JOHN KERRY'S QUIET COLLAPSE

New York Post ^ | 4/27/04 | JOHN PODHORETZ

[kattracks]

April 27, 2004 -- THE conventional wisdom is that the presidential election will be close. It's a 50-50 country, so the CW goes, just as it was in the year 2000.

Kerry is a terrible, terrible, terrible candidate.

It's not so much the policies he proposes, although they don't add up to all that much. The problem is Kerry himself. He no sooner opens his mouth than he sticks first one foot and then the other right in there.

[Tall_Texan]

Second, they could just run the campaign & election with his name on the ballot, which would be much more complicated. This would definitely be the case if a presidential nominee died, say, the night before the election.

You're actually voting a ticket - President AND Vice President - on the ballot. Once again, the wisdom of our forefathers is revealed. If a presidential candidate died in the days leading up to the election, the "ticket" could still be voted upon with Vice Presidential nominee assuming the mantle if elected. That's why the Veep choice is important - sorta like the first runner up in the Miss America pageant. If for any reason Miss America is unable to fulfill her duties, the first runner up gets the job instead. Same with Veep nominees.

[Roy Tucker]

I hadn't realized Kerry served in Viet Nam.

[Talking_Mouse]

I have to disagree with you. We need to do that after he is fully nominated. The big collapse should be in September or October. When he CAN'T be taken off the ballots. With the capture of OBL, which I am sure will be sometime in the summer, and Senator Kerry's meltdown we will have a landslide for the White House as well as filibuster proofing the Senate.

Then on to Condi in '08.

[Boot Hill]

"Will Hellary want it in 2004?"

Depends on what the meaning of "it" is!

--Boot Hill

[HitmanLV]

What's with the love affair with Dr. Rice? I like her but I don't think she is made of presidential cloth. Maybe a VP, at this juncture.

Has she ever won elected office? Can she govern? Does anybody have any idea?

[BigWaveBetty]

He'd run over his mother to continue now.

Yes but, bless his heart, he'll have to borrow a car.

[NYpeanut]

That photo makes him look like the guest of honor at a funeral. Yamahama. He should be troubled.

[DustyMoment]

Guys, you should have gone with John Edwards.

I never thought that I would be saying this but, IMO, they should have gone with Joe the LIARman. Of the entire field of Dem candidates, Lieberman ends up being the most rational and centrist. Dems are going to be kicking their own butts for following each other like lemmings into the Kerry rathole.

[hershey]

Ol' Crusty warms up in the wings while the RAT hierarchy decides there's no way Botoxboy will cut it in Nov. The problem is, how to avoid months of bad publicity until then. Maybe he should take another vacation.

[Izzy Dunne]

ABC News dug up a TV interview Kerry gave

HERE is the big nugget, folks - ABC news operating the shovel instead of the water bucket!
Why is THAT happening, all of a sudden?
Is it blood-in-the-water journalism?
Or could it be something else?
Like, oh, I don't know.... Satan? Hillary?

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

To say "Kerry is toast" is to insult bread.


He'd run over his mother to continue now.

Yes but, bless his heart, he'll have to borrow a car.

ROTFLMAO! You guys (and gals) are on today!

[alwaysconservative]

Donate now so that the ads are ready to go and there is money to air them when needed. Don't wait or it WILL be too late (thanks to CFR, but that is another topic). Write your letters NOW because most newspapers have a "one per month" rule and because people are focused on this election sooner than ever before in history. What you do will make a difference now more so than later.

[hershey]

Someone called Howie Carr's WRKO Boston radio show yesterday and said he thought Kerry had simply bought new medals to replace the ones he threw over the fence. Anyone can buy medals, except the Congressional Medal of Honor. There's talk that he has his medals in a case in his senate office or else on the wall in one of TerAYsa's many, many, many, luxurious homes.

[Izzy Dunne]

they should have gone with Joe the LIARman. Of the entire field of Dem candidates, Lieberman ends up being the most rational and centrist.

Joe Lie did have the gut principles to appeal to a lot of folks, I think.
He sold 'em too cheap in 2000, though.

[ken5050]

The debates are gonna be very interesting...

[hershey]

Interesting: early this am, the CBS Boston TV affiliate featured Kerry's medal/Vietnam service problems and actually told the truth. They also said Kerry's entire campaign is based on his Vietnam service, and that while he claimed he'd never badmouthed Bush's avoidance of the draft, the reporter said he'd done just that twice in the same interview. The lies keep piling up and finally the press is talking about them. Also they said the public doesn't seem to care that Kerry served in Vietnam since Bush's numbers keep going up. Could this be the beginning of the end? If so, I bet Hill's getting panicked phone calls from Liberal media movers and shakers.

[alwaysconservative]

Ewwwww! Yet another creepy picture of him sniffing his fingers! I never thought I'd say this, but he is even creepier than Al Gore.

[Talking_Mouse]

In 2008 the junior Senator from NY is going to run for President. She will have the full support of the entire liberal establishment. One of her major points is going to be that she is a woman and the republican are bad/unfair/awful/uncaring to women and minorities. She, as a caring woman will fair and caring to all women and minorities. If we have a much brighter minority female as our candidate much of what she will be blunted. You and I both know that we are not unfair to women (I am NOT oppressed by anyone on this message board) but that, unfortunately, is one of the major liberal talking points. The right to kill a baby in the womb being one of their most cherished rights. The ability to say we have the first serious black candidate for President will be extremely useful in taking the wind out of the liberal's sails on the entire conservatives keep the minorities down controversy.

Condi can verbally run rings around Hillary. She can point to a much more impressive political resume. We will have a female president in the next 8 years. I don't want that person to Hillary Clinton.

[alwaysconservative]

I am one of those who don't give much weight to the idea that sHrillary will somehow step in to this race if Kerry implodes; it's too costly for her politically and she will be a much better "saviour" of the Dim party if she cleans up the messes of 2004 rather than contribute to them. Don't forget, the Torricelli switch may have kept them a seat in NJ, but that and the Wellstone funerally turned off a whopping percentage of the centrist American voters. A bait and switch program would further hurt the Dim's chances with the middle, and even sHrillary is too smart to try that.

[Adder]

I disagree that we knock Kerry out now. There is still time for the dems to recover before the convention. As others have noted, it could turn into an open convention and draft Hitlery.
Bush will have spent enormous amounts of capital against this iferior candidate and would have to turn and face a new and stronger challenger while raising more money.
Better to keep Kerry wobbly but not down until after the convention. He has not shown that he as a "second wind" in him.