September 19, 2004
BACK TO 'NAM:
Kerry's New Call to Arms: Battle Plan: Kerry was to spend the fall on the economy. Then came a new team of advisers—and a fresh focus for the homestretch (Richard Wolffe and Susannah Meadows, 9/20/04, Newsweek)
Sitting in his black-leather swivel chair, with his trusty world atlas beside him, John Kerry huddled with his aides in the executive-style cabin at the front of his campaign jet. Kerry was preparing to accuse the president of failing to tell the truth about "the mess in Iraq"—part of an aggressive fall strategy to challenge George W. Bush on the war. But before he spoke to the National Guard convention in Las Vegas, Kerry sought the advice of yet another sounding board on his plane: former four-star general Wes Clark. Kerry knew from Vietnam what it felt like to face the bullets without the support of the folks back home. So how, one of his senior staff wanted to know, would Kerry's attacks go down now with the troops in Iraq? "Look, the soldiers are debating it themselves on the ground," Clark reassured Kerry's inner circle. "They're coming back and they're incredibly critical. You have to call it like it is."
If Mark Steyn had written that you'd be justified in thinking he'd pushed the caricature too far. Never mind the image of this nitwit riding around with his trusty atlas, what is anyone in politics doing listening to Wes freakin' Clark after that abortion of a campaign he ran this Winter? By turning this election into a replay of the Senator's anti-war activity they demand a re-examination of his Senate testimony and his ties to radical groups. That's where his opponents were headed next anyway, but now he's framing the issue for them. Maybe the Clinton's really are intentionally sabotaging him. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 19, 2004 11:09 PM
Perfect. The aloof self-absorbed candidate being advised by the aloof self-absorbed general. Must have a lot of mirrors on than airplace.
Posted by: Steve at September 19, 2004 11:13 PMTaking strategy from a man who almost got us into a shooting war in the Balkans with Russia wouldn't be the top item on my things-to-do agenda if I were the senator. But having a campaign whose best hopes for a turnaround depend on either a babblingly incoherent performance by Bush during the debates and/or a Tet-like made-for-TV offensive by the anti-U.S. forces in Iraq just before Nov. 2 that could cause a sudden swing in voters is not a great position to be in to begin with, since there's really nothing proactive he can do to get his numbers up without endangering some part of his coalition (and at this stage, I doubt any more "proactive" creation of documents is going to hurt the Bush campaign, either).
We have to acknowledge the possibility that this is just spin for Senator Kerry's decision to take one for the party by focussing on Iraq. Just typing that, of course, makes makes me realize how incredibly unlikely it is.
Posted by: David Cohen at September 20, 2004 7:37 AMDavid:
Why? He's opposing his own country and shafting our embattled allies--it's his life story.
Posted by: oj at September 20, 2004 8:28 AMMaybe the Clinton's really are intentionally sabotaging him.
I had pooh-poohed this idea before, but the Kerry campaign's utter blindness starts to make this idea look plausible. Steyn has also suggested that deep down, Kerry realizes he does not have what it takes to be President and is intentionally sabotaging his own candidacy.
Posted by: Bruce Cleaver at September 20, 2004 8:34 AMWes Clark - the stalking prion. The saga continues. This is simply insane.
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 20, 2004 8:39 AMReality TV at its best. So it appears the intrepid Senator will pull out his anti-war rhetoric once again and attempt to save his political career in the same way he started it, by assailing our national character. Really amazing stuff!
Me thinks were a little smarter this time around however.
OJ: Fair enough. But going all anti-war all the time is a strategy for coming in a strong second. So, the question is whether Kerry's instinctive appeasement, combined with the need to avoid catastrophic Democratic losses down-ticket, can offset his conviction that the Presidency is his destiny.
Posted by: David Cohen at September 20, 2004 10:05 AMAfter all, His Majesty JFKerry (who by the way Served in Vietnam) is related by blood to more European Royal Houses than any other American pol.
Birth and Breeding, you know.
Posted by: Ken at September 20, 2004 12:41 PM