Do You Believe the Kerry Campaign is Effective?

[Stevendsmith]

Cuz I'm freakin' nervous as hell.

As far as I can tell, The Kerry campaign is sitting pretty much idle while the Bush campaign and its slimy surrogates define Kerry as a flip-flopping, medal-grabbing, liberal boob.

It appears that Kerry is so afraid of getting the Howard Dean treatment by the RW media, that he refuses to get even remotely tough on Bush. It's like he's a prisoner of the timidity of his own campaign. And no, he doesn't have to resort to slime; he just has to spell out the Bush record of disaster and his own clear alternative.

Try to imagine how you'll feel about Kerry if he loses this thing.

That's how I'm starting to feel now.

Help!

[molly]

1. Obviously it is!

how many elections have you been thru?

on edit....I just checked your blog :eyes:

[Stevendsmith]

4. I've been through several

I'm 36 years old.

Where is the obvious effectiveness of this campaign?

[molly]

6. Where isn't it?

what would you want Kerry to do differently at this point? Give us a plan - what would you be doing?

[Stevendsmith]

9. As I said in my original post,

Kerry has to spell out the Bush record of disaster and his own clear alternative. He's not doing that effectively.

Record of Disaster

Iraq (no WMD, needless troop deaths and injuries, Abu Ghraib)
economy (record deficits, debt, job loss/outsourcing)
environment (polluting industries writing policy)
cronyism
secrecy
Consitutional violations
Outing CIA operatives
Stonewalling 9-11 investigation
etc, etc....

You know how bad the record is.

Kerry's alternative is well-defined on his web site. He needs to start spelling it out on television.

I support Kerry. I just want him to be more agressive, cuz the opposition is not f***ing around.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

11. So basically, you think he should do exactly what he has been doing.

But at the same time you say it's not 'effective' :wtf:

[Stevendsmith]

15. Huh?

I'm not even sure how to answer that. I thought I was very clear.

Kerry is speaking in very generalized terms, when he should be taking Bush down point by point (see list above for some examples).

He hasn't even publically addressed the flip-flopper charge, which is the fulcrum of the Bush campaign.

Look, I will consider my trip to the voting booth to vote for Kerry as something akin to a religious pilgrimage.

I'm just worried that he's not campaigning effectively.

[molly]

16. I think that most of these posters want an alternative

method of delivery - they want a SCREAMER

[Stevendsmith]

19. Not me

I want someone who firmly and effectively articulates the failures of the opposition and presents a clear alternative.

Look, Kerry has my vote, but the swing folks need to be educated on the perils of another four years of this disaster.

[ulTRAX]

35. there's more "non" than "swing" voters

Stevendsmith wrote: "Look, Kerry has my vote, but the swing folks need to be educated on the perils of another four years of this disaster."

Why concentrate on swing voters. What about those who usually don't vote. Here's the stats from election 2000

213,954,023 potential US voters
156,421,311 registered US voters

99,738,383 actual votes for Congress
105,404,546 votes for president

from: http://www.idea.int/vt/country_view.cfm (go to US)

Some 51 MILLION registered voters did not vote.
About 49% of the voting age population bothered to vote in 2000.

[ulTRAX]

18. watch your step

Some of the rabid and irrational political partisans around here will not tolerate ANY criticism of Kerry's campaign no matter how risk-adverse and ineffective is it.

Soon they'll be accusing you of being a Freeper plant proving that the Right has no monopoly on irrationality.

[Stevendsmith]

20. Oh, I know

I've already been accused of being a Freeper here.

[ulTRAX]

34. What's REALLY sad......

What's REALLY sad is that such intolerant people are alienating those who have the best intentions for Kerry's campaign at heart and think wearing rose colored glasses is a substitute.

I have LOTS of problems with Kerry. But I DO want him to win. I happen to believe that he can have a more effective campaign if he stops talking about leadership and SHOWS some leadership by taking tough, but necessary, stands.

[Stevendsmith]

23. Risk-Averse Describes the Campaign Exactly

That's the term that I was looking for. God, I hope they get on the stick.

[AngryAmish]

2. They need a shake-up pronto

They have been kicked between the legs by the Swift Boat thing and still are bent over.

[Joylaughter]

3. Kerry is so smart

He is letting * be the instrument of his own demise.

[derby378]

5. Keep in mind...

...that * is limited to $75 million in expenditures from the time he actually accepts the nomination through November 2. Kerry is bound by the same rules, but he accepted his party's nominations one month earlier.

Kerry has to be careful with expenditures right now; I've heard that August would be a sort of "lull month" to save the bulk of the war chest for September and October, when the debates get underway and the campaigning gets really heated.

That said, however, I think a lot of Democrats still don't take this election seriously. We can't pretend that the 2004 election is some sort of garden party, and neither can the DLC or the DNC.

[michigandem2]

7. Dean is such a fighter..

he makes sense and causes the media to stumble sometimes...its awesome...Kerry does seem too cautious...its not a bad thing when we are talking about our world events to be cautious..but this is a campaign--new set of rules for that...I know he is a fighter...just a lot of us haven't seen it and are ready...I am tuning the tv out...I will not watch more second of these shows tonight...its painful...but come friday I am looking cloely...

[molly]

17. He obviously didn't make most of us happy

:shrug:

[grytpype]

8. He has to confront Bush about his failures.

He has to rub his face in it. He has to go very negative after the convention, and make independents understand that Bush is totally unacceptable as a president. K/E is already doing that to some degree, but it needs to be done harder, louder, and relentlessly.

[Old and In the Way]

10. As effective as any Democrat running in this country today can be.

If they can smear a guy like Kerry and the corporate media resports it as news, I can only imagine how they'd have gone after some of our other primary candidates.

I'm not worried about Kerry....he won't get any media oxygen until after the convention and it will be one big Kerry bash...but it won't change anyone's minds. In fact, I think it will ultimately be detrimental to Bush's poll #s.

[Stevendsmith]

12. Well, I agree.

The corporate RW media just defies belief. Christ almighty!

[elehhhhna]

13. He's campaigning? Coulda fooled me. I HOPE that

they're just hanging back (it's been a long season with 2 months to go) and waiting to attack but i fear otherwise.

[bigtree]

30. you need to follow our candidate's campaign more closely

you are seriously misinformed. I feel sorry for you. Must be the media that you rely on.

[kwolf68]

14. YES

Virginia is a dead heat...Next question.

[mzmolly]

21. Kerry doesn't feel it's as effective as it could be ... thus the pending

shake up. I am heartened to see that he also realizes change is due. :hi:

[Stevendsmith]

22. A pending shakeup?

I hadn't heard about that. Do you have any info on this?

[mzmolly]

32. It's been all over DU today. I'll check for a link

:hi:

[MrBenchley]

24. Yes....

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

"It's like he's a prisoner of the timdidity of his own campaign."
What's timid about it? Kerry's laying out his vision for the future and discussing the reasons he ought to be president.

Junior Birdman is doing all he can by himself to show why he shouldn't....you don't waste time attacking a guy busy beating himself up.

[Stevendsmith]

26. I hope you're right

I agree it's a marathon, but we're rapidly approaching the finish line. And to continue the metaphor, we cannot have a photo finish--not with the specter of more Republican-orchestrated election fraud.

[seabeyond]

25. they are all over the place working their ass off

why are people saying they are sittin around. too many people say this. i feel sorry for them they are putting in so many hours, have to be tired. shaking hands cheering people on rah rah, that has got to get old yet they are out there ALMOST everyday, airplanes and hotels and restaraunts. would be fun about a week or two

[Stevendsmith]

27. I don't doubt that they are working hard

"sitting idle" was a poor choice of words.

My question is: are they working efffectively?

[mondo joe]

28. Afraid so. Tweety did a much better job describing Kerry than Kerry does.

In an interview on REAL TIME Tweety - Chris Matthews - did a MUCH better job describing the differences between Kerry and Bush than I've ever seen Kerry do.

Tweety made a clear distinction between the two in a way that was vivid, compelling and concise - under 2 minutes.

I wish the Kerry camp would just take what Tweety said and run with it.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fujiyama]

31. If he loses it

I'll feel bad for him (because I know he would have made a great president and because of the nasty smer campaign by the right). I will also know that the media did a terrible job covering this campaign. I don't think the media has ever had such a clear bias. CNN has become as bad, if not worse than FOX News.

That said, I'll still be upset with him for not hitting harder. I'll always feel that he was held back by worthless advisors and party hacks. I will also always wonder if having a clearer stance on Iraq would have helped. I will also fault the democrats for not being negative.

I already feel somewhat let down. I always thought Kerry would be a fighter. Instead I hear about these strategists holding him back from fighting when HE was ready to.

The party needs to be purged of all these advisors like Donna Brazile (I know she's not on Kerry's campaign but the same mentality is).

[Rockholm]

33. Just Called Their Campaign Office In Boston...

Their national mailbox seems to be full. The girl I spoke with as I was voicing my extreme anger at the pukes could barely care less. She said they were getting lots of calls. She seemed very uninterested. I said that I hoped the campaign would hit this and hit this hard. She was like OK.

[Booster]

36. If Kerry loses, I'll feel about him exactly how I felt

about Gore, and that wasn't pretty. How both of these guys couldn't/can't beat Bush is beyond me, given Bush's record at both times, but I'll give it to Gore because it was stolen from him, and I get the feeling the same thing is about to happen to Kerry, what with the Bush's sending out notices that all their people vote absentee.

[BillZBubb]

37. Relax, the Kerry team is practicing their judo...

...between chess matches. They know they don't have to do anything because their "rope-a-dope" strategy will lead to Bush* self-destructing. Plus, Rove is an idiot who cannot win campaigns. If we all just calm down and stop pointing out problems, we will win.

See how easy it is? Feel better now?