Posted on 09/16/2004 12:11:37 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
ELEANOR HALL: In the United States, the campaign of the Democrat Presidential challenger, Senator John Kerry, is undergoing a transformation with the challenger now going after President George W. Bush.
The Kerry campaign is in trouble and is running out of time, with the President well ahead in the polls. And while President Bush's lead has come back slightly from his post convention high, many states critical to a Kerry win are now turning toward the Republicans.
From Washington, John Shovelan reports.
JOHN SHOVELAN: Out on the stump Senator Kerry is getting tough.
JOHN KERRY: President Bush's desk isn't where the buck stops, it's where the blame begins.
JOHN SHOVELAN: Trailing in the polls, he's been advised to take the gloves off.
So a fist pumping Senator Kerry takes to the stage.
JOHN KERRY: His is the excuse Presidency – never wrong, never responsible, never to blame.
JOHN SHOVELAN: He's campaigning on domestic issues – the economy, health care and education. Funny, given the Democrat convention was all about his experiences in Vietnam and how this laid a great foundation for him to become the commander in chief.
But his retreat from issues of national security like Iraq has left his campaign looking unbalanced and ignoring one of the key issues on the minds of many American voters.
A former adviser to four presidents David Gergen says the Kerry campaign has become too domestically focused.
DAVID GERGEN: I think the single biggest weakness the Kerry campaign has become is that his rhetoric and his votes on Iraq have struck many, many voters as being incoherent. And they don't understand what he thinks about Iraq and what he thinks ought to happen in the future.
And I think the absence of a framework on the war on terrorism and what to do about Iraq is coming back to plague this campaign.
You cannot, as the Democratic challenger, when deaths are accumulating in Iraq, you know, when the place seems to be closer and closer to the edge of real chaos, you can't, as the Democrat candidate, say, well, let's talk about the economy.
He's got to talk about both. He needs a strategy for the war on terrorism and it has to include Iraq.
JOHN SHOVELAN: Reports suggest there's disagreement within the Kerry campaign itself, with some saying it's verging on chaotic. And while the Kerry camp flails President Bush has been stabilising his gains in states that were once considered dead heats. As a result the number of genuine battleground states is shrinking.
And even in the Democratic strong hold of Minnesota, Senator Kerry's standing has fallen nine points over the past month, while President Bush has gained three points.
In Ohio, a state considered a bellwether of this election and one that has suffered 250,000 job losses over the past four years, it's President Bush whose beginning to pull away – and this is meant to be a state where Senator Kerry's message would resonate.
But even Democrats now concede Senator Kerry has failed to communicate what his plans are. This morning when asked what he would do in Iraq, he replied that's a question for President Bush.
DAVID GERGEN: It's totally inadequate, given where he is. If he were ten points ahead perhaps he could get away with the old Nixon formulation on Vietnam – I've got a secret plan to win in Vietnam – but he's not ten points ahead.
JOHN SHOVELAN: The time for the Kerry campaign to make its mark is beginning to run out.
John Shovelan, Washington.
I am getting tired of this BS about "time for Kerry to
take off the gloves" --- "Kerry needs to hit back."
WHAT ELSE, pray tell, has Kerry been doing since last
summer except bash BUSH?
Running out of time? Gee, the second half has only just begun.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
There are serious suggestions that memos purporting to show George W. Bush received preferential treatment during his National Guard service are forgeries. And those memos appear to have on them the paw prints of a desperate Kerry campaign.
It was "60 Minutes," the CBS News program, that last week "broke" the story. It detailed four memos purportedly from the personal file of late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian. One of their juicer tidbits -- Col. Killian was pressured to "sugarcoat" Bush's record.
But there may be a few problems. Not only do Killian's wife and son doubt the authenticity of some of the memos, some experts say the type font doesn't ring true. It's more akin to the computer-generated letters of Microsoft Word than typewriters commonly used at the time, they say.
Additionally, prior Killian memos, their authenticity unquestioned, called Bush "an exceptionally fine young officer and a pilot."
Gary Killian, who served with his father, called the CBS-obtained memos "a mixture of truth and fiction."
An opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee is said to have received the documents from a retired military officer six weeks ago. Senior DNC and Kerry staff members are said to have reviewed them, the latter supposedly passing them on to "60 Minutes."
Should these memos prove to be the forgeries some think they are, John Kerry will have dug his political grave. So, too, the Democratic Party.
During the Battle of Stanlingrad the Russians blasted a clock ticking, 24 hours a day to remind the Germans that their time was running out.
tick, tick, tick,
I loved it today when some of the TV talking heads were talking and one asked, does anyone know where Kerry was at today?
Bump!
Did you notice they spelled the name of the
correspondent incorrectly?
It should be John SHOVELIN' (I know it said ABC not CBS,
...but still !)
Yeah, LOL!
Or break that pointed finger.
Oh, how I'd love to slap him...
about 18 times. LOL!
And there is still so much more we don't know about John Kerry . . .
Check out the John F. Kerry Timeline.
.
Are the Gergens and Kerrys related?
Boy, David Gergen has described sKerry to a tee!
And slighted him in a compassionate way I might add.
OK.
Sounds wonderful!
An opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee is said to have received the documents from a retired military officer six weeks ago. Senior DNC and Kerry staff members are said to have reviewed them, the latter supposedly passing them on to "60 Minutes."
sKerry began digging his a long time ago, which prompted my "landslide attitude" a year ago, however the "so, too, the Democratic Party", has me licking my chops!
Splat.
Yes, I want to know MORE!
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