LA Times: Kerry Challenged By Harsh Campaign

LA Times ^ | 3/21/04

[11th Earl of Mar]

THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE Kerry Challenged by Harsh Campaign The Democrat's camp is working to adapt after missteps and an early and fierce GOP assault.

By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Before taking a vacation, John F. Kerry was looking forward to a victory lap — a period of skipping from state to state to revel in his success at effectively locking up the Democratic presidential nomination.

Instead, by the time the Massachusetts senator finally made it to his vacation home in the Idaho mountains late last week, he had spent two weeks mostly on the defensive, confronted by an aggressive opponent who didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and began pummeling him with hard-hitting ads.

Kerry also contributed to his problems as he switched from fending off Democratic rivals to gearing up for the general election campaign against President Bush. He suggested at one point that foreign leaders preferred him to Bush, and later called Republican critics "crooked" — offhand remarks that have since haunted him.....

[11th Earl of Mar]

sniff, sniff

I am almost feeling sorry for him.

[Rome2000]

[cajungirl]

Poor dear boy!

[Rocko]

Hey, John, what happened to "bring it on"?

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

I've known these pampered, elitist, boarding school, sissy-boy snobs before.

When things get tough they usually take their ball home and go skiing!

[prion]

What, harsh? Kerry calls Republicans crooks, liars, incompetent, arrogant, bumbling. Republicans accuse Kerry of voting both sides of most issues. Who's being harsh?

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Kerry Challenged By Harsh Campaign

Methinks that "Bring It On!" Boy would find himself sorely "challenged" by the instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle. :)

[facedown]

"He's perceived as taking all sides of every issue," said Paul Watanabe, a professor of political science at University of Massachusetts in Boston. "That has really dogged John Kerry all his political life. The question is: Where is the center of the man, in terms of his principles, plans and policies? He's got to give some sense of that."

There is no center of a vacuum.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

'scalled selective reporting in Journalism 101.

[dirtboy]

Instead, by the time the Massachusetts senator finally made it to his vacation home in the Idaho mountains late last week, he had spent two weeks mostly on the defensive, confronted by an aggressive opponent who didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and began pummeling him with hard-hitting ads

Looks like Kerry should've bought a cup instead of a jockstrap.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Hey, John, what happened to "bring it on"?

Kerry has given it his best shot for months and is now slipping in the polls.

Sometimes it's best not to ask for what you're not equipped to handle.

[Just mythoughts]

"Instead, by the time the Massachusetts senator finally made it to his vacation home in the Idaho mountains late last week, he had spent two weeks mostly on the defensive, confronted by an aggressive opponent who didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and began pummeling him with hard-hitting ads."

Wow, JFKerry's own words and votes gets called "pummeling him with hard-hitting ads".

Guess his historian Brinkely better get the next phase of the "story" out real quick, his "war hero" status, got him the nomination, but what do with his own words and voting record?

[K1avg]

he had spent two weeks mostly on the defensive, confronted by an aggressive opponent who didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and began pummeling him with hard-hitting ads. Well what else did he expect from the "terrible Republican smear machine?"

[MinuteGal]

Every account I read in the liberal media about the GOP ads refers to them as "attack ads", "fierce", or a variation thereof. Telling the truth about a liberal candidate is now an "attack".

Orwellian.

So what else is new?

Leni

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Looks like Kerry should've bought a cup instead of a jockstrap.

That'd be like Helen Keller buying herself a nice pair of sunglasses, wouldn't it...? :)

[American_Centurion]

I'm fine with harsh. I wish Pres. GWB would really get harsh.

Anyone who is capable of voting for conservatives will have no problem with harsh. That includes any moderates who would lean that way.

Fact is sometimes the truth is harsh, and conservatives like truth.

[JimRed]

...an early and fierce GOP assault.

Telling the truth about a RAT candidate is, in the eyes of the biased media, a "fierce assault"; lying about the President is no problem...

[GraceCoolidge]

The image of Kerry "skipping from state to state" seems strangely appropriate, don't you think? Suggests a kind of a "hippity hop to the nuance shop" quality to the campaign. I also like this description of Skippy's woes:

As the president's campaign unveiled its first attacks, Kerry's campaign was in the middle of a move, uprooting its staff from a cramped townhouse on Capitol Hill to a large suite in an office building in downtown Washington. E-mail was down for two days, and the staff changed phone numbers.

It doesn't take much for this guy and his supporters to come unglued... all they need to do is move offices? Really gives me comfort that he can respond in the event of a terrorist attack. Maybe they should have given him a swift boat to drive down to the new office, that would have solved his problems...

[John Thornton]

From Mark Steyn:

For months he's been droning in his stump speech that, if George W. Bush wants to fight this election on national security, Kerry has three words for him: ''Bring it on!'' So Bush brought it on -- with a 30-second ad arguing that the senator is weak on defense. And suddenly the campaign's curled up on the floor in a fetal position whimpering that it's just totally unfair making such a horrible personal attack. Watching him in New Hampshire, I always thought, when Kerry dares you to ''bring it on,'' he couldn't quite bring it off. As all military strategists say, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. And so it proved.

[dirtboy]

E-mail was down for two days, and the staff changed phone numbers.

Telling, isn't it? Someone needs to first tell the Kerry campaign about these newfangled widgets called cell phones. And the Kerry camp, the gang who wants to run this country, can't even handle contigency and continuity planning for a simple office move.