Why John Kerry is unready to be President

The Weeklystandard ^ | 3/18/04 | Hugh Hewitt

[MNJohnnie]

JOHN KERRY presented President Bush with a St. Patrick's Day gift via the Wednesday morning New York Times. Responding to a new Bush ad reminding voters that Kerry had voted against last year's $87 billion dollar appropriation to support the troops deployed in Iraq, Kerry responded: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

This beautiful bit of nonsense from the nominee followed Sunday's Miami Herald piece on Kerry's many positions on Cuba and Cuba-related issues. The choice paragraphs from among many:

"Asked in the Herald interview last year about sending Elián back to Cuba, Kerry was blunt: 'I didn't agree with that.'"

"But when he was asked to elaborate, Kerry acknowledged that he agreed the boy should have been with his father."

"So what didn't he agree with?"

"'I didn't like the way they did it. I thought the process was butchered,' he said."

It is hard to caricature a caricature, but the Bush campaign may not have to. The New York Times/CBS poll which appeared the week following Kerry's first extended tour before the entire electorate had Bush beating Kerry by eight points in the three way race with Nader. (The fact that the race is closer without Nader was a "finding" of the poll; this is about as relevant as head-to-head match-ups between Bush senior and Clinton which ignored Perot. Why the New York Times publishes results on hypothetical situations alongside those of real ones is an odd bit of reporting, best understood as a clear attempt to message Ralph.)

KERRY had his first rotten week last week, with his venomous outburst about the "crooked" and lying GOP, his declaration that he wanted to be the nation's second black president, and his assertion that he's spoken with foreign leaders who want him to win in November. Pressed to name these Harvey-the-Rabbit leaders, Kerry dodged and darted, and found himself snarling at Cedric Brown, a signmaker from Pennsylvania. Kerry told Brown that it wasn't any of his business who these pro-Kerry leaders are, and followed that up by bullying Brown into admitting that he had voted for Bush, which led to boos from the pro-Kerry crowd.

As a caller to my show put it: Doesn't Kerry want to win any of the votes that went to Bush in 2000?

Analyst and blog-pioneer Mickey Kaus has been warning all those who move about the blogosphere that Kerry is a horrible candidate, and the last ten days are adding mountains of evidence to Kaus' already well-documented brief. James Lileks has argued that Kerry suffers from "Senatitus"--the strange condition affecting long-serving United States Senators which proceeds from years and years of no one telling you to your face that you are making no sense whatsoever.

Both Kaus and Lileks are correct. A long career in Massachusetts politics simply means intoning respectful nods towards Ted Kennedy and mouthing Harvard seminar sentences, as prolix as they are inconsequential (and frequently self-contradicting). Kerry has trained in a political land that requires none of the skills that a campaign extending to all corners of America requires.

[MNJohnnie]

Once again Hewitt places his finger squarely on Kerry's major weakness. He never has had to work for anything in his life. The minute anyone questions him he goes into a Dean style meltdown. I just hope Kerry last long enough that the Democrat Party bosses don't dump him at the Convention.

[Fiddlstix]

[Spruce]

Why John Kerry is unfit to be President of the United States.

Because he's a Cake-eating narcissistic dink .

[Integrityrocks]

ME too. I think he's imploding TOO FAST! He too can be replaced and that leaves only one logical choice, which I believe to be more disasterous because at least she has a few more brain cells communicating with nerve endings. He's just complete mush, which means he is a sitting puppet. She is just plain evil personafied.

[Arpege92]

Kerry is a snob who's gotten everything he ever wanted.

[jackbill]

The New York Times/CBS poll which appeared the week following Kerry's first extended tour before the entire electorate had Bush beating Kerry by eight points in the three way race with Nader.

Brit Hume mentioned, this evening, that CBS has not mentioned this poll in its regular news casts. Not one word, although he also mentioned that the Columbia School of Journalism says that CBS mentioned at least a half dozen NYTimes/CBS polls in which Kerry was ahead.

How long does CBS think that they can keep this $hit up?

[Gator113]

SHE...... is the Antichrist!!!!!!!!! BUT, I think it would be fun to watch her run.

Kerry isn't even a man........he's just a lying Socialist boyfriend to Kennedy.

[reformedliberal]

She-who-shall-not-be-named has humongous national negatives. A few weeks ago, a hypothetical Kerry/Clinton vs Bush/Cheney match up got 32%, while Kerry/Edwards got 50%, or close (I forget the exact %).

Her write-in adventure in Wisconsin must have failed, as no votes were published.

She is NOT electable.

What is happening, IMO, is that the Dems are being seen as cranky naysayers whose only platform is *not Bush*.

Now, even Zap has told Kerry he will not pay attention to the admonition to not pull Spain's troops from Iraq. The entire international Left is being shown as the sick joke that they are.

The Dems do not have an electable candidate. Not one. No bench.

The Dems in the House (plus Ron Paul) couldn't even vote for a nonbinding resolution congratulating Iraq and the coalition troops, just because they cannot bring themselves to say the world is safer w/o Saddam.

I think I will relax. At least, I think I will relax about the election.

[My2Cents]

Why the New York Times publishes results on hypothetical situations alongside those of real ones is an odd bit of reporting

No it's not. It's not an "odd bit of reporting," it's dishonest, biased, push polling.

[My2Cents]

How long does CBS think that they can keep this $hit up?

As long as the majority of Americans are uninformed sheep.

[Ann Archy]

Kerry also told an Arab group that the fence in Israel was awful....BUT speaking to a Jewish audience he said the fence was a great idea!!!

[squidly]

I'm with you. I want a fall implosion, not a spring one. Who knows, maybe we'll get both.

[theDentist]

Fill in the blank:

John Effin' Kerry is unready to be _________.

Dogcatcher

Sand Counter

Doughnut Salesman

Bathroom Attendant

Horse stall mucker

Sunglass Salesman on a beach at summertime

Spear Catcher

Any others?

[demlosers]

Brit Hume mentioned, this evening, that CBS has not mentioned this poll in its regular news casts. Not one word

Whaa, no comment from Captain Dan the answer man? ;)

[My2Cents]

What is disgusting about the Dems is that when everyone -- us, the UN, the French, the Russians, the Germans, everyone! -- "knew" that Saddam had WMD last year, this Party of Evil still was not inclined to go to war with Saddam. The only reason they voted for the Iraq resolution was that Bush forced it on them before the 2002 elections. After the elections, it would likely have lost. So, even when there is the consensus of a threat, they'd prefer to do nothing.

[jackbill]

Whaa, no comment from Captain Dan the answer man? ;)

The best thing about Cap'n Dan and CBS News is that they've been dislodged tonight, in favor of the NCAA tournament.

I will be checking in, in hopes that the Dooookies lose.

[My2Cents]

Any others?

Pooper scooper

Male masseur

Roadkill cleaner-upper

Armpit sniffer for Right-Guard

Proctologist's assistant

Female underwear model

Center for the Washington Generals

"Depends" spokesman

[My2Cents]

He is qualified to be a gigolo, however.

[My2Cents]

ROFL!! "WINK" Right now, we're seeing him as "The Amazing Shrinky Dink"