Posted on 11/12/2004 10:06:13 AM PST by Carl/NewsMax
Top strategists with John Kerry's presidential campaign are blaming his crushing defeat last week on bad advice from Clinton operatives who took over the campaign after Labor Day.
"When [James] Carville and [Stan] Greenberg tell reporters that the campaign was missing a defining narrative, they forget that they were the ones insisting we had to keep beating the domestic-issues drum," complained David Thorne on Thursday.
Thorne - a brother-in-law from Kerry's first marriage to Julia Thorne - was one of Kerry's closest advisors throughout the campaign.
Thorne told political gadfly Arianna Huffington that because of the misguided Carville-Greenberg strategy, "We never defended John's character and focused on his leadership with the same singularity of purpose that the Republicans put on George Bush's leadership."
Kerry's brother Cameron agreed, telling Huffington, "There is a very strong John Kerry narrative that is about leadership, character and trust. But it was never made central to the campaign."
Tom Vallely, the Vietnam War veteran whom Kerry tapped to lead the response to the Swift boat attacks, told the columnist: "The Clinton team, though technically skillful, could not see reality — they could only see their version of reality. And that was always about pivoting to domestic issues."
Reports Huffington:
"In conversations with Kerry insiders over the last nine months, I’ve heard a recurring theme: that it was [Bob] Shrum and the Clintonistas [including Greenberg, Carville and senior advisor Joe Lockhart] who dominated the campaign in the last two months and who were convinced that this election was going to be won on domestic issues, like jobs and healthcare, and not on national security."
The failed strategy apparently originated with ex-President Clinton himself, who trumpeted the domestic issues mantra in repeated calls to Kerry.
Writes Huffington:
"Behind the scenes, former President Clinton also kept up the drumbeat, telling Kerry in private conversations right to the end that he should focus on the economy rather than Iraq or the war on terror, and that he should come out in favor of all 11 state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage — a move that would have been a political disaster for a candidate who had already been painted as an unprincipled flip-flopper."
Is this the same guy that consulted to FNC and lost a son in Iraq?
Any answer regarding Paul Vallely?
So, had it not be for the Clintonistas, Kerry would have won the election. Sounds like Freepers who buy this should be thanking Clinton.
Pot > kettle > black
Do you like Clinton?
Do you think Clinton won the election for President Bush? I think this is rubbish.
Oh, but it was...by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth!!
Is that question so hard for you to answer?
Kerry was tanking long before the Clinton Goons showed up
No I don't like Clinton? Have you stopped having sex with your mother?
Are you sure? Why the question mark?
BTW, It's a fair and direct question, considering you seem to defend him often.
Have you stopped having sex with your mother?
That is not a fair and direct question. FYI, my mother died violently a month ago yesterday. You are SO not funny.
The clintons delivered the deathblow to the kerry, campaign.
One problem with the theory; they didn't stick to domestic issues. In fact, they did not listen to the CLintonistas at all. Kerry insisted on talking about Iraq, an area where he was always down in the polls 10-20%.
right and he also kept on talking about his service in Vietnam.
And these morons wanted to run the Executive Branch of the US Government?
Well I never!
No, this is not the same guy.
These people are dangerously deluded. Haymaker: kerry has no narrative that's worth the powder it would take a Swiftboat Vet to blow him to hell. I mean, who are these people trying to kid? They need a major league reality check. Sheesh!
Yeah, right. They were a mutual BF'ing society, each insisting "I'm the man", "no, I'm the man".
Democraps "eating their young" phase of denial, this is too much fun!
Maybe President Bush was just better.
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