Posted on 09/06/2004 4:39:18 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
BOSTON John F. Kerry has been here before.
Turning into the final eight weeks of the presidential campaign, the Democratic nominee faces doubts within his party and pundits increasingly skeptical of his chances against a resurgent President Bush, who seems to have momentum heading his way.
It is reminiscent of the Democratic race last winter, when Kerry was counted among the living dead and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was romping to the Democratic nomination or so it appeared.
But there is another contest that may be instructive, a campaign that political connoisseurs rate as one of the all-time classics: the 1996 U.S. Senate race between Kerry and Massachusetts' popular Republican governor, William F. Weld.
.....Although no election is like any other, the close-quarters combat of that Senate race offers clues to how the Democratic nominee operates under pressure, the steps he will take to win and suggests why Democrats, nervous as some may be, are counting on another Kerry comeback.
With his reelection bid lagging polls had Kerry trailing Weld in August by 8 percentage points the senator abruptly shed one of his top aides and replaced him with a pugnacious ad man who crafted a more partisan message emphasizing pocketbook issues. Kerry worked to overcome his stuffy reputation by revealing a more personal and humble side to voters. He dug into his wallet even though it meant ignoring the spending limits he originally agreed to abide by. And he fiercely defended his Vietnam War record when his credibility was called into question.
Each was identical to steps Kerry would take years later as he rallied from behind to capture the Democratic presidential nomination and, more recently, fend off charges he exaggerated his Vietnam combat record.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Hope springs eternal at the LAT.
This ain't Massachusetts, Frankenstein.
Why do I have this feeling those two polls....Time and Newsweek werea set up.....that will show a Kerry comeback in the weeks to come.
It ain't Massachusetts and George W. Bush is no RINO Fop like William "Pink Floyd" Weld.
"He dug into his wallet even though it meant ignoring the spending limits he originally agreed to abide by"
Actually,he dug into his wife's purse.
That's right, something all these people touting Kerry's "comeback" prowess conveniently overlook when they write their 'analysis'.
Barabak is a long time communist. Now we're supposed to believe Hanoi John is just starting to fight.
That's what I thought when I saw them. The MSM wants to paint a comeback kid story, so what better way than to exaggerate the polls. It's a gamble, but it lets them write story after story about Kerry coming back with snips from his campaign rallies at Burger King and Bowling Alleys.
Yup. It's the same way the MSM helped Kerry through the primaries.
Well, I can bet that the Bush campaign has dissected Kerry's past strategy pretty well.
And this ain't Massachusetts.
(I only reserve the word, Strategery for GWB. Strategy is for the big doofus windsurfer in the flowered Jams.)
John O'Neill and his "band of heros" are waiting in ambush. Those wonderful POWs are about to put a broadside blast into Kerry's fanny. They say young GW was a good poker player. John O'Neill appears to be a chess master. Kerry knows this, which explains why he has brought in such HONEST and RESPONSIBLE staff. John O'Neill and Swiftvets/POWs, with OUR help, will be up to the challenge
The Kennedy clan cannot cover the whole coutry like they did Iowa before the caususes, nor would they have the same impact on the whole country as they did with the Democrat caucus goers. After KKT lost in Maryland to a Republican governor, I hope the Kennedy's are yesterday's news.
Check out the John F. Kerry Timeline.
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Since moving home to MA to take care of my folks, I was called for jury duty twice.
There were approximately 25 people in each group. Eight of those people were deemed ineligible to serve because they were not citizens.
However, our jury summons comes directly from the voter registrations.
As I understand it, Democrats regularly register non-citizens to vote in Massachusetts elections.
Kerry's band of brothers are greatly outnumbered by an army of SwiftVets--now, that'll be a FIRST for him.
...and if they did, Kerry would lose by a bigger margin!!!!!
The truth is that Kerry did have the Kennedy's and President Clinton out campaigning for him in 1996. That will not happen in this race.
George Bush is no Howard Dean.
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