interesting article regarding kerry's "absence"

[stubertmcfly]

NOVEMBER 10, 2004 – When Senator John Kerry (D-MA) talked about how his policy would be different in Iraq, he kept saying, in effect, ‘It’s the how, stupid.’ He said repeatedly he would fight a “smarter” war.

Flash forward to today. Following the election, there was a problem apparent. The exit polling didn't match the ballot count, and many reasons for that began to become apparent.

John Kerry was faced with three options. One, fight on publicly rather than conceding and put the nation into a media frenzied limbo. Two, concede and go on with his life, turning his back on his promise to his supporters to ensure that “every vote will be counted.”

Most people are assuming that John Kerry opted for the second of these while John Edwards, his runningmate, opted for the first, and since Kerry was the big dog, he won out. But people who think this are thinking in Bush terms, all or nothing, either you are for the war or against it, that either Senator Kerry was for recounting the votes or he was against it.

The reality is, John Kerry has chosen a third, much smarter course – just as he said he would all along.

John Kerry realized that to launch a public campaign calling the vote into question would be disastrous. In fact, he likely realized he would we walking right into a Bush-set booby trap.

*snip*

http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i21election.htm>full article from modernindependent

[Buzz Clik]

1. excellent.

Interesting analysis.

[HEAVYHEART]

2. sigh..

I hope so. I haven't given up on Kerry.

[DenverDem]

3. As someone who voted FOR John Kerry, this is great news.

Get the evidence, THEN IMPEACH THE BASTARD.

There is no doubt that massive fraud occurred on 11/2. Being able to prove it in a court of law is another matter, but if that is achieved, busholini is in deep manure.

[johnnie]

4. To be honest

I haven't really questioned Kerry's actions. I was hoping that he was stepping back so it didn't turn in to a 2000 fiasco.

[txindy]

5. John Kerry is a very, very smart man

I hope everybody realizes that. If not now, then soon.

He's also exceptionally brave because, if this doesn't work out, many Democrats will not only never believe what his strategy really was, but they will no longer trust him. That's a real risk, one that I think is evident here in some posters' reactions to his 'concession'. And it's only been a week and two days. Talk about a tough crowd. ;)

[BlueCaliDem]

6. With all that "liberal biased media" in the States, the third option is

smartest! I believe Kerry's learned something from the 2000 Recount coverage that did everything they could to make Gore look like a "sore loser".
Let's hope this is true.

[99Pancakes]

7. Agree!

At this point, this seems most plausible. I truly believe it would have been a publicity nightmare had Kerry's team jumped knee-jerk like into a recount and investigation. The nation hated the "hanging election" in 2000-- the results that hung so precipitously on a single piece of chad day in and day out.

A "quiet" and therefore "smarter" investigation has always made sense to me. I still would like to think that K/E are not the brash, impulsive morons that the Republi-can'ts are.

[rodeodance]

11. agree, see MSNBC website today for Kerry lawyers going to OHIO!!

[99Pancakes]

18. I saw that this a.m.

I am a teacher in CA with Veteran's Day off. Kerry needs to have this move forward with "the voices of outraged citizens" boiling up and around him, surrounding him, and therefore cushioning him from the attacks that will come from the extreme Right. I will say it again: it would have been political suicide for K/E to approach this in too direct a fashion. I think it is progressing nicely at this point. <crossing my fingers>

[pacalo]

8. This is good news & it sounds like it's on the mark.

With no word from any Democratic leadership, my imaginination has been running wild: democracy lost, the regime threatening John Kerry, etc.

This article is very encouraging & I thank you for posting it. :)

[Dixon Cox]

9. I wholeheartedly agree.

When the original numbers were looking insurmountable, I admit I just wanted the whole nightmare to be over with and thought Kerry did the right thing by ending our misery and just conceding. Then then funny numbers came up. If he immediately challenged the results after concession, he'd just be playing into Bush's ploy and immediately be labeled the biggest flip flopper ever. If this article is indeed true about what Kerry has been doing, then he's taken the right course of action all along. I just hope it's true.

[newyawker99]

24. Hi Dixon Cox!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[XNASA]

10. I've been suggesting that Kerry's been playing Rope-a-Dope all along.

Then again, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[Jack_Dawson]

12. Shall We Dare to Dream?

That would be great, yes. But do you really believe it? I want to.

[Jack_Dawson]

13. Fallujah = The Getaway Car for the Stolen Election

Brilliant line!

[bullimiami]

31. fallujah. that part never occured to me.

seems so obvious now though.

[Dhalgren]

14. This sounds right. This definitely

has the mark of 'Kerry' about it. But I wonder what the actual results will be. Let's assume that the tide of opinion regarding the veracity of the election is turned and a recount/re-vote is instituted; what happens if Kerry is shown to be the winner? Will the republicans meekly submit and say, "OK, you guys won. No hard feelings."? This will be the moment of greatest danger, as well as greatest hope, for the country. We need to be ready for anything should this happen.

[99Pancakes]

20. This will be a great moment in US history!

If criminal activity is proven, Dumb-Dumb will have to walk his dog all the way back to Crawford with his tail between his legs. (I like to fantasize about the Ultimate Public Shaming of Shrub, so thanks for allowing me to indulge myself. Better than a stack of pancakes that I can't indulge in because of the Atkins nutritional plan). Having

[paritom]

15. Kick

Let's hope this article is correct...

[glugglug]

16. I just hope they are right

Maybe he will unconcede just before the electoral college gets together if things aren't absolutely proven before then.

[Lucypher]

17. Excellent article I especially liked...

..the comment from the election protection hotline worker.

[mzmolly]

19. This is SO key!

But John Kerry chose a smarter course. Ask yourself the question, what if John Kerry were to ... concede publicly but, at the same time, look into every instance of mischief, and see if in fact the election was fair or fixed.

This would be a no lose situation for him. The booby trap set up for him would become irrelevant, as he would have done the right thing for the nation, not putting it into turmoil while its troops are in battle.

But at the same time, he is still just as free to look into any voting irregularities as he would have been had he not conceded. Even better, he could do it without the press going insane and the nation being kept on tension-creating edge. All of the lawyers he could have sent to look into things still could be sent to look into things, and if the election is truly called into question, he could then, with ample justification so as to make it legitimate, come out publicly and retract his concession. It is the prosecutor, also one of Kerry’s previous jobs, who knows well enough to thoroughly prepare and investigate his case be leveling charges. You may have a real hunch that someone is responsible for a murder, but until you believe you can win that case in court, you do not make the allegation.

This is called fighting smart. And the Bushies, in the same way they failed to plan for the subtleties of doing battle in Iraq, haven’t even caught on yet that this is what is occurring, that they are, in fact, being outflanked and attacked after being tricked into looking the other way.

Fighting smart, just as I said!

[99Pancakes]

21. Yes!

Republi-can'ts may be evil-doers, but another DUer summed up my own feelings: evil has a tendency to be stupid. Look at the Leader of our Free World and that will prove it correct!! Ha! How funny! Shrub perfectly symbolizes that thought. There is no other good explanation as to how such an imbecile became Prez of the greatest nation on earth.

[Straight Shooter]

22. Kerry has wisely avoided being called a "conspiracy nut"

Gore was tarred and feathered by the media as a "sore loser." Notice the talking points by the right wing noise machine, they're all yelling "conspiracy theories." Can you even begin to imagine the media feeding frenzy if Kerry were at the center of it? This good and honorable man would be dubbed a conspiracy nut. If you think flip-flopper was bad, this would have been much much worse.

I want Kerry to expose the corruption, once and for all. bush should never be allowed to profit from reaping the fruit of a poisoned tree.

[Middle Finger Bush]

23. good for him

Kerrys priority is to avoid being called whatever

heck of a lot of good that does

[nicktom]

25. kick

[Sinti]

26. makes sense

Doesn't give the Rove machine a target to attack, doesn't create a constitutional crisis, doesn't encourage a "terror" alert/incident. Makes it a lot harder to block progress by people here and by them. He knows about BBV, he knows what they are, imagining he just gave up and walked away - don't be ridiculous.

[shelley806]

27. Thanks for the interesting post and comments...kick!

[Cadence]

28. phew... I knew I liked him for a reason

[tngledwebb]

29. Walking into a trap, perhaps.

Or activating Code Red Terrorist Alerts, or, if neccessary even 'Terrorist' attacks.

Worked before, and BushCoInc II will stop at nothing.

[bullimiami]

30. oh to dream. if it is only true.

just to fight. to call out the thieves and expose them. it hurts the soul to leave such injustices unchallenged and unprosecuted, the thieves running off untarnished with the loot.

this reinforces the dwindling flicker of hope i still have.

[glitch]

32. Exactly - even if we lose, it would be so much worse if we never fought

at all. I am trying to keep my hope in our chosen leaders alive, at least until 12/13.

[milkyway]

33. kick. I want to believe this, and I do. It's our job to help Kerry build

his case. Keep diggin', DU.

[AspenRose]

34. Thanks for sharing - this is encouraging

I won't abandon total hope until 12/13.

Kerry (and Edwards for that matter) are too smart, and had too many lawyers on stand-by, to just do nothing.

They may save our democratic process yet.

[DARE to HOPE]

35. New era coming...

Carolyn Kennedy was in Chicago today opening an exhibit about her mother in the Field Museum...good omen.

John-John have our backs--we have theirs!!

God bless America!

[jmellman]

36. Kerry's absence

I have thought since Day 1 that he needed to stay out of the official limelight. By conceding -- which gave me vertigo -- he gets the ability to look into things without the repugs accusing him of being a sore loser. He can avoid the booby traps set by the GOP and the leftist media to avoid another '00 election.

I'm convinced -- hopefully so -- that we will see the John Kerry of BCCI, the MIA's, and other activities and that the GOP is going to see itself drowning in very shallow waters. otherwise, we really may have to take to the streets.

[RevCheesehead]

37. Remember the Packers DID beat the Redskins, 28-14

And that game nearly went the other way. Skins TD called back on an illegal motion penalty.

Coincidence? I think not! :)