Nation Mag--Big Worries about John Kerry

The Nation ^ | 5/5/04 | John Nichols

[xlib]

LOS ANGELES -- John Kerry is going to have to decide who he wants to be when he grows up politically. His post-primary campaign has been so dramatically unfocused and ineffectual that -- even as George Bush has taken more serious blows to his credibility than any sitting president since Richard Nixon in the first years of his second term -- Kerry has not been able to open up a lead nationally or in the essential battleground states.

Kerry is making moves to muscle up his Democratic presidential candidacy, with a $25-million let's-make-some-introductions advertising campaign, an effort to sharpen his message and a sped-up vice presidential search. The next month will be critical. If he can open a five- to eight-point lead nationally and establish leads that mirror those of Al Gore's 2000 wins in Democratic-leaning battleground states, his campaign will be sufficiently renewed to make the race. If, on the other hand, he continues to hold even nationally and trail behind Gore's showings in the states that will tip the balance in the Electoral College, there will come a round of questioning -- prior to the Democratic National Convention in July -- about whether the party is making the right choice.

Kerry will still be the nominee. Modern political parties lack the flexibility to clean up messes, no matter how obvious the need. The was proven in 1996, when the Republican National Convention dutifully nominated Bob Dole, despite the fact that no honest observer thought he had a chance of winning.

Will Kerry be the Dole of 2004? That's the question that the Massachusetts senator needs to sort out this month.

The decisions Kerry makes now will determine whether his campaign is for real. And the pressure for some kind of signal is only going to increase as the month passes.

In southern California this week to contribute to Robert Greenwald's upcoming documentary on media issues, I had a chance to talk with political activists, journalists and entertainment-industry insiders. They were all for getting rid of George Bush. But they were also, to a one, convinced that Kerry's campaign wasn't doing what was necessary to accomplish that task. They still thought Kerry would carry California -- a must-win state for the Democrats -- but they were worried that he was slipping even there. And they were convinced that his failure to come on strong was eliminating enthusiasm for his candidacy.

Writer and activist Arianna Huffington, who has written a good new book about the Bush crowd, Fanatics and Fools, was particularly concerned. A none-of-the-above voter in 2000, she's determined to achieve regime change in the White House this year and she recognizes that Kerry offers the only realistic hope for sending Bush back to Texas. But she is so worried about Kerry's cautious campaigning that she has penned a letter to the candidate, which she hopes hundreds of thousands of activists will sign. The letter urges the presumptive Democratic nominee to, "Offer voters a bold moral vision of what America can be. A vision that is bigger than the things that divide us. A vision that brings hope and soul back to our politics and appeals to more than voters' narrow self-interests. A vision that makes America once again a respected force for good in the world.

(You can learn more about Huffington's recent projects by visiting her www.fanaticsandfools.org website.)

I don't know whether a letter will get John Kerry's attention, let alone whether it will get him to recognize that his campaign really is in trouble. But I do know that it is right to target messages toward Kerry, himself.

Again and again, people asked me: Who is advising Kerry? The answer is that the names don't really matter.

Like any soon-to-be-nominated presidential candidate, Kerry is getting advice from every corner. The noxious Democratic Leadership Council, which every election season commands Democrats to run as Republican-lite centrists, is indeed bending his ear. But Kerry is getting advice from credible and competent sources, as well.

The problem is that the senator seems to be having a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff when it comes to messaging. And, unfortunately, this is a challenge that only he is in a position to resolve.

No one else but the candidate can cure what ails this presidential campaign. That's because only the candidate can send the a broad and meaningful message that says his campaign really does promise fundamental change. Kerry cannot count on the "Beat Bush" message to carry him to victory in November. Nor should he assume that just promising to be kinder and gentler than Bush will be enough.

John Kerry needs to present himself as the candidate who offers America a clean break from Bushism.

If he does so, he will win.

If he fails to do so, he will be this year's Bob Dole -- without the sense of humor.

[xlib]

" The noxious Democratic Leadership Council, which every election season commands Democrats to run as Republican-lite centrists, is indeed bending his ear. But Kerry is getting advice from credible and competent sources, as well."

Pray that Kerry listens to this guy, who thinks Kerry needs to move to the left!

[dirtboy]

even as George Bush has taken more serious blows to his credibility than any sitting president since Richard Nixon in the first years of his second term

Only in your fermented demented imagination, Nichols. You can scream "Bush lied! Bush lied!" all you want, but that doesn't make it so, and most Americans are smart enough to realize that.

[Reelect President Dubya]

...even as George Bush has taken more serious blows to his credibility than any sitting president since Richard Nixon in the first years of his second term...

This guy is serious.

He compares Bush to the Liberal's most frightening boogie-man, Richard Milhause Nixon.

Kerry ain't your problem, Bub.

It's your agenda that's the problem.

[gipper81]

Run left, John'effin, run left.

[lilylangtree]

Just rec'd this a.m. via email. It's from scary kerry website. The nation has a right to be scared of ketchupman.

http://www.scaryjohnkerry.com/taxes.htm

[cripplecreek]

"Kerry ain't your problem, Bub.

It's your agenda that's the problem."


No kidding. I saw Katrina Vandenhuevel (SP?) on the Dennis miller show last night. I was glad to see Miller put her on the spot by asking who the liberals plan to take the country back from. It forced her into the position of spouting the standard insulting liberal line of "extremists" and saying that we can retun to "educating america".

I translated it to mean the taliban and ignernt hillbillies.

[68skylark]

I love this type of article from the left -- unhappy with Kerry and urging him to move to the left. What could be better than that?

[ken5050]

Ohboy...Arainna Huffington as a campaign consultant. Now THAT'S a scary thought...after all, she ran such a brilliant campaign in California..

[daviddennis]

I'm not sure if his problem is really his agenda, which is difficult to figure out in any case. Is he, for real, for or against the war? It's impossible to tell. If my memory serves, the latest is that he's against the war but plans to pursue it vigourously, which makes little sense.

I think his real problem is a clear lack of likability and integrity. If he can't be honest about his SUV driving, how can we trust him on other issues?

And why are the Democrats nominating a total bore when that's the last thing they need?

You tell me.

D

[Reelect President Dubya]

You tell me.

I will tell you that I _want_ John Kerry to be the Democrat presidential nominee.

My only fear is that he won't be.

[Bahbah]

"Modern political parties lack the flexibility to clean up messes, no matter how obvious the need."

Wrong, the modern Dem party is ready and willing to take care of their Torricelis.

[CyberAnt]

I love it! Here's a guy from the Nation all but throwing Kerry in the trash can, and for the last several months, David Corn (from the Nation), has been on FOX spewing the DNC line in support of Kerry.

So which is it - they support him .. or they don't.

[GaltMeister]

I hope JF'nK keeps doing photo ops wearing that silly bicycle helmet. The Poodle Boy should wear some kind of helmet every time he appears in public (think Dukakis).

[Southack]

"only the candidate can send the a broad and meaningful message that says his campaign really does promise fundamental change."

Change to what? Raise taxes back up to where they were before GWB became President? Repeal the ban on Partial Birth Abortion? Tear down the national missile defense system that President Bush has built? Ratify the Kyoto Global Warming nonsense that President Bush killed? Sign on with the ICC and World Court to have Frenchmen prosecute American soldiers? Repeal prescription drugs for senior citizens? Pull a "Spain" and flee from Iraq?

I mean, what "change" do the Democrats want to implement? They certainly aren't telling us what they want to do (at least not with specifics).

Senator Kerry has only made 3 votes in the Senate this year, one of which was to ban .308 "sniper" ammunition. Is this sort of hyper-radical gun-control what the Democrats think America urgently needs in the way of "change?"

Perhaps it isn't the messenger. Maybe it's the *message* (such as opposing private school choice vouchers for inner city minority children, opposing faith-based charities, opposing saying "under God" in our pledge) that the current Democratic elite are spouting that is being broadly rejected by the American public.

[Dan from Michigan]

to ban .308 "sniper" ammunition

Actually it was intended for the .30-30 according to Kennedy, but I'm sure the .308 was covered as well.

[pawdoggie]

With Arianna Huffington advising him, John Kerry is a shoo-in...to remain the junior senator from Massachusetts.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Kerry is getting advice from credible and competent sources, as well.

The problem is that the senator seems to be having a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff when it comes to messaging. And, unfortunately, this is a challenge that only he is in a position to resolve



If he's having this problem as a candidate, it'll be much worse as a president. How they run their campaign, the people they pick to advise them, all paint a picture of how they'll run the White House and the Country.

Reminds me of the Florida Recount. Bush had James Baker, Gore had - Warren Christopher.

[xlib]

And why are the Democrats nominating a total bore when that's the last thing they need?

I wondered about this myself, watching the other 9 dwarfs implode one by one. I'm starting to think the '04 dems are like the '96 pubbies--we gave it to Dole because it was "his turn", or because we thought we had to have someone quick, to engage Clinton early. We wanted to dump Clinton so badly we panicked.

[Southack]

"Actually it was intended for the .30-30 according to Kennedy"

Can we verify that one of Senator Kerry's only 3 votes in the Senate this year was to ban 30-30 *hunting* ammunition?!

...Verify, of course, only *after* the Democrats' Boston convention this Summer, I mean (don't want them changing ummm, horses, right now).

[Give Piece A Chance]

How anyone takes Arianna Huffington seriously is unfathomable. This is a woman who couldn't figure out her husband was gay until he announced it in public...