March 20, 2004
BRING IT ON...THE PLUNGER THAT IS:
Gaffes and Senate Speak: Kerry’s political mistakes have allowed the Bush administration to cast the senator in a negative light—and deflect attention from its deception about the cost of its Medicare plan (Eleanor Clift, March 19, 2004, Newsweek)
This is a critical stage in the campaign. The voters barely know Kerry, and the Bush campaign is racing to define him in a negative way before he can define himself. A 30-second ad calling Kerry “wrong on defense” began airing this week. An earlier ad claimed Kerry would raise taxes by $900 billion. The Associated Press reported that Karl Rove—Bush’s campaign Svengali—boasted to a group of conservative activists meeting in Washington, “This is just a taste of what we’re going to give him.”Kerry knew this was coming. “Bring it on,” he said so often it became his battle cry. Well, now they’ve brought it on, and what is Kerry doing? He’s going on vacation in Idaho, leaving behind the festering story of his unholy bond with foreign leaders. “Before long they’ll be calling him Jacques Kerry,” says a Republican strategist. “It’s only a matter of time.”
The cable networks also had a grand time airing over and over Kerry’s response to the Bush attack that he didn’t support the troops in Iraq because he voted against the $87 billion the administration requested to reconstruction. “I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it,” Kerry said. That’s Senate-speak, and Kerry better shed it if he wants to win the election. Voters can’t grasp the contortions of casting a preliminary vote conditioned on an amendment that would have paid for the war with Bush’s tax cut, however high-minded that might have been.
If the election is fought on national security, Bush has the edge. Even if events on the ground in Iraq are not going well, Republicans enjoy a 20-point advantage over Democrats when it comes to keeping the country safe. Kerry thinks his strong suit is foreign policy. But the Bush campaign is ready to pounce on any misstep. “I just want to shake [Kerry,]” says a Democratic Senate aide. “[He’s] got to be disciplined.”
One can almost feel sorry for Democrats who succumbed to a February fever dream that they could beat George Bush with an unlikable, liberal, sitting Senator. But, if they want to shake him now, they're going to want to Abner Louima him by this Summer. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 20, 2004 2:11 PM
I hate the Medicare drug plan, but I love the irony of Democrats wanting to attack it because it's going to cost more than thought. Imagine, an entitlement program underestimating future costs! Who's ever heard of such a thing? And how exactly can they decry an expensive entitlement when their solution is a more expensive entitlement?
Posted by: PapayaSF at March 20, 2004 3:24 PMThis was written by old Eleanor before Jacque Kerry called the Secret Service Agent a son-of-a-bitch for knocking him down on the slopes of Sun Valley. How did Svengali Rove manage that one?
pchuck - Clift is a diehard Clintonista and in her world Dems are never wrong and Bush/GOP are never right. I remember her being ridiculed even by Dems for her steadfast support of Clinton during his worst periods (1994, Lewinsky). By herself she makes the McLaughlin Group unwatchable.
OJ's right - the Dems have chosen (at least for now) a very weak candidate and as Bush takes him apart will refuse to acknowledge their poor choice.
I hope Bush doesn't take him apart too quickly, I want to make sure he lasts through the convention.
Posted by: pj at March 20, 2004 5:00 PMWhy don't the Democrats introduce a bill cancelling the medicare bill. It's not that popular anyway, Bwahahahaha!
Kerry's being dissed for his jaunt in CO but the DNC may have ordered it so Kerry's software can be upgraded and the bolts in his temples tightened.
Posted by: Genecis at March 20, 2004 5:05 PMI am impressed that they're actually trying to float the idea that his voted for/voted against statement actually is a sophisticated statement of senatorial nuance that we're just to plain dumb to appreciate.
Posted by: David Cohen at March 20, 2004 6:01 PMoj,
I think your Standards & Practices department was asleep on the job when they let you make this plunger metaphor. Eewww!
Posted by: James Haney at March 20, 2004 6:34 PMDavid, I had the same reaction. Nice of Clift to explain it to us: the voters are too stupid to understand the nuanced Kerry voting strategy. No, I see exactly what Kerry did and I'm not falling for it!
Posted by: Kay at March 20, 2004 8:10 PMI agree, the abuse metaphor is a little too strong. It would have been enough to leave it at choking (or gutting). Kerry will be a very unpopular man by Aug. 1. Once the party begins to face it, the tap dancing will be fun to watch. "Dated Dean, Married Kerry, Bought Annulment".
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 20, 2004 10:09 PMHow the heck does Kerry think that his strong suit is foreign policy?? Does merely saying so make it so?
Posted by: ray at March 21, 2004 1:11 AMIt's far too early to write off the French-looking, cursing senator, but he surely hasn't had a good week. If he continues like this, the Dems will pull a Lautenberg on him, if need be a few weeks before the election. Justice O'Connor would be happy to allow them this kind of joke.
Posted by: Peter at March 21, 2004 9:10 AMNot in a Presidential election - Kerry is the man, unless he becomes incapacitated or just plain quits.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 21, 2004 2:07 PM