FEEL MICHAEL'S PAIN:

Kerry Won. However ... (LA Times, October 1, 2004)

Sen. John F. Kerry won Thursday night's debate on foreign policy by a comfortable margin, but Americans may yet decide that President Bush is better able to clean up the mess he created in Iraq. [...]

[T]he inescapable quandary now facing the Kerry campaign is that it cannot offer a clear alternative for what needs to happen in Iraq going forward.

The senator acknowledges that the United States must now stay the course and try to bring stability and democracy to that country, so he is stuck arguing that he would do better at a mission he doesn't think was essential in the first place. Bush was effective in mocking Kerry's ability to bring in more allies to the "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time." Indeed, Kerry's claim that his plan is radically different falls flat when he goes through its particulars — more summits, more training, more United Nations.

A recent Times poll tellingly revealed that even though a majority felt the Iraq war wasn't worth it, more people trusted Bush over Kerry to develop a plan for succeeding there. Kerry doesn't have a magic wand to undo Bush's mistakes, and it must be frustrating to him that many voters feel as if they are stuck with the incumbent.

The problem with deftly presenting an incoherent message is that your presentation fades quickly while the incoherence remains.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 1, 2004 1:46 PM