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I called the Kerry Campaign main headquarters this morning and voiced a few concerns.
1). The McCain-Bush "yeah" ad was perhaps the most powerful thing to come out of the campaign to date...and it got YANKED. The campaign needs to replace it with something bigger and better...soon.
Feedback: "I'll pass that along."
2). There are several camps on the site right now: the "Shut up and let Kerry run his campaign, he knows what he's doing" crowd and the "If he doesn't start fighting back, he is going to lose this election" crowd. What is your response and what is the message you would like to see go out to the people who are fighting to get the Senator elected?"
Feedback: "The campaign is responding on a daily basis, I'm not sure if you are seeing the information..."
My response: I see the information, but when I see it, you're preaching to the choir. You've seen the polls...and I know they are only as reliable as the sampling used, but the Senator HAS taken a hit from the Swift Boat ads. It doesn't matter if he took a LARGE hit, a SMALL hit, or a "barely negligible" hit. He took a hit. He needs to hit back.
Feedback: "I'll pass that along."
3). "I respect the fact that Senator Kerry doesn't want to fight a dirty campaign, but how does he feel about going up against a campaign orchestrated by Karl Rove? How does he feel about the man who set up cold-calls to the deep south in the 2000 election asking people "How would you feel if you knew that John McCain had an illegitimate black child?"
Feedback: "Groan"
My response: And you do understand that they really haven't gone after Edwards, right? Bush has the wife out there taking shots at him, but you do understand that he has not been the subject of a full-frontal attack yet, right?
Feedback: "Yes."
4). I mentioned the Purple Heart band-aids. I said "we have 60 days left in the campaign...the Senator DOES realize that the Swift Boat thing wasn't the end of it, right? The question I have is this: Is Senator Kerry fully prepared to do whatever is necessary to go up against a dirty campaign, even if he prefers not to run one himself, and do whatever he needs to do in order to win? When I try to encourage people who have these thoughts and convince them that the Senator is committed to win this election, what would the campaign like me to tell them?"
Feedback: "Ask them to keep supporting Senator Kerry."
OK, folks, I tried. Your turn.
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