. do what he can . . .
Edited on Thu Mar-18-04 04:24 PM by factroid
I'm for Kerry being direct and letting 'em have it, where they are vulnerable - i.e. - call their lies lies. So far he's done pretty well I think. The only thing hurting him, however, is that he does not have the kind of comprehensive solutions that Kucinich has, or the consistent record of integrity.

If we don't scale back from 1,000+ military bases, the continued expansion of the Pentagon/MIC machine, pulling out of the likes of NAFTA, WTO and IMF/World Bank support etc. - there's little gained. It's a question of whether enough are educated and insightful enough to understand the solutions to our many problems nationally and internationally - or at least recognize when a viable candidate is espousing them (Nader, Kucinich - O.K. Edwards has some of the right ideas).

Kucinich in 2008!! That's the only REAL solution. Kerry may be pushed to accomplish some things, if the progressives are strong enough politically. We're in for a battle for some time before the regressives fall by the way side apparently. And I notice some of Kerry's likely appointees are tied in with Cheney and company. The OSP/New American Century chickenhawks/Pentagon sweetheart LOGCAP revolving door MIC treasury cash heisters - are still ensconced.

So, I don't see a Kerry win will actually be a big advance (I predict he will - and decisively); but more of a temporary pause in the rush to run America into the ground, since congress may still be Republican... Then, however, we will have a window of opportunity to start a turn-around to the right direction... but we need focus on the REAL solutions and support for a REAL progressive candidate (and only Kucinich and Nader seem to have them as far I can tell).
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jsw_81 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:19 PM
Response to Reply #12
15. You're dreaming
Kucinich will NEVER be president. In 2008 he will be supporting President Kerry's re-election bid.
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factroid Donating Member (30 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:34 PM
Response to Reply #15
18. Kerry...
Well, get back to me when Kerry blames his lack of accomplishing 1/10th of his pledges, due to his vested network that offers no real break with the regressive chickenhawks. I'd like to believe otherwise, but I doubt it. If he is not planning to significantly reduce our DOD behemoth (kill Homeland Security Department too), we'll be in little better shape than before... and to start a REAL alternative energy policy for America, etc... Don't know why so many want the same old same old; we may be forced to radically change by virtue of coming catastophies, however. 911 is only the first one at the rate we're going.

So, it's change now, or pay later. The choice is ours. :nopity:
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Bread and Circus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:39 PM
Response to Reply #12
21. Give me a break, Kucinich couldn't beat me if I ran....seriously
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factroid Donating Member (30 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 08:53 AM
Response to Reply #21
55. too bad
. . . that you have given up on real change.

But, there is always 2008 (and beyond), as you will eventually realize, perhaps.
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xray s Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:17 PM
Response to Original message
13. Kerry may be wise to let the news do his campaigning for a while
Stuff that should be simmering that will trump the Rove lie machine...

The Palme outing investigation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee records theft investigation.

The 9/11 commission testimony (this could be BIG...where's Condi?)

The $100,000 House bribe for Medicare vote investigation.

The Medicare cost estimate coverup.

The various Halliburton fraud investigations.

You know why Bush and Comapny are blowing their wad now? Because they are scared of what's to come.



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jsw_81 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:18 PM
Response to Original message
14. I am VERY impressed by Kerry
In a new poll, he's beating Bush in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Bush cannot win without taking at least three of those states.
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NewYorkerfromMass Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:28 PM
Response to Reply #14
17. Nice thread defuser
I'd say polls showing Kerry winning those states ought to have Rove losing sleep. A lot of sleep.
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mike1300 Donating Member (4 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:27 PM
Response to Original message
16. Unimpressed with Kerry
I'm a Vietnam Vet ... but, Kerry doesn't seem to be able to
explain what he's all about ... He spends too much time complaining
about Bush and not enough time telling us what he can do to
make a difference ..
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no name no slogan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:35 PM
Response to Reply #16
19. Very good point, Mike
and welcome to DU! :hi:

Somehow Democrats have convinced themselves that by just being anti-GeeDubya they can win in 2004. This tactic, at best, will get them 47% of the vote.

However, to be assured of a victory, we'll need 50% of the vote, plus one more.

So far, I've heard little from Kerry that has given me a reason to vote FOR him. Right now, I'll vote for him because he's not GeeDubya. But that's it.

I have not been impressed by his justifications for prolonging the US occupation of Iraq. Nor am I impressed with his ideas on providing health care to all Americans. The same goes for halting militarism, and redirecting our war budget into improving our schools, roads, and other infrastructure.

Kerry will get my vote. But as things stand right now, he will not get a dime of my money. Nor will he get a second of my time. I have local candidates who need both much more than John Kerry needs them.
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factroid Donating Member (30 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:41 PM
Response to Reply #16
22. Exactly
Edited on Thu Mar-18-04 04:48 PM by factroid
Indeed indeed. I think the idea is that we need a real change, not just "beating Bush & co.." My point exactly; which is why I support Kucinich. He (and Nader, and perhaps, to some degree, Edwards) actually have a different direction to take us in. Kerry is like an old bandaid. It will fall off before long, since it is not a new dressing...

We need to heal the wound of BushWorld with real medicine to treat the whole organism. We do not need another 'silver bullet' - with side effects (just like many who look for the silver bullet in medicine - the magic pill, then complain about the side effects that are just as bad or worse). Either we face the truth of fiscal irresponsibility and a run-away military machine National Security CorporaPlutocratic Washingtonian Duopoly, or we suffer... one way or another. ---> no pity: :nopity:

Kucinich's support is growing more all the time, because he is running on the right principles, and getting a growing grassroots support that will never stop (unless American dies!). I don't see him giving up - ever - and even if he would step out at some point, his legacy will never die... like Wellstone X's 100 . . . (due to the potential support as a Presidential candidate).

Go Dennis!! :yourock:

He's ready, are we?!!
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MaggieSwanson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 06:09 PM
Response to Reply #22
27. I'm ready.
Dennis Kucinich is the one we have been waiting for.
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factroid Donating Member (30 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 08:51 AM
Response to Reply #27
54. pants on fire
Great site!

Thanks. :toast:
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Kanary Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:03 AM
Response to Reply #22
43. An Old Bandaid!
Good analogy!

That one is gonna "stick" with me. :) :)

Welcome to DU, factroid!

:hi: :hi: :hi:

:toast:

Kanary

Another Delusional Diehard for Dennis!!

Kucinich 2004!
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factroid Donating Member (30 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 08:49 AM
Response to Reply #43
53. Great!
Keep up the Spirit! We cannot fail.

It's not IF, it's when . :thumbsup:
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zulchzulu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 09:08 PM
Response to Reply #16
32. Kerry certainly spends time providing answers
Go to his web site. It won't go to you magically.

http://www.johnkerry.com
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arewethereyet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 10:19 PM
Response to Reply #32
34. and so Senator Kerry is to campaign with a website alone ?
no, this won't come to us magically, Kerry has to work to make it get to the public because they sure as heck won't set out in search of it.

If thats the plan Kerry will make Dukakis look good in comparison.
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zulchzulu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 11:58 PM
Response to Reply #34
40. Should Kerry stop by your house?
He's on TV. He's on the web.

You can't say he isn't doing anything when he is. Make an effort.
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arewethereyet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 01:41 AM
Response to Reply #40
48. the point the poster makes is that he is doing poorly at this task
then I respond to a silly response that all the answers that he should be articulating are on his web site.

the real issue is that he should be able to speak to all these things clearly and concisely on TV and in the other media. he's not getting it done and its hurting him and our paraty's chances in November.

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texasmom Donating Member (490 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 09:35 PM
Response to Reply #16
33. I agree, Mike.
I think Kerry needs to be framing who *he* is for the American public right now. He needs to spend time, and have surrogates out there all the time, telling the public what he's stood for his whole life, who he's fought for, what his life has been about.

I hope his campaign loses no time getting the word out about who John Kerry is. This week has been uncomfortable for me just because I can see the Republicans trying to paint the first picture for the public about who Kerry is.
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newyawker99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 11:21 AM
Response to Reply #16
57. Hi mike1300!!
Welcome to DU!! :toast:
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Bread and Circus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:37 PM
Response to Original message
20. It's not Kerry, it's the Democratic Party...Kerry can only do so much...
if he does all of his own dirty work, then he will be pegged
as argumentative and unlikable.

I appreciate your concern, but you gotta realize this is a systemic
process.

Clark was taken out by the RW media machine from day 1, so many
of us have already been through it.

At this point the Dem Party better get its ass in gear and help
Kerry.
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WilliamPitt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:45 PM
Response to Original message
23. Turn off your television
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factroid Donating Member (30 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:54 PM
Response to Reply #23
25. a prediction
I'm going to stick my neck out a little bit and make a prediction. I predict that come June-July . . . August at the latest, when the 1st 911 report comes out, BushWorld will be toast. There are so many investigations and lies surfacing that they will never be able to hold it in there, and we may actually Bush (and a couple of others?) ousted before our eyes - or at least publically disgraced (worse than Clinton). So I think Kerry will win decisively or better. Then, we'll be asking ourselves, oh, why did not we not 'go for the gold' and elect Kucinich?

I know there are many that do not recognize Kucinich as 'the one' - but the 'Matrix' goes very deep in deception, folks... trust 'the force.' B-)
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opihimoimoi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 04:58 PM
Response to Reply #23
26. Right now, as of the present, Kerry is the Starting Quarterback
He needs good coaches, trainers, PR staff, monies, Ideas, solutions, plans, ideas again, wisdom, and a vision that is ebolaesque, contagious. He needs us, he needs them, he needs good feedback, he needs a victory that will come only if we Dems back him like we do The CornHuskers, the Cowboys, the Dolphins, the Lakers, etc etc

WE must get passionate about our one single shot at unseating a force that is not doing America very well.

Come, we gather good ideas for the Idea Filter. We go help.
I buy the drinks and pupu for the first 7
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arewethereyet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 10:20 PM
Response to Reply #23
35. head in the sand, yeah, thats the ticket !
jeez Will how does that help ?
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Mick Knox Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 10:28 PM
Response to Reply #23
36. Ah.. so thats how you escape the reality of the situation..
When you bashed me pretty good for not liking whats happing right now.. the magic answer.. DONT WATCH It. Got it now.. now all we gotta do is get the country to turn off their TV's for 7 months and we wont see Kerry getting brutalized and paying for every minute of Air time.. while its a non stop B* fest on TV.

Its clear now pitt... why didnt ya say it yesterday instead of cussing your way through a response with rhetoric.
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WilliamPitt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 11:23 AM
Response to Reply #36
58. You think the cable news is 'reality'?
and when did I bash you?
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Kanary Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:04 AM
Response to Reply #23
44. Yeah, Will, that's really gonna work with millions of voters, eh?
:eyes:

Kanary

Another Delusional Diehard for Dennis!!

Kucinich 2004!
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zulchzulu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:05 AM
Response to Reply #23
45. I agree
Edited on Fri Mar-19-04 12:06 AM by zulchzulu
It's not putting your head in the sand or "escaping reality" if you want to turn off the TV.

Attacks on Kerry will be relentless on all the corporate media channels. Bush ads will play on any station that wants to get paid to show the ads. Murdoch puppets will use the usual distortion and hit-and-run lie tactics on those channels.

It's going to be part of the media landscape to have attacks on Kerry. There is too much to lose for Bush's backers if Bush loses, so it will continue.

You have the choice of dealing with the lies and watching TV and seeing Kerry defend his record and show he's the one who needs to win or you can turn the TV off.
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arewethereyet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 01:44 AM
Response to Reply #45
49. OK and do we turn off the radio and stop the paper as well ?
and discontinue the internet service and magazine subscriptions too ?

and I'm sure the entire voting public will be glad to go along with this sage advice.
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zulchzulu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 02:01 AM
Response to Reply #49
52. Yes, please do that
You may want to also....never mind.
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Blue_Roses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #23
59. true
I did last night and this morning and I have to say my outlook is more positive. Now if I could just manage myself in this conservative town!:crazy:
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PATRICK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 07:20 PM
Response to Original message
28. Local newspaper
My rag is left leaning in a soft way like NPR. Still the main editorial runs the meme uncritically. For that alone I will nail them, but they tried contacting a Kerry's spokesperson and didn't get a good clear response. So they went ahead parroting the meme of "flip flopping" etc.

Having to jump through hoops Bush can't even crawl through.

The defense takes too much explanation, common sense takes too much thought for our journalists. As a raw tactic, responding even to a crude lie takes time and puts you on the defensive. Ducking is not allowed for Dems. Rope a dope is a losing proposition if your Teflon is not infallibly perfect without the media. Dancing is considered a flaw for Dems.

For twenty years in a hostile Congress which even Pres. Clinton could not handle to the media's satisfaction Kerry is supposed to have been this or that? Dollar Bill Bradley saw that prospect and bailed, thinking to run with his purity of liberalism intact. Kerry has gotten bloodied trying to make things work, bend things back.

But now we have to in detail defend every piece of legislation to a crowd that never watches C-Span, doesn't understand even the surface workings of the Senate? It would be nice if at least WE realize this is an impossible situation which is meant to breed discontent and despair. While nothing is expected of the GOP at all- ever.

Who would do better? No one. If you have a good suggestion forward it to the campaign.
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skjpm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 08:05 PM
Response to Original message
29. Wow! You can get a lot of replies when you take a nap
Anyway, I just don't think Kerry gets it. It's not going to work to expose Bush's policies--sad as it is, no one cares about something you have to think about. And it's no help to expose Bush. If we found a picture of Bush on 9/11 pushing down the plunger on a bunch of Dynamite, the right wing would spin it that 9/11 was done in order to prevent 9/11. And their people would believe it. We have to be as effective at planting "memes" as they are. That's why the AWOL was effective--Bush is thought of as a deserter of some kind. We need more stuff like that. Or you can talk about percentages on Medicare and lose while the Bush camp shows how Kerry knew 9/11 was going to happen but didn't stop it because he's French.
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ima_sinnic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 09:03 PM
Response to Original message
30. I have had a sick feeling ever since reading that Kerry said
that the new president of Spain was letting the terrorists win by withdrawing the troops from Iraq. Sorry, I can't provide a link but maybe somebody else can.

For the past 2 days I've been hammering out the message over and over on other boards that BUSH let the terrorists "win" in every way, from not grounding all flights after phone calls from the 1st 9/11 plane confirmed that AQ was behind it (instead he sat on his duff for another 15 minutes, ensuring that the 2nd plane would be well on its way before any action was taken), to spiriting out the bin Laden family right after 9/11, while everybody else was grounded, to masking 28 pages of the WH 9/11 report, thereby ensuring that his buddies in Saudi Arabia would get no scrutiny, to kissing up to the Saudi Foreign Minister, a known AQ financier, behind closed doors, to invading a defenseless country that hated AQ as much as we do, to CONCEDING to AQ's demands that the U.S. withdraw its military bases from Saudi Arabia, the effing COWARD, etc. etc.

Also defending the Spanish in their decision to vote out a liar and warmonger--so what do I hear today but our noble "leader" is mouthing the Bush line. He COULD have said congratulations on a very wise decision, to fight terrorism where it is, in your back yard instead of depleting your troops and weakening your own defenses, but no, he just doesn't have that kind of insight. I didn't like him before but wanted to get behind him as the Dem candidate. However, he has just sent me RUNNING AWAY. NEVER will I support anyone who casts Spain's decision to withdraw from Iraq as "a win for the terrorists"!!!!

(*^%# everybody, if that's what people want, another Bush named Kerry then fine, vote for him. I think I will just not bother to vote in November since it's 6 of one, half a dozen of another. And spare me the "oh thanks for letting Bush win" BS. Sorry, I am not a robot who votes the way people tell me to. Give me something to vote FOR, not against.
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tobius Donating Member (947 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #30
38. kerry seems to be "boxing himself in" on many issues.
Kerry's third structural weakness is that having a reputation for being both a liberal and a flip-flopper is a combustible combination: Whatever you do to rebut one charge just confirms the other. Take gay marriage. In the past Kerry has tended to stake out relatively liberal terrain on the issue -- for example, he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. This would seem to put him to the left of the average swing voter, a position that could be exploited by the Bush campaign. So how would Kerry insulate himself from this kind of attack? The only way that comes to mind is by moving rightward -- which Kerry did earlier this year when he hinted he might support an amendment to the Massachusetts constitution banning gay marriage. In one fell swoop Kerry transformed himself from a liberal on gay marriage to ... a flip-flopper on gay marriage. ......
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/18/opinion/main607185.shtml

.....Responding to a Bush ad thrashing him for voting against last year's $87 billion supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan, Kerry managed an impressive trifecta of ineffectiveness: "I actually did vote for his $87 billion, before I voted against it," Kerry told a crowd of veterans at Marshall University, before going on to explain that the version he voted for would have been paid for by repealing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Which is to say, Kerry's first instinct was to move rightward ("I actually did vote for his $87 billion"), his second instinct was to strive for consistency ("...before I voted against it), and his third instinct was to retreat into the kind of inside-the-beltway legislative-ese that got him into so much trouble last summer and fall.
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zulchzulu Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 09:07 PM
Response to Original message
31. The Rove Machine will make you think Kerry is the Devil himself


Click on the logo.
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Democat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Mar-18-04 11:52 PM
Response to Original message
39. It is very early, don't give up!
Edited on Thu Mar-18-04 11:52 PM by Democat
They control the media, so it's not going to be an easy fight, but if the Democrats have any chance to take down Bush, it's going to be late in the fight.
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Undercover Agent Donating Member (11 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 12:31 AM
Response to Original message
47. Don't give up on Kerry.
The race is still very early.
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arewethereyet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 01:48 AM
Response to Reply #47
50. thats exactly right
and Kerry was in this hole once before.

then he got serious and Iowa happened. a veritable phoenix he was.

what everyone wants to see is him getting serious again. stop the babble, make his points, act like a leader.

somebody needs to find that switch again or get off the botox if its befuddling his mind.
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Dr Fate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 01:55 AM
Response to Original message
51. I'm unimpressed with this negative attitude...
Edited on Fri Mar-19-04 01:56 AM by Dr Fate
...now before you get mad, hear me out.

It's not just about Kerry, it's about Democrat individuals- all of us.

We need to start acting more like winners and stop groveling around- come on...

You cant be getting negative- a better idea is to figure out what YOU-yeah- YOU can do to help yourself & Kerry win this thing...

Kerry has only started- but he needs help...But it's unrealistic to start cashing out now. THere is such a good chance to beat this guy...

The negative stuff is not helpful, I think...
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flaminbats Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-19-04 09:21 AM
Response to Original message
56. Better to fix things now then wait til October!
People will not contribute, or tell people what Kerry stands for if he cannot fight off the Repuke attack machine! Support from Vietnam Vets always helps, but the weight of running this campaign cannot be left on their shoulders!

Voters should not be required to develop the campaign strategy or to make negative attacks simply because the Kerry campaign isn't able to. People will either just not vote, or jump ship before their own reputations are put on the line..
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