Kerry is running a fascinating campaign

[theboss]

Upfront, I'm a political junkie who is completely enthralled by the machinations of a political campaign. I find campaigns far more interesting than actual policy.

Having said that, Kerry is running a campaign unlike anything I've ever seen in politics. This is turning into the surrogate campaign where his strategy seems to be let the distrust and disillusionment with the Administration act as the hunger and then allow others to feed him to the electorate.

I've never seen this done before. I would have never imagined it could possibly work. But I'm now convinced it's a winning strategy.

Tonight was a microcosm of the Kerry campaign. I was nearly moved to tears at least four times during the the film, during the testimonials and during the introductions. I truly believe that John Kerry has touched hundreds of people's lives in deeply profound ways that I could never hope to match. I believe that men owe him their lives. I believe that he is a wonderful father. I believe that he is Max Cleland's hero. And I am ready to do anything it takes to make him President.

But I still don't get that from Kerry himself. His speech was a perfectly acceptable convention speech. The reporting for duty bit was a great soundbite and I think he did a very good job of insulating himself from the traditional Republican attacks on faith and patriotism. But Kerry for some reason can't convey about publicly what all these other people feel privately. Yet, they are so effective I am sure this incredible person lies inside the reserved affected Senatorial image he projects.

Campaigns are really about selling a product, and the best politicians sell themselves. Bill Clinton sold himself to the public. So did Ronald Reagan. So did JFK.

Kerry is going to have to rely on a team of salesman to a very large degree. And here is the REALLY weird thing. This may help the Party in the long run. Clinton was such a great seller of himself that he pushed everyone else off the screen. The only Democrat I can name he rose to prominence with Clinton's help was Hillary (and possibly Bill Richardson, though I think he could have done it on his own). Kerry is going to create a lot of stars if he pulls this off and replensih the depleted Democratic bench - Edwards, Obama, Ford, Richardson, Napolitano, Cleland, Granholm, Sharpton, Dean. All are going to see their stocks rise as they basically pull Kerry across the finish line.

I've never really seen anything quite like it.

[NMDemDist2]

1. excellent points

kicked and nominated :kick:

[bhunt70]

2. teamwork in a sense.

feels good.

[theboss]

3. It is oddly refreshing

Just very very strange for a political campaign. But it's been this way throughout the primaries too. His shipmate from Vietnam came into Iowa and pushed him over the top. Ted Kennedy almost single-handidly won him New Hampshire.

I'm trying to think of a analogy. Here's one. It's like a movie that all your friends love. They watch it once a week, drinking beer and quoting all the scenes as they happen. They invite you and you really don't get what's so great about the movie. But they all love it so much, that you still enjoy it because of the goodwill surrounding it.

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. He started a great meme too, it seems unassailable

"We can do better"
"We can be America again"

On the surface these seem lame and lacking in vision or scope, but look again, they're so truly achievable, just by voting Kerry/Edwards it can be so. It's right here, so desireable and achievable. It's just plain do-able. It's the America of film stars, the land of opportunity and strong, reserved benevolence. They're selling the smell of apple pie and the promise of good times again.

And what can Bush say against that? And how dare Bush kick a man who wants America to be better?

It's brilliant. I can't wait to see how they expand this theme during the campaign.

SHOVE IT! - Drop Bush Not Bombs! - Hero Kerry AWOL Bush
http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[theboss]

5. That's not really a good slogan

A candidate for student body president could use it (and it also seems to imply that Bush is doing an ok job but is leaving room for improvement).

But it's perfect for the type of campaign Kerry wants to run. Make himself an extremely small target by not doing anything controversial and let more talented politicians sell him to the public.

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. I thought that at first

But the more I thought about it the more I liked it. It's simple. It's something someone with a vocabulary of fifteen hundred words can understand. It's something they would say, in fact.

Last election Bush ran on his "misunderestimate me" ploy, which so far has worked well for him. As he says, "I'm the master of low expectations" (paraphrased) - the plan of attack here is brilliant partly because it attacks the setup for Bush's usual "dumb, folksy and likeable" image and sets Bush on the defensive to explain why he's not meeting our basic expectations for a United States president - in simple language, without saying he's a liar, wrong or anything negative.

Complicated nuances might be more accurate, and the Kerry campaign will fill it out later for the people who want details (now that they've framed the debate)

The foundation of a campaign slogan has to be rock solid and easily understood right across the entire bell curve. They done good on that one, IMHO. I tell ya, you might disagree now, but this is a winning political meme.

If it's not, we're fucked, and I'm thinking things are looking so pretty damn good right now that it's a sign that the meme is working.

SHOVE IT! - Drop Bush Not Bombs! - Hero Kerry AWOL Bush
http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[jjmalonejr]

6. That's a fascinating analysis

I've been a Kerry supporter from the beginning (I'm from MA, so I've been watching him for a long time).

I've been selling him for quite a while now.

I think you underestimate the speech he just gave, though. I hope that speech gets passed around all over the Internet or viewed over and over again on www.c-span.org, www.JohnKerry.com or www.dems2004.org, or wherever.

It will, quite possibly, quickly become the most viewed acceptance speech in history.

[Selwynn]

8. Fascinating analysis!

Don't have anything to add just yet, but that's a very interesting take.

[Kinkistyle]

9. Gen. Clark too. Thanks to Bush, Dems look like GOLD this year.

Everybody, from Dean to Kucinich to Sharpton to Clark to Obama (he names and credits many of them during the speech) look like tasty truffle compared to the rotten-egg that Bush has layed upon our plate for the past 4 years . Excluding notable punks like Zell, and Lie-berman.

You are right. To me, Kerry is kind of vanilla with some nice crunchy toppings (military hero). But perhaps thats what we need now. After 4 years of a failed conservative radicalism, its time for a traditional statesman who will work for populism. Kerry is there to push the platform. Push the issues - get the Dem policy out there. Thats his job, he is the main-man. The workhorse. His team is there to fire up the crowd, to shout out the "vision" and to touch our hearts (witness John Edwards). Kerry is the pragmatist and his crew are the idealists. Its the opposite of the current Admin if you think about it.

His "dream team", or as he calls them, his "band of brothers" is already shaping up to be incredibly impressive. All of them are inspirational, each of them have something to offer to their party and to us. I feel so pumped up about our party, and I haven't felt that way EVER. Its great!