Polls rub salt into Kerry's wounds

The Australian ^ | 04/03/2004 | The Australian

[playball0]

Polls rub salt into Kerry's wounds From The Times April 03, 2004 AN inability to shake hands, let alone hold babies aloft to be kissed, would seem a handicap for a politician campaigning to be the next US president.

John Kerry, who is incapacitated after undergoing shoulder surgery this week, will have to find other ways to reach out to voters until his torn tendons heal.

His hospitalisation for the 45-minute operation may have been brief. But it serves as an uncomfortable metaphor for a presidential campaign in anything but rude health.

When former White House counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke appeared from nowhere last week, he looked to be a Democratic dream come to life: a highly respected, non-partisan bureaucrat with killer charges about President George W. Bush's signature policy.

Democrats could barely wait for the next batch of polls to come in.

But when they did, they told a different story. Mr Bush has pulled clearly ahead of the Massachusetts senator.

If ever there was a reminder that Washington is not America, this was it.

While the capital revelled in Mr Clarke's claims and the gripping evidence given to the commission investigating the September 11 attacks, the rest of the country had better things to do. In particular, voters in the 17 battleground states were bombarded by adverts from the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign.

Republican strategists regard March and April as critical months. Like Mr Bush's father in 1988 and Mr Clinton in 1996, they think that by defining their opponent on their own terms before he can do so on his, they can scuttle his campaign.

According to the polls, they are succeeding.

In a poll for yesterday's Los Angeles Times, Mr Bush trounced Senator Kerry on four out of five questions designed to measure the candidates' qualities.

Mr Bush was 46-38 ahead in terms of being a strong leader, 41-36 ahead for having the honesty and integrity for the Oval Office, and 51-25 ahead on having good judgment in a crisis.

When asked who best met the description: "He flip-flops on the issues", Senator Kerry beat Mr Bush 38-35.

Only on "caring about people like me" did Senator Kerry win. Such findings have been filtering out in polls all week, and are a triumph for Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman and chief strategist Karl Rove.

They have unleashed a $US20 million ($26 million) blizzard of adverts on the Midwest, the southwest, the northwest and the Rust Belt. It is the first that much of Middle America has heard about Senator Kerry. They have been shown a merciless portrait of a high-taxing liberal who changes his mind as often as the wind changes.

Tony Coelho, chairman of Al Gore's 2000 campaign, said: "Less than 30 per cent of the people know who Kerry is, so it's critical for him to spell that out.

"Instead of getting into the gutter with Bush, he should let surrogates go on the attack while he tells people, 'This is who I am. This is what I'll do for you'," Mr Coelho said.

[shield]

Well Dick Morris said this is the month (March) Kerry lost the election.

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[Eric in the Ozarks]

Here's hoping the Demonuts will dig up another Richard Clarke...

[FlipWilson]

Of course, CBS could not stand for this and released its own poll today showing that "Bush's Credibility Took a Hit" due to Clarke. I also have to wonder, even if John Kerry had the money on hand NOW, how exactly is he going to define himself? What proposals does he have? All he has done is tell the voters "Bush Sucks." What is John Kerry's plan for fighting terrorism?

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

Well, Karl and Co. have been able to define John Kerry sucessfully. Now with job creation taking off, Kerry is toast.

[cantfindagoodscreenname]

AN inability to shake hands, let alone hold babies aloft to be kissed, would seem a handicap for a politician campaigning to be the next US president.

LOL! I thought that the article was going to state merely that Kerry is just plain clueless about babies and handshakes. I had to laugh when they attributed it to his recent surgery.

[ILBBACH]

the rest of the country had better things to do

This could be written in EVERY article about politics and especially the goings-on of Washington DC!

[dirtboy]

Tony Coelho, chairman of Al Gore's 2000 campaign, said: "Less than 30 per cent of the people know who Kerry is, so it's critical for him to spell that out.

And that's the problem for the Kerry campaign. All Bush has to do is tell the truth about Flipper. Kerry, on the other hand, has to craft a fiction about who he is, which is much more difficult.

[tiamat]

I don't like Clarke, but he's done us a favor.

Just wait til Condi talks!

[Monty22]

It's amazingly easy to define kerry before kerry can.. He's an empty suit. There's nothing for him to come up with.

So Bush can easily fill it in, and what little that there is very unappealing.

[Tall_Texan]

After three months of breathless hype from the media, it's stunning that even Democrats admit only 30% of the public knows who Kerry is. And that's good for us because we have the warchest to define who he is while he is out vacationing and taking time off for surgery.

By summer, Kerry should be synonymous with tax-raising flip-flopper.

[freedom1st]

Amazing. It takes an Australian reporter to report the true facts (IMHO) in the campaign for the White House.

[McGavin999]

Hmmmm, yes, and Kerry has just launched his biggest flurry of attack ads bashing Bush for his failure to provide jobs.........just as the news came out about 300,000 new jobs created in the last month.

[Lancey Howard]

Tony Coelho, chairman of Al Gore's 2000 campaign, said: "Less than 30 per cent of the people know who Kerry is, so it's critical for him to spell that out.

I don't understand. Coelho wants Kerry to tell people, "I am a socialist scumbag who will raise taxes on everybody who works for a living and use that money to buy the votes of the Democrat base, the parasite class."? Odd.

[GOPJ]

John Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, said a few weeks ago that Wal-Marts "drive me crazy" because "they destroy communities."

Teresa Heinz is a multimillionaire and doesn't need to shop price. She wants locals who will kiss up to her -- puff up her ego. Walmart won't treat her any differently than any other customer. She wants you to subsidize her exulted lifestyle by paying more for all your goods. Charming. Or tacky. Your pick.

[bonfire]

I thought it was about those old war-wounds. Was gonna send him a band-aid.

[shield]

Kerry is toast. PRAISE THE LORD.

My take on Kerry & his wifey....ELITE INTERNATIONALIST NWO SOCIALIST COUPLE who both hate America and Americans. Middle America will hand both of them a big fat defeat!!!!!

[Fenris6]

"51-25 ahead on having good judgment in a crisis."

WOW. I knew it was bad, but only 25% think Kerry has good judgement in a crisis? Good thing we're not in serious times...oh wait. LOL.

Condi in 08!

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

LOL! I thought that the article was going to state merely that Kerry is just plain clueless about babies and handshakes. I had to laugh when they attributed it to his recent surgery.

This arrogant elitist abhors touching the "common folk".

The so-called surgery was a good excuse to keep the distance.