Kerry come back - John Kerry is trying to get back to basics [View All]

[papau]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/kerry/articles/2003/10/31/can_kerry_bounce_back_in_nh/

Can Kerry bounce back in N.H.?
By Scot Lehigh, 10/31/2003

…Perhaps. But thus far, Dean's sharper message, his blunt, matter-of-fact manner, and his status as non-Washingtonian have struck a more resonant chord in iconoclastic New Hampshire. So much so that some perceptive politicos wonder if Kerry, with his qualified, caveated stances and a speaking style that is ever prone to lapsing into Washington Baroque, is even capable of bouncing back. <snip>


http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?g9771_BC_MI--Kerry-TheBasics&&news&newsflash-michigan

Kerry tries to improve campaign basics By RON FOURNIER

John Kerry is trying to get back to basics...that means hitting the phones to court activists and fund-raisers, softening his style, sharpening his rhetoric, becoming more disciplined and less thin-skinned -- stop faulting his staff and change his ways. Boiling it down: Democrats say Kerry cannot expect the nomination to be handed to him; he has to work for it.

They have seen some improvement. "He's a talented guy with all the credentials, but he's not done the job on the basic blocking and tackling that go into a presidential campaign," said Democratic strategist Jim Duffy of Washington.<snip>

"If he has any hopes of winning Arizona and the nomination, he's got to get out and do the things good candidates do -- press the flesh and talk to people," Arizona party chairman Jim Pederson said.<snip>

But Kerry has gotten better in recent weeks. He has not talked about campaign tactics or staff woes. His criticism of rivals Dean and Wesley Clark is forceful. Though he is still trying to distill his position on Iraq, Kerry has become as good as any of his rivals at working a crowd -- patting voters on the back and trading jokes.
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