Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 34th annual Legislative Conference Dinner in Washington Saturday, Sept. 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Posted on 09/12/2004 2:11:15 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Party advisors' discussion on how to forge a 'new direction' for the candidate leads to mixed messages and lost momentum.
NEW YORK — Even as he fights to regain momentum in the presidential race, Sen. John F. Kerry faces a debate among advisors over the tone and content of his message, according to insiders and other Democrats familiar with the campaign's discussions.
One continued disagreement is over how sharply the Democratic presidential nominee — as opposed to campaign surrogates — should attack President Bush. Also in dispute is how much change would be too much for Kerry to advocate in these anxious times.
In one compromise, Kerry has taken to using words "new direction" rather than "change."
Although Kerry strategists agree the Massachusetts senator needs to be more aggressive, they remain divided over how best to communicate his critique of Bush. That lack of consensus, some Democrats say, has exacerbated Kerry's inconsistency on the campaign trail, undermining his ability to drive home his central arguments that Bush has neglected middle-class Americans and made the country less safe through his policies in Iraq.
While opinion polls have shown Bush politically vulnerable on the economy and the war, the surveys also have found that Kerry is an unknown quantity to many voters who have little sense of where he would take the country as president.
The Kerry campaign is "far from where it needs to be," said Ed Sarpolus, an independent pollster in Michigan, a state both sides are targeting. "The Bush campaign set out with a message, and that's what they're sticking with. Kerry has to be more forceful, more dominant, more consistent."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
"Kerry has to be more forceful, more dominant, more consistent"
I'm going to wait right here for that to happen, and I'll sing a song while I wait.
1,000,000,000,000 bottles of beer on the wall, 1,000,000,000,000 bottles of beer...
Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 34th annual Legislative Conference Dinner in Washington Saturday, Sept. 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
I hope the new Clinton people are having shouting matches and fist fights with the Mary Beth Cahill, Stephanie Cutter types.
No, actually the voters have gained some sense of where he would take the country, hence his drastic fall in the polls.
Democrats shouldn't attack President Bush at all. Instead, they should find and present better, more capable candidates. Unfortunately for all of us, they begin with inferior and demogogic candidates, then rely on attacks and divisiveness to get them elected.
Hillary is firmly in control....
Kerry should try another balloon drop.
I thought they had already lost the election when I saw the field of ten mental and moral midgets they started with.
President Bush has set forth a vision, and he has a series of clear ideas: the chief amongst them is very simple - victory in the War on Terror. John Kerry is talking about sensitivity and building coalitions, but there is no substitute for saying straightforwardly - victory is our goal.
I suspect Kerry is going to go the way of his former master Dukakis. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats learn anything from the experience.
Regards, Ivan
Translation: Kerry is too much of a flip-flopping weenie.
There is one of their problems in that photo. Real men don't drink their water out of bottles. OOPS, is Mary Beth a man?
Why he won't, can't win. This is not how leaders conduct themselves.
It's been said before, but I have to say it again: This guy gives me the creeps.
I think the key word in the subtitle is, of course, "forge."
LOL!
Well, Kerry certainly isn't - though he is....ah, what a mess.
The man morphs. No metal there.
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