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Senator Kerry -- the likability gap
townhall.com ^ | 4/01/04 | Larry Elder

Posted on 03/31/2004 9:56:01 PM PST by kattracks

If Kerry goes down in the fall, trace the blame to . . . Butchy Cataldo.

Kerry's critics point to his shifting stands on NAFTA, the war in Iraq, the No Child Left Behind Act and the Patriot Act. Kerry detractors expect the public to catch on when Kerry -- a fiscal liberal -- attacks Bush for "fiscal irresponsibility." 

But, actually Kerry has a deeper problem -- his lack of likability and the Butchy Cataldo Factor.

Butchy Cataldo?

Well, Sen. Kerry doesn't know, either. Precisely the problem, according to a window-to-the-soul story in the New Republic.

The people who know Kerry best consider Kerry aloof, imperious and condescending. Even worse, Kerry can't seem to retain their names. At a 1996 Massachusetts political affair, a Democratic Massachusetts State legislator said to his friends, "Watch this."

He walked up to Kerry and said, "Hi, Senator -- Representative Butchy Cataldo." At this, Kerry smiled, slapped his back and exclaimed, "Butchy, so good to see you again!" One problem -- the guy, the state rep -- was not Butchy Cataldo. In fact, Butchy Cataldo ran and lost to this Kerry-greeting legislator whose name is Bill Reinstein, a man bearing no resemblance to the tall, dark-haired Cataldo.

Call this a likability gap -- a problem for Kerry.

Presidential candidate George W. Bush, in 2000, unaware of an open mike looming nearby, whispered to his running mate, Dick Cheney, and said, "There's Adam Clymer, a major league a--hole from the New York Times." Liberal columnist Maureen Dowd took Bush to task for his profanity, reminding Bush that he now, in fact, plays in the "major leagues." But Sen. Kerry, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine -- not during a perceived, private, off-the-record conversation -- said that he voted for the Iraq war resolution without realizing that Bush would "'F' it up." Only Sen. Kerry didn't really say, "F." Major leagues, Senator.

Likability?

At a campaign stop in Chicago before an AFL-CIO leadership group, a supporter urged Kerry to fight hard. Kerry, unaware that his microphone could pick up his conversation, said this about the Bush administration: "We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen. It's scary." The Kerry campaign insisted that the senator referred only to his "Republican critics," not the Bush administration or the president himself. (Believe that one when Osama bin Laden converts to Judaism.) Republicans equal: crooks-liars-warmongers-environmental-rapists and protectors-of-friends-in-high-places.

Likability?

On the eve of the first anniversary of the war in Iraq with the Democratic nomination cinched, Kerry jetted to Idaho to go skiing. As Kerry snowboarded down a hill, a Secret Service agent inadvertently found himself in the senator's path. Kerry took a header. When reporters later asked Kerry about his fall, he snapped, "I don't fall down." Kerry blamed this tumble on his "son-of-a-b-tch" Secret Service agent. Son-of-a-b-tch Secret Service agent? The agent complained about Kerry's treatment and remark.

(Maybe the agent feels miffed since his job description requires him to take a bullet, if necessary, for Sen. Kerry. A little gratitude might be appreciated.) A spokesperson for the Secret Service said, "Obviously, the complications and burden of being monitored 24 hours a day is not just a simple inconvenience. But Sen. Kerry should understand agents are working for his safety and well-being." (According to the Drudge Report, reporters observed Kerry falling at least six times.)

Likability?

Kerry faults Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, accusing the president of "unilateralism" based on "arrogance." For, as president and commander-in-chief, Kerry expects to be able to bring to the table all parties interested in forging multilateral approaches to worldwide issues. In other words, Kerry expects to use his diplomatic flair and non-arrogant personality to convince the French, Germans and Russians -- all of whom did business with Saddam Hussein and lost money and influence after his fall. Does Kerry expect the governments of the Middle East to come to the table and agree on encouraging the spread of democracy while it threatens to destroy the leaderships' power? Presumably, Kerry expects to use his warm, persuasive personality to cobble together a coalition that the war-mongering, arrogant President Bush could only dream about.

Likability?

Kerry reminds me of a story I once read about the San Francisco Giants' slugger Barry Bonds. Mired in a batting slump, Bonds sat in the locker room and complained about his uncharacteristic struggle to get his offense going. I can't put my finger on the problem, said Barry aloud. I'm struggling. Can't buy a hit. Bonds then looked up and noticed a chronically poor-hitting teammate nearby. Bonds turned to him and said something like -- you must feel like this all the time.

So, how could the often tone-deaf Kerry work on his likability? He could drop the approach -- sincere or contrived -- that Bush equals Satan. Or maybe he should ask Butchy Cataldo.

©2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Contact Larry Elder | Read Elder's biography



TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; bush2004; kerry; larryelder
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1 posted on 03/31/2004 9:56:01 PM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks
Oh, this is a keeper.
2 posted on 03/31/2004 10:02:19 PM PST by McGavin999 (Evil thrives when good men do nothing!)
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To: kattracks
Kerry has the trifecta, a likeability gap, a credibility gap and an ability gap.
3 posted on 03/31/2004 10:02:58 PM PST by jwalsh07
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To: McGavin999
And then there's this one:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1109065/posts
4 posted on 03/31/2004 10:05:33 PM PST by Howlin
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To: kattracks
Great article (except for that shot at Barry Bonds).....
5 posted on 03/31/2004 10:06:14 PM PST by freebilly
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To: freebilly
I wouldn't necessarily call it a shot at Barry Bonds. Bonds has a rep here in S.F. for having a big likability gap. That and a pretty freaking huge slugging percentage, but a big likability gap nonetheless.
6 posted on 03/31/2004 10:15:06 PM PST by rogue yam
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To: kattracks
He could drop the approach -- sincere or contrived -- that Bush equals Satan.

Shhhh.... Don't tell him and spoil it all, Larry.

It's working SO well for him.

7 posted on 03/31/2004 10:30:44 PM PST by Bullish
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To: rogue yam; freebilly
Barry Bonds' steroid inflated ego is as big as the ballpark.
8 posted on 03/31/2004 10:32:51 PM PST by Bullish
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To: freebilly
HA! the shot at bonds was the best part !

(I'm a Dodgers fan).
9 posted on 03/31/2004 10:40:12 PM PST by smonk
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To: kattracks
knew this the first time I saw Kerry eating Dominoes Pizza - with a fork. LOL. Prob never had take out in his life.
10 posted on 03/31/2004 10:55:47 PM PST by Fenris6
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To: kattracks
BUMP
11 posted on 03/31/2004 11:23:01 PM PST by kitkat
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To: kattracks
John F. Seinfeld has Butchy Cataldo written all over him - he's not only about *nothing* he doesn't have the human empathy factor people liked in Bill Clinton. Tell me again the Democrats plucked a miscast paladin from Central Casting. He aidn't no Jed Bartlet.
12 posted on 03/31/2004 11:24:43 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: kattracks
bump
13 posted on 03/31/2004 11:27:47 PM PST by js1138 (In a minute there is time -- for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.)
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To: rogue yam
That and a pretty freaking huge slugging percentage, but a big likability gap nonetheless.

Kerry Bonds....

14 posted on 03/31/2004 11:54:36 PM PST by freebilly
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To: Bullish
Bond's inflated ego was developed the old fashioned way: a lifetime of hard work. No steroids were necessary....
15 posted on 03/31/2004 11:56:45 PM PST by freebilly
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To: smonk
Smonk, it will be a pleasure to watch Bonds dismantle the Dogs, once again, in 2004....
16 posted on 03/31/2004 11:57:56 PM PST by freebilly
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To: goldstategop
There are numerous stories about W. and his effort to remember people's names--all his frat brothers, a lot of his classmates, the reporter pool that covered him in 2000, etc. George W. knows how important that makes someone feel, even if it's a little effort on his part.

Likeability, it's so central to this election--but go back to that press pack in 2000. They were virtually all primed to be against the inexperienced Republican conservative. Slowly and one-by-one George W. won them over, on the campaign jet, the busses, in informal settings. These reporters, in spite of themselves, started liking this guy. They didn't like his politics, his stands on the issues, but they reported those issues a little more objectively because they couldn't hate Bush, or even dislike him. It was a major factor in Bush overcoming his "not ready for prime time" image at the beginning of the 2000 campaign.

Now in 2004 John Kerry will give us the opposite lesson. A liberal press pool is primed to support him. And as Karl Rove would say, the press thinks being objective means turning a lopsided situation into a horserace. This means that as long as Kerry is behind, they won't report anything bad that he says or does, won't talk about his questionable past. Instead, they will tear down Bush because he's President and he's the front-runner.

But the press won't find anything to like about being around Kerry, and that will play a major, major role in how he is covered by the media. When he starts sinking in spite of their efforts, they'll turn on him and make him an updated Dukakis joke. I'm afraid it will be really humiliating to Kerry when the press starts laughing at him, because they look too foolish fawning over him and lose credibility treating him too favorably or even seriously.

17 posted on 04/01/2004 12:00:15 AM PST by DJtex
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To: freebilly
yeah, I hear you. let's see how many HRs BB can hit
*without* chemical assistance.

neither team did squat in the off season, but LA had
further to go.

adding encarnacion didn't come anywhere near solving
the problems with the offense, and replacing kevin
brown with jeff weaver significantly degraded the
pitching. AND nomo is coming off surgery.

LA still has gagne, but having the best closer in baseball
is worthless if you can't get a lead for him to save.

it ought to be interesting, at any rate.
18 posted on 04/01/2004 12:12:46 AM PST by smonk
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To: smonk
LA still has gagne, but having the best closer in baseball is worthless if you can't get a lead for him to save.

Yup. I'm picking Houston....

19 posted on 04/01/2004 12:19:05 AM PST by freebilly
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To: freebilly
no kidding !

talk about a huge improvement in the off season.
petite AND clemens. and they were already playoff
caliber. I'm just damn glad that LA doesn't play in
the central.

it looks as though the entire NL may come partly off
it's traditional axis this year; I just don't see
how atlanta remains competitive -- apologies to
scheurholtz, he's a genius, but his luck has run out
this year -- in the east, the central will be a shoot
out, and I've actually read "expert" analysis that makes
the case that the padres are the best team in the west.
20 posted on 04/01/2004 12:24:38 AM PST by smonk
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