You're the campaign mgr.: How should Kerry react if Osama is captured?

[bluestateguy]

Imagine you are a senior campaign aide to John Kerry and you have to prepare a reaction and public statement for the candidate upon the capture of Osama bin Laden. What would you do? Remember your responsibilities are different than that of a poster on an Internet BB.

[Spinzonner]

1. Commend the troops and intelligence people who accomplished it

After a suitable period, it can be discussed how much sooner it might have occurred if resources hadnt been directed to Iraq both early and late and if cooperation hadnt been made more difficult by the loss of allies arising from the Iraq invasion.

Of course, with Kerry's position on Iraq, the latter is problematic.

[soothsayer]

2. i concur n/t

[dryan]

6. ditto!

[freetobegay]

3. Say, well it's about damn time!

87 billion + dollars a war in a Country that had nothing to do with him, Now haow about that little mess in Iraq thats nees to be cleaned up.

[blondeatlast]

4. Keep his comments couteous but strong, with thinly veiled

references to the timing.

As Steve Harvey said, the guy (OBL) makes a video every week and he seems to have a crew, so why doesn't someone offer oodles to his caterer to find OBL?

[blondeatlast]

5. In addition, WE need to keep bringing this up to spare our

candidates.

Look at how people reacted to the last terror alert; even the swings and LIBERTARIANS I know were very, very suspicious of the timing.

Seriously, if we make it an issue now, it will take the wind out of the sails come the last week of September (my prediction of the discovery).

[City Lights]

8. I completely agree with doing this.

We need to get to a point where the public expects OBL to be captured. And we need to pin it on bush if it doesn't happen. bush has gotten too far already on the "soft bigotry of low expectations." We need to make the presidential pie higher, and we can do that by playing offense here. If OBL magically appears, our expectations will have been met, and it won't be a big deal, but if bush can't pull OBL out of his hat, we can another bush failure.

[blondeatlast]

12. Precisely; a whispering campaign can be very effective.

We didn't even have to start one for the latest terror alert--even the media were suspicious of it.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

7. What if they find his remains? More likely, IMO.

How does that change the response and dynamic?

[blondeatlast]

10. That definitely changes the situation.

I don't know, but a sort of world-weary, "politics as usual" response from the candidate, a bit more suspicion from the campaign, and a whole lotta knowing nods and "I told you sos" from us.

I don't think he needs to offer ANY credit whatsoever to the administration, but lavish praise to the intelligence, any allies that helped, and of course to the soldiers in the field.

Veiled references to having an honest and justifiable objective from JFK, "see, this is what we've been talking about all along (true or not no longer matters)" from the campaign, and a whole load of sarcastic "gee, the timing is just so, SO peeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrfeeeect" from us in the field.

Nobody will mourn his loss, no problems there...

[unfrigginreal]

9. Praise the troops for following through under trying circumstances...

commend the leadership for not getting discouraged after Tora Bora.

[tomfodw]

11. Lead the applause...

...and then turn the discussion to the economy, the environment, the resurgence of the Taliban, nukes in North Korea & Iran, drug prices, gasoline prices, the deficit, crony capitalism, hundreds of US troop deaths after "Mission Accomplished", 3 years of wasted time making the country more secure, our trashed reputation abroad, millions losing health insurance - need I go on? All the stuff Kerry should be - and is - pounding on already.