Top Dem Rips Kerry Campaign

CBS News ^ | 09/14/2004 | Paul Kuhn

[dubie]

Longtime Democratic insider Tony Coelho lashed out at the John Kerry presidential campaign, characterizing it as a campaign in chaos. With yet another appointment of a former Clinton administration staffer to Kerry’s team on Tuesday, Coelho argues the problem is worsening.

[AMDG&BVMH]

Coelho says. “It also starts to impact in regard to the whole image of leadership. If someone can’t control a message in a presidential campaign, how are you going to be a good president?”

thoughtful minds have already figured that out

[Semi Civil Servant]

I think that almost all the Clinton lie/cover-up staff is now riding on TrainWreck Kerry. I wonder when Monica will board?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

I wonder when Monica will board?

As soon as they get a freight car.

[Tom Bombadil]

I have to look every now and then to make sure the building is still standing.

Oh is is there all right, but closer inspection will reveal a hollywood set with just the front of a building.

To paraphrase T.S. Elliot: "We are the hollow news-men..."

[TomGuy]

Kerry has convinced himself that he won the Democrat nomination.

Kerry actually 'got' it by default after the Dean meltdown. Kerry was barely holding third place in many states. Even after most dropped out and Kerry was the lone significant Dem candidate, he was only garnering 2/3 of the Dem primary votes. Fully 1/3 were voting against him in many remaining primaries; it was ABK (Anyone But Kerry).

[The DNC probably wish they had heeded that 1/3 and gone with ABK as their candidate of choice.]

[Tom Bombadil]

Now, he's brought in the Clintonites, without firing Teddy's gang, and the top spots are now double-filled. One can only imagine the infighting and chaos!

'Reminds me of a C.S. Lewis book "That Hideous Strength" where hell is characterized as a beauracracy filled with people who feed on eachother's failure.

[TomGuy]

Yes. CBS is supposed to make a statement around noon (EDT) today.

[finnman69]

The DUmmies are calling Coelho an A-HO.

[bray]

When Yaaaawn goes into a restaurant and the waiter asks him if he wants Fresh Ground Pepper, it takes him 20 mins to avoid the answer???

Pray for W and Our Troops

[pointsal]

Tony C.- Looks like he is sorry that he is not getting his cut of the action.

[narby]

Kerry's the candidate, not Shrum or anyone else. If Kerry can't even run a campaign, how could he possibly run FedGov? Much less run it the manner we would prefer him to.

Kerry has never run any large organization. He's never been an administrator. Never a Governor.

He's a loser.

[daviddennis]

Our problem here is a national message,” Coelho says. “What is it that we [Democrats] are? If you go to Kerry, that’s a disaster because the candidate should not be involved in solving disputes or the creation of his message.

It makes me wonder what the point of the candidate is. I thought it would be the candidate's views that would then be expressed and refined via his staff. But I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned (like Bush).

If his staff are creating Kerry's views, maybe we have the wrong guy running. Maybe his staff should be running for President, if they determine the message and its meaning.

Heck, they couldn't do worse than Kerry.

D

[afz400]

And don't forget Coelho's friend John Mack - once a top aide to then-Speaker Jim Wright.
In 1973, Mack had been the manager of a discount store in Virginia. A college student named Pamela Small came into buy window blinds for her first apartment. Mack lured her into a storeroom and smashed her skull with a hammer five times. He then used a steak knife to stab her in the chest and shoulder and to slit her throat. He put her body in her car and went to see a movie.
But Small survived and went to the police. Mack first denied his guilt, then admitted to having "blown his cool." Luckily for Mack, his brother was married to Jim Wright's daughter. Wright wrote letters for Mack and promised to give him a job (even though he had neither Hill experience nor a college education). Mack served two years in jail and then went on to work his way up the Hill.
In 1989, though, Small came forward and the Post broke the story of his past "mistake" (as he put it). Coelho already knew of Mack's background. His reaction when the story broke? "John Mack owed his debt to society, not to this young woman." Besides, he added, Mack "worked to pass very caring bills."

[Puppage]

I don't trust CBS

I agree. And, here's something to think about.......

Since the memos that CBS reported on are fakes, HOW then can Bob Sheffer of CBS be a moderator in the Presidential debates???

[LS]

Don't let it make you sick---the memos thing means WE'RE WINNING and WINNING HUGE!

Kerry is still, after four months, stuck in the jungles of Vietnam! Every time he tries to helo out, the media sucks him back in---or the Swifties.

In the minds of voters, Vietnam=war="need strong leader"=Bush. It's that simple, and they know it. Today on Fox you could see the Dem spinmeister starting to try to get away from this by saying "Bush had an honorable discharge, and John Kerry was a hero, and we need to move on."

[creepycrawly]

Well, considering the pathetic campaign Coelho headed in 2000, this may just be an inverted compliment to Kerry.

[Camerican]

That first quote perfectly sums up the difference between Kerry and Bush. Bush DOES create his message. HE makes the decision on what he stands for and what his campaign is about - hence his straight forward, consistant positions on issues. Kerry, on the other hand, has his staffers telling him what his positions should be - hence his bizarre inconsistencies on issues.

[LS]

Coop, he ain't gonna narrow the gap. It might change in one or two states, but Quinnipiac now has Bush down only six in NEW YORK, tied in MAINE.

Kerry is sunk. The realistic question is, when does the DNC start to pull money for the senate campaigns that he might take down with him?

[ThirstyMan]

The threat of a Hillary candidacy is a real myth.

She beat young relatively unknown, latecomer at that, Rick Lazio for her Senate seat. Had she run against a real candidate, say Rudy, she's be on history's pile today.
My point is Hillary is looked up to by the fanatical Dim-devotees but
she's not a National candidate, no matter what anyone says.
Nobody divides the American electorate 60/40 more than Hillary. The ominous speculation of an ever rising Hillary is plain false prophecy.