90-Day Media Strategy by Bush's Aides to Define Kerry (lies will work now

[papau]

A 90-Day Media Strategy because GOP lies will work now - not later - because later Kerry will have a much larger war chest with which to fight by then, and - the best quote in today's story on value GOP puts on selling lies about Kerry early because impressions of … Kerry are still so ill-formed with many voters- "He peels like an onion...People aren't like, "I really believe in this guy and I'm not willing to accept that information." They accept it very easily. With some candidates there's a hard shell. With him there's a soft skin."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/politics/campaign/20CAMP.html

90-Day Media Strategy by Bush's Aides to Define Kerry
By JIM RUTENBERG

ASHINGTON, March 19 — President Bush's campaign is following an aggressive and precise 90-day media strategy to define Senator John Kerry as indecisive and lacking conviction, with a coordinated blitz of advertisements, speeches and sound bites, senior campaign advisers said this week.

The goal, several campaign aides said, is to first strip Mr. Kerry of the positive image that he carried away from the Democratic primary contests and then to define him issue by issue in their own terms before the summer vacation season. The central thrusts will be national security and taxes, they said.<snip>


"We just see this as the greatest window of opportunity, not that there won't be others," said Mark McKinnon, Mr. Bush's head media strategist. "It's easiest to define somebody when they're ill-defined, and John Kerry's ill-defined."<snip>

This early drive by the Bush campaign is in marked contrast to the approach of the Kerry organization, whose strategists say they believe the period before June is important but not as crucial as Mr. Bush's team asserts. Calling the Bush campaign's depictions of their candidate "distortions," Mr. Kerry's strategists said the labels would not stick. Mr. Kerry is on vacation in Idaho this week.

"The notion that you have a one-sided definition that takes hold five months before an election is ridiculous," said Bob Shrum, a senior advisor to Mr. Kerry. "I don't think the Bush campaign's caricatures are going to stand up to the reality. Voters are smarter than that."<snip>


"The important thing to remember is that the American people see George Bush as the steward of a bad economy, the leader who led them to war under false pretenses," said Stephanie Cutter, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kerry, striking two themes the campaign believes will be a strong suit against the president. <snip>

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. ooooh, i'm shaking

Like King Theoden said before the battle of Helms Deep:

"Let them come."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Except that it might work now and as more Clarke's come forward

it backfires on them as they are portrayed for the inept group that they are.

[sangh0]

3. The mud won't stick if it comes from a non-credible source like Bush*

No matter how much money they spend, people won't believe the ads if they don't already trust Bush*.