"Say goodnight, Gracie."
"Goodnight Gracie."
Posted on 09/02/2004 5:38:26 PM PDT by vanderleun
"Say goodnight, Gracie."
"Goodnight Gracie."
"Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
I was looking kind of dumb
With my finger and my thumb
In the shape of an "L" on my forehead "
-- SmashMouth, All Star
In the last few days there have been a lot of cycles wasted by people on the left, right, and center noting how badly the Kerry campaign is doing. To my mind, this is like suddenly discovering gravity.
The Kerry Campaign is doing badly because it has always done badly. Snagging the nomination from eight or nine less-electable clowns doesn't mean you're doing well, it just means you're not doing as poorly as the rest of the pack.
Still, I will admit that the campaign itself has, over the last fortnight, begun to do poorly in a more visible fashion than the performance of the previous year. Usually, they were able to keep the lid on somehow keep the right face on things, but of late this mask has begun to slip and that's a sign of deep existential distress on the inside.
The big question that keeps the keyboards humming at this point is : "Why?" This meditation is usually answered by some pundit or another hauling out the quick fix, the sure tactic, and the smooth move that will set things right and put John Kerry back on the path to the big chair in the oval office. Some have even gone so far as to propose Joe Trippi be brought in from the fields of clover he is currently cavorting in to right the good ship Kerry and send it smoothly into the harbor.
All these answers and suggestions are rank nonsense.
The single and only internal reason that things are now seen to be going badly inside the Kerry campaign is that deep inside the Kerry campaign, in the very core of the candidate himself, the have seen the fiery finger of fate write in glowing and deeply etched letters the single word: LOSER.
That's right -- down in the center where the Kerryites are sifting their statistics and spreadsheets and seeding their spin they already know what most of us are just beginning to sense-- THEY'VE LOST AND THERE IS NOTHING, BUT NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT.
Keen noses can smell the defeat starting to sweat off in the campaign corridors.
If this were a boxing match, the guys in the corner would already be wetting down the towel and slipping the ringside doctor a C-Note to try and get Kerry out of there with his Senate seat intact.
But it is not a boxing match and they have to go through the motions for months with the taste of the butt end of Inauguration Day in their mouths. No, they have to fight on as if it matters and at the same time keep all barbiturates out of the candidate's reach. (On second thought, maybe a few diehard Democrats are refilling their Seconal scripts in the hopes that Edwards can score enough of a mercy vote to pull them through.)
There's probably more free-floating stress and anxiety in the Kerry Campaign today than in all of Florida's jammed evacuation routes because, in the Kerry Campaign, there is now no escape.
There are several dozen reasons that can be dug out to buttress the assertion that Kerry has lost. Running down the posts and pointers at Instapundit over the last week would be a start. Instead let's look at just one element -- swiftboats, the Dukakis Tank moment of the Kerry campaign.
If the Swiftboat story has started the take-down, just wait until people really get moving on Wintersoldier and the Kerry's little jaunts to Paris and his meetings with the Vietnamese. Think it won't come out? Think again. The Bush Campaign doesn't even start until tomorrow. And, hey, it doesn't even have to come out. It just has to be there. Is it there? Why, yes, Virginia it is. "It" is always there. In this case, "it" is the difference between losing the election and losing your previously safe seat in the Senate. And an ex-candidate and ex-Senator does not exactly fit into Teresa Heinz Kerry's internal fantasies about her future, so even that previously secure position is in play.
You can add in a lot of other things -- the voting record in the Senate for starters and the dubious health of the candidate for closers. Would all this happen? We're at 60 days and third down. John Kerry, first and foremost of anyone, should know by this time that politics is a full-contact winner-take-all sport. One you don't play without a helmet. Just ask Mike Dukakis.
What's that? Mike isn't speaking to you. Guess you should have let him do more at your convention than play tour guide, John.
From horse face to horses' ass in 08' huh?
CHAPTER 3 THE PURPLE HEART HUNTER
Not so fast. I will believe this on Nov 3
Looking back, I believe Bob Dole opened the floodgates and let all the water out of kerry's swiftboat caper.
The Democrats are about to learn the lesson that just because an empty suit has no character it's not necessarily another Bill Clinton.
Not to mention, his first trip as a Senator?............ta da....an all expense paid trip for 2 (Sen Harkin as his date) to beautiful Nicaragua to shake the hand of Dictator Danny Ortega. This campaign is dryer than a popcorn fart.
The sleazy friend of Kennedy still has a few tricks up his sleeve. It ain't over until the votes are counted (and counted and counted again, but only in select precincts).
I this is right, but I think burying Kerry is way premature. This reminds me of 2000 when Gore was thought to have no chance.
Ya, that comment about three purple hearts and didn't bleed...was a good one!
The only time you negotiate with the enemy is with your knee in his chest and your knife at his throte.
Bush has completely dominated this fight, he's taken away Kerry's entire offense from round one, kerry is just reacting now.
oooooh, There goes another solid flurry by Bush, and Kerry is looking at his corner for direction now, ooh this getting ugly now, kerry has a cut over his left eye. Terry McAuliffe is shouting at the referee now, The referee just called a low blow on kerry. ohh things just couldn't get any worse for Glass Jaw kerry, He's getting thrown around like a school girl in there. Kerry's cornerwoman Hillary clinton is screaming now, "bite his funcken ear off!" oh my!
I think that they're hoping that the RNC reads these types of articles and decides to ease off (just like Dick Morris on O'Reilly saying that Bush doesn't need to campaign so much now that he has a "comfortable" lead). The RNC isn't going to slow down now. There's momentum and they need to capitalize on it by campaigning heavily. There's a reason that Dubya and team held back on spending so far. Expect a blitz.
ooooo, I hadn't thought of that.
http://www.cafepress.com/dems4w
http://www.cafepress.com/dems4bush2004 - a little more formal 
http://www.cafepress.com/dems4dubya
The way you can tell that Susan sees defeat around the corner is her sleazy counterattacks go up, and her voice deops down another octave, like a 10-pound bullfrog in heat. LOL.
If there was any room in Kerry's coffin for another nail, Zell Miller's speech was it. But no more nails are needed.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "I'm Mad as Zell, and I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore."
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Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) and his wife Teresa Heinz-Kerry ride out on a boat off of the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, September 2, 2004. (Jim Young/Reuters)
You know, I hate to get that far ahead...2008 is a long way off...but I think there is no way Shrillary can win in 2008. She is just not electable at a national level. She has a cult of moon-faced idiot followers, but her brand of liberalism doesn't play to a national audience. Liberal northeast, ok...Liberal left coast, sure why not..
Plus the fact that the major demographic of white males absolutely can't stand her for the most part. And then if that doesnt work, we can always pull out the vast right wing conspiracy.
The Dems learned from their vote stealing mistakes last time. They'll be more effective this time.
We CANNOT have a 49.5-50.5 election. The Socialists have the lawyers. It must be crushing and beyond any hope of a dispute. In as friendly a way as possible, to those who keep calling him "Toast": I want it as badly as you, more so, because I am from his state: But PLEASE knock it off. All we need is people to say, "Kerry is a goner: I may as well not bother voting" and we will have an even longer and more unpleasant replay of 2000.
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