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Watch Out, Karl Rove – Kerry's Coming
NewsMax ^ | 1/23/04 | Susan Estrich

Posted on 01/24/2004 11:43:43 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection

I love stories about people who take their hits and come back. So this one is for my friend Bob Shrum. John Kerry has never sounded better. His stump speech has tightened up even since Iowa to the best presentation he's ever made in a campaign. His message clearly resonates as he talks about voters and their concerns, about dinner table issues, not about himself. Lots can change, as Iowa proves. But right now, what you're seeing are two seasoned veterans at the top of their game.

In the bad old days in the Kerry campaign, when the obituaries were being written and the blame game played out in the press, no one was the target of more daggers than Bob Shrum.

Boy, were they after him.

There have always been people who have played the kiss and tell game. Shrum himself first came to fame in 1976, when he quit as a Carter speechwriter and wrote about why.

When he was hired by Ted Kennedy in 1979, I remember people in the campaign passing the article around and wondering whether he would be loyal, which is a joke now considering that his relationship with the senator and his family has remained close for decades.

But the kissing and telling in the Kerry campaign amounted to a veritable orgy, in which alternative speeches were leaked to the press and rejected strategies detailed in an effort to avoid blame for Kerry's standing in the polls.

Departed staff members went directly to other campaigns, which is certainly not the common practice.

Suffice it to say that even though he had to apologize for it, you could understand why Kerry himself said that his campaign was better off without the people who either got fired or resigned.

Bob Shrum was an easy mark. After all, there had been the competition for his services, the so-called Shrum primary, forcing him to decide among his clients in the race including both Sens. Kerry and Edwards, whom he had trumpeted for vice president to Al Gore.

And there was the fact that even if he did have more senators than any other Democratic consultant, and even if he is acknowledged to be the best wordsmith in the party, Shrum has never been part of a winning White House campaign.

Like many smart people, he speaks his mind, and is often convinced that he's right, which he often is. Difficult is what that's called. Personally, I think he's mellowed over the years, but we've always gotten along since Larry Tribe introduced us nearly 30 years ago.

As it happens, things turned out just about the way Shrum expected. Dean effectively destroyed himself. Had Kerry gone negative from the very beginning, as Shrum's critics wanted, he would have built up his own negatives, which might have left Edwards and not him as the only appealing candidate now.

The defectors who went to Clark have yet to figure out how to make the connection to voters with their new candidate. Maybe they weren't so brilliant after all. Maybe experience and a long view count for something.

The challenge for Kerry is not to convince voters that he is capable of doing the job of being president, but to show them that a man who comes across as a patrician, a Back Bay/Yalie/Heinz Husband, understands that in America today, as Professor Elizabeth Warren points out, a two-income family is more likely to file for bankruptcy than for divorce. And mind you, that's a two-income family, not the single mothers we hear so much about. And we're talking about today's so-called strong economy.

Can Kerry do it? With Shrum at the top of his game, why not? Bob might yet get the prize that has eluded him.

Watch out, Karl.



TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; johnkerry; kerryjf; susanestrich
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1 posted on 01/24/2004 11:43:44 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Kerry will never darken the doors of the WH.
2 posted on 01/24/2004 11:44:38 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Sean Hannity says that in his upcoming book there will be a fact about Kerry that "nobody" knows which will effectively eliminate his chances at becoming president. I wonder what that is.
3 posted on 01/24/2004 11:45:59 AM PST by Yaelle
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To: Mr. Mojo
He'll get killed in the South. Won't carry a single state there.

No northeastern liberal is going to be president of the United States.

4 posted on 01/24/2004 11:46:03 AM PST by sinkspur (Adopt a shelter dog or cat! You'll save one life, and maybe two!)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
It will be interesting to see how Edwards does in the south. If Kerry can withstand that, he will probably be the rat candidate. If not, he will be wearing a long face.
5 posted on 01/24/2004 11:46:39 AM PST by Jeff Chandler (2004: The Neocons vs. The Neocoms)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Susan said herself on TV the other night that Kerry had run around with other women behind Lovie's back.
6 posted on 01/24/2004 11:47:06 AM PST by hershey
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To: Yaelle
I wonder what that is.

Nobody knows.

7 posted on 01/24/2004 11:47:29 AM PST by Jeff Chandler (2004: The Neocons vs. The Neocoms)
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To: sinkspur
No northeastern liberal is going to be president of the United States.

Last one was JFK. .....but he wasn't quite as liberal as Kerry.

8 posted on 01/24/2004 11:47:37 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
I think she is right. The Bush team had better not get overconfident. The gimmee crowd is going to coalesce around Kerry and come election time, it's Katy bar the door and this will turn into one hell of a fight. My advice to Republicans and Freepers is to get into shape and get ready to rumble! You can NOT take President Bush's re-election for granted!
9 posted on 01/24/2004 11:48:32 AM PST by Enterprise ("You sit down. You had your say. Now I'm going to have my say.")
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To: hershey
I heard that. Susan was on the radio with Alan Colmes and said she'd known Kerry for 25 years and he was a friend. Said he ran around with other women and the Boston Herald had been covering his personal life for years.
10 posted on 01/24/2004 11:49:43 AM PST by Peach (The Clintons have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
IF Kerry's campaign can keep it's legs past NH, a very big if that would only come as a result of Democrats being desperate to find what they think will be a winner, he is going to have a hard time once he has to run for the average Joe voter. I may be wrong, but I all see here is Kerry peaking too early.
11 posted on 01/24/2004 11:52:59 AM PST by Free Vulcan
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To: sinkspur
He does not need the south. Democrats can will by taking one or two more state than Bush did the last time. We have to get over this notion that we need the south. We need a midwestern or seabord state that we lost the last time. This is not in the bag.
12 posted on 01/24/2004 11:54:31 AM PST by CasearianDaoist
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
A guy looking like Abe Lincoln on downers will never measure up. Mo Rocca from Comedy Central says Kerry must make it through nomination before his face slides completely of of his head.
13 posted on 01/24/2004 11:54:33 AM PST by dc-zoo
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
This, from Dukakis's camapaign manager.

She really knows the ins and outs of puttng together a strong message.(sarcasm)

14 posted on 01/24/2004 11:57:00 AM PST by Rome2000 (Ban "Jihad", not smoking)
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To: sinkspur
No northeastern liberal is going to be president of the United States
On Hume's show last night he said Americans For Democratic Action (or something like that) gave Kerry a more favorable rating than Kennedy - in other words Teddy is the conservative Senator for Taxachussetts LOL
15 posted on 01/24/2004 11:58:09 AM PST by 1066AD
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To: dc-zoo
Mo Rocca from Comedy Central says Kerry must make it through nomination before his face slides completely of of his head.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

16 posted on 01/24/2004 11:58:13 AM PST by MindyW
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To: sinkspur
Especially a horse-faced northeastern liberal....
17 posted on 01/24/2004 11:59:04 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
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Comment #18 Removed by Moderator

To: Enterprise
The Bush team had better not get overconfident.

Agreed. Karl needs to hunker down and do a whole lot more of his taking conservatives for granted. He should propose doing more for illegal aliens, recommend confiscating guns, and support abortion. After all, they can count on the Republican vote no matter what, right?

19 posted on 01/24/2004 12:02:34 PM PST by ElkGroveDan (Fighting for Freedom and Having Fun)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Kerry is scarey-looking to children.

If he becomes the Democrat candidate for president, watch small children and babies cry when he comes near.

I can't believe that millions of Americans would vote to double their taxes!

20 posted on 01/24/2004 12:02:51 PM PST by CROSSHIGHWAYMAN (I don't believe anything a Democrat says. Bill Clinton set the standard!)
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