Kerry's people ran a very effective counter-ad almost immediately. It will surely blur any good effect that the Pubbies did.
Our ad could have been so simple, "...Kerry has promised a 900 billion dollar health plan and no increase in the deficit...this means you will pay this..."
It is a tragic mistake to run an ad that requires inferential thinking by people unaccustomed to making abstract inferences. Do we have idiots running this campaig or just ignoramuses?
To beat Kerry we need to continue to picture him as the usual politician who gives views on both sides of every issue and makes promises to get elected that are impossible or require enormous tax increases.
Also, it is time for a trial run (no ads please)suggesting he won't answer direct questions such as on homosexual marriage and Gibson's movie. I don't know how this could be done, but there must be a cadre of willing helpers to pounce on this on the airways.
It wouldn't hurt to quote Kerry's opponents from the primary campaign with, "..Dean said this about Senator Kerry and he was right..." Or the top 50% of wage earners already pay 97% of the Federal Income Taxes. If you pay taxes when Kerry promises more spending it means more money from those who pay taxes. Or,'...it used to be we rewarded success but Kerry promises to punish it... we don't need class warfare and a divided country..." Or something to that effect.
Somebody in our campaign has to begin thinking. So far, the RATS have the upper hand in both the pundit and ad war. We simply have to do better.