John F. Who? Kerry's easy nomination victory may prove to be a curse.

WSJ ^ | 3/23/04 | Brendan Miniter

[Elkiejg]

When John Kerry returns from his snowboarding vacation, it'll be time to set about deciding who he is, what his candidacy is about. It may seem to be a strange quest to begin this far into a presidential campaign. But it's essential when there is no obvious answer in most voters' minds to this question: Why is Mr. Kerry running for president? Wanting to be president or opposing the current occupant of the Oval Office is rarely an adequate answer. What Mr. Kerry really needs now is a defining moment.

[Gil4]

He's had plenty of defining momements. (Cursing out the Secret Service guy while skiing was just the latest.)

Now he needs a re-defining moment that might actually get him some votes. Hopefully that moment will never come.

[binger]

A finger in the wind...

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Chamberlain and Hitler, some the leaders 'of various levels across the globe'. Their spirits appeared during one of Hillary's seances. They came to endorse Kerry before drifting back into Hillery's mouth.

[samtheman]

The RAT attack machine is already rolling into high gear. Clarke, Carter, Kennedy... all of them are coming out with accusations that Bush is a liar, and worse. Now is the moment for Kerry to step into the sun and declare himself as the Golden Boy Alternative.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

I think Miniter is right -- and the Bushies do need to take the next 2-3 months to nail him down. The best part of the strategy, so far, is that all they have to do is play back John F'in Kerry soundbites and video clips -- there's no denying those classic Kerry moments.

Interesting that Kerry has failed the same test that sank Teddy Kennedy -- who flubbed the interview question (Roger Mudd, I think?) "why do you want to be president?" Imagine Teddy not having a pat answer to that! But typical for Teddy, I'm sure, he had spent his entire life expecting to be president but really didn't have any drive or underlying goals for the office.

I think Kerry is the same -- he's had this ambition ever since he saw the fast route out of Vietnam (with medals, of course... now who put him in for those medals?). But this guy has 19 years in Congress that defines him -- as either a Massachusetts liberal or finger in the wind political flip-flopper... take your pick. Congratulations Demos on your selection!

[driftless]

I find it astonishing that Kerry refuses to admit to being a liberal although that is precisely what he is. And even though some libs like Walter Concrete are exhorting Kerry to acknowledge what he is, Kerry still refuses. Now would any conservative on this forum shy away from being called as one? We know the answer to that. So then why is the most liberal senator in congress afraid to call himself a liberal? Simply amazing.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

The focus is wrong.

According to Rush, the Clintons are making sure no Democrat candidate becomes too strong in '04 in order to leave the '08 spot open for the witch. The Clintons realize that unless something really big changes (goes wrong for the Republicans), the witch cannot beat Bush in '04.

[sr4402]

Kerry's defining moment "I voted for the 87 Million, before I voted against it"

[KC_Conspirator]

The democrats thought that a cornonation would be the answer to bruising primary. They literally think that Mondale and Dukakis lost because they did not "fight back" or had too tough a primary. Not so. They lost because they were awful liberal candidates.

The problem with this coronation, done by the DNC and the liberal media meeting with Kerry at Al Frankens apartment, is that Kerry has not been properly vetted. He did not have to endure any attacks throughout the democrat primary. Now they have a northern liberal who has cruised to to easy re-elections in a overwhelmingly democrat state and he's supposed to compete in middle America? Furthermore, look out for more intern-like stories on him since the liberal media has failed to touch him.

[Coop]

For those who wish to learn more about the liberal senator from Massachusetts, might I suggest some light reading?

[kittymyrib]

It really doesn't matter that JF'nK hasn't been vetted when the partisan media will cover-up any embarrassing facts about him.Example: Last night on CNN, Judy Woodruff spun the story about Kerry's involvement with the VVAW as the mean old FBI keeping tabs on this war hero just because he was trying to end the war and bring peace to the world. A reporterette dropped a word or two about there being an alleged plot "to kill leaders" (mentioning no names, of course) but that Kerry couldn't recall hearing about that. And there it lay...no follow-up to that astonishing fact, except Woodruff worried what else might be in those boxes and boxes of FBI material. Well, if plans to kill John Tower, John Stennis, and other conservatives for the war isn't the business of the FBI, Judy, what do you think their business is? THAT'S WHY THEY KEPT TABS ON THIS ANTI-AMERICAN GROUP!!! And this woman calls herself a journalist...and CNN pays her...amazing.

[Enduring Freedom]

Foreign Leaders DO Support Jean Qaerry

Jew-hater Mohammed Mahathir from Malaysia endorsed Jean Qaerry, once-again claiming the ambitions of Jews as the root of all conflict, with the Iraq invasion a source of present uprisings.

Given that we now understand that Qaerry has Jewish ancestry, and that he voted for the Iraq war, it is all the more ironic.

Mohammed was joined by Spain's Zappy Zapatero, who was also endorsed by Muslim Terrorists.

Qaerry is revealing the true nature of his international support - and it is anti-American.

[Poohbah]

We all know why Howard Dean ran--to pull back from the war on terror (usually voiced as opposition to liberating Iraq), raise taxes and institute universal health insurance. His defining moment was arguing that catching Saddam Hussein didn't make America safer (defining moments aren't always good for candidates).

I always thought that his defining moment was "YEEEAAAGH!"

[gumboyaya]

You know until that gavel falls at the convention Kerry may not be the nominee. Strange things happen in the world of Clinton politics and if Ketsup continues his full blown failure as a candidate it wouldn't surprise me.

[punster]

A finger in the wind...

Actually, one finger is supposed to be going out his other ear, and the other finger is supposed to be going out the top of his head. Why? There is absolutely nothing, in there, to block his finger going all the way through.

[Maceman]

Welcome to the national stage, Mr. Kerry. Now, who are you?

[Democratshavenobrains]

At least Mr. Howell acknowledged he was an aloof millionaire.