The Media or Kerry?

[dajabr]

Who should be blamed for the state of Kerry's Campaign?

[La_Serpiente]

1. I would put more blame

on Kerry. He chose to allow Dean to prosper instead of criticizing him early on.

One thing I noticed is that I do not think any of the Democratic candidates (other than Howard Dean) actually realized how bad the people wanted Bush out of the White House. I was already searching when Feb. came around.

[dajabr]

3. Well, Kerry had good reason to be slow out of the gate...

for Medical reasons. But, to say that "it's all Dean's/Media's fault" is ridiculous.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Neither.

It's the BFEE!

[DrFunkenstein]

4. I Blame Myself

But I have deep psychological issues that have nothing to do with the campaign.

But politics is not like baseball. The points scored in the beginning don't count as much as the ones towards the end. Kerry is known for his sense of timing. And clearly he is back at the top of his game. As the debates continue and more and more people pay attention, Kerry will continue to win over the undecideds as well as pull in the votes from people that drop out. I don't think Lieberman's people will be going to Dean.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

8. Lieberman has "people"?

Now that's a scary thought.

[blm]

5. All of Kerry's right steps were ignored by the media, weren't they?

The biggest coup post 9-11 was the Fire Fighters Endorsement, yet none of the news channels carried it or spoke of it. NONE. Couldn't embarass Bush with that story.

The top national security expert and one of the authors of the Hart-Rudman report says that Kerry is the best on foreign policy and national security issues and none of the media outlets covered that story. NONE.

There have nbeen many other incidents, too, that the media refused to cover. Joe Conason said in an article from Aug. 2002, that the media was not covering the substance of Kerry's criticisms of Bush at all. Instead focusing on delivery and Hillary Clinton, while Kerry's speech was the most comprehensive and best articulated.

What Kerry's campaign did wrong was not respond to Dean's early attacks on Kerry's votes (which he distorted) and point out Dean's character (I see him as a lying con artist - a Libertarian centrist conning people into believing he's a populist now). Dean was also attacking Kerry while Kerry was still in recovery from surgery. Nice doctor.

Dean was also getting away with too many inconsistencies on the Iraq war. Too many people today even still believe he was the liberal antiwar candidate when he was NEITHER liberal or antiwar. He was prowar and proIWR with the Biden-Lugar amendment which STILL would have led to the invasion of Iraq.

[Padraig18]

6. 'Recovering from surgery'

That has become the "Waaa, waaa!" of the Kerry campaign. Good GOD, the man had cystoscopic surgery: some mild discomfort and probably passed a little blood when he urinated. Stop making it sound like he was clinging to life in a body cast in ICU! :wtf:

[blm]

15. I have never used that type of hyperbole, why did you?

And as far as I know, the Kerry campaign has never mentioned what Dean did. I am one of the few who noticed Dean's timing and linked it to his bad character.

You think Kerry was off the campaign trail for 4 weeks for nothing but a little discomfort?

[Northwind]

20. Hee hee hee

This is hilarious. Does anyone else remember a month ago when this person kept repeating like a holy mantra that things would turn around for Kerry when he got the firefighters endorsement?

Have you considered the possibility that 1) you have absolutely no grasp of how a political campaign works, and 2) Kerry is running a very poor campaign, failing to get media attention on his efforts? The media does not simply sit and wait for things to report on. You have to get in there and MAKE them take notice. Kerry has not done that at all. Dean has. Dean is out-campaigning Kerry, period.

[blm]

24. And you also believe there IS NO MEDIA BIAS?

Geez...Bush has EARNED all those accolades then by your measure.

Who decided last June that Dean gets a press plane?

[Northwind]

28. The Dean campaing made that happen

By being aggressive in their PR efforts. They just had to get the ball rolling, and then Dean became big enough that he WAS news, and they pretty much had to cover him.

What has the Kerry campaign done to go after that sort of coverage? Putting out a statement or press release every so often doe snot cut it, especially when half of what comes out of his campaign is talking more about Dean than Kerry. Whoever heads the PR effort at Kerry headquarters has done an abysmal job.

And what is this crap abut what is deserved or has been earned? Are you actually reading what I write? What is deserved or earned is totally irrelevant. What matters is that the Dean campaign worked hard to get his name in the press. Whether he deserved it or not at the time is meaningless, they DID it. Bush did not "deserve" anything, but his PR machine got the message out, and kept it out. Rove knows how to play this game. Dean knows how to play this game. Clinton knew how to do it extremely well. Gore knew but he listened to other people instead of his own instincts. Kerry, or at least those running his campaign, do not get it. They thought they had it made and they sat back and did nothing, and therefore got nowhere.

The firefighters endorsement SHOULD have been big news for Kerry's campaign. But they were not sufficiently aggressive in getting it into the media. It is their own damn fault, not some giant press conspiracy. Dean had more people show up at a rally in Boston, Kerry's home turf, than Kerry was able to muster there for his official campaign announcement! What does that tell you? When the press is covering Dean, how does Kerry respond? "Dean Dean Dean Dean Dean Dean." I believe Kerry once said something to the effect, after a candidate forum, "You can't make 14 gaffes in a week and stay front-runner..." Yet Dean is the front-runner. Doesn't this indicate to you that Kerry is unaware of the realities of a Presidential campaign?

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

29. Fantastic post!

You hit the nail square on the head.

Kerry's campaign does not do Kerry justice. The keep trying the same tactic, it doesn't work, and they try it again, and again, and again...and then wonder why Kerry's numbers have been stagnant for 6 months. You keep doing what you're doing, you keep getting what you're getting.

Dean is the front-runner because Joe Trippi and staff think outside the box.

[blm]

30. Made it happen by attacking Democrats, because that turned the media on.

Zell Miller is known for getting camera time for that same tactic.

The press is PURPOSELY ignoring Kerry's campaign. Kerry has the intel community behind him and BushInc. knows this. They'll use their influence in the media to make sure that Kerry is NOT the nominee.

[Northwind]

32. Yes, that is EXACTLY how he did it.

At least part of how.

It does not matter HOW he did it, what matters is that he DID it.

The press is not purposefully ignoring Kerry. Kerry foolishly ignored the press.

[Egnever]

7. Kerry

Had he not voted for the IWR he would be in much better shape right now and be a clear alternative to bush. Unfortunately he chose to get the vote out of the way before the 2002 elections. Because of that he will end up as an also ran.

[LuminousX]

9. Kerry

This was Kerry's nomination to lose. He has the pedigree. He has the money. He has solid policies, an excellent legislative history, and a personable demeanor. What went wrong? While Dean was just a speck in the distance, the hare decided to lay down for a nap as the tortoise, realizing he had a lot of distance to cover, took a risk and strapped on a rocket to his shell. As the tortoise flew by, the hare awoke and realized that it was a race afterall.

Dean keeps taking risks that could easily blow up in his face but so far has only kept him just enough in front to cause a sweat to build up on Kerry.

[Egnever]

10. hey whats with the new marks on your sig?

you took out the X and put up little colored bars what do they signify now?

Just curious.

I checked your follow the results page but saw no mention of it.

[helleborient]

11. My take is that pessimism about all 9 candidates...

Is lifting a bit...yay!

[LuminousX]

13. Haven't updated the journal yet

My old method was quickly leaving me with no option to vote. And although I kept saying I was willing to forego my vote in the primary unless someone provided me with a convincing case, I realized not voting is an anathema. I have a large ego, so of course I believe I know who should be President.

The new marks are currently who I am favoring and not favoring. They will change as I analyze positions. Fundamentally, I like Dean too much to simply not vote for him because so many people here are openly hostile to him. Also, new information regarding his positives in New Hampshire made me pause -- here are a group of people who know him not only as a Presidential candidate but also a neighbor. The thing wih neighbors is you either hate them or love them. Dean seems to be loved in New Hampshire.

[Egnever]

14. ahh thanks for the clarification

I am pleased to hear that the positives on Dean are finally begining to make headway with you against the negatives here on this board.

Love your journal BTW it seems to be very balanced and objective for the most part.

Keep up the good work!

[helleborient]

17. Duh...I've overlooked the link to the journal

Excellent work! And great reading!!

[blm]

16. Dean had to CREATE a persona because his real governance

as a Libertarian leaning, GOP aligning centrist wouldn't sell to primary voters. So he coopted the language of the internet , put on a mask of populism and turned up the hot rhetoric. A TACTIC, not his real record or self.

[Padraig18]

18. Your decidely-biased opinion.

Lacking in facts, though.

[blm]

23. His record of governance, his support for deregulation

is centrist, leaning Libertarian. That is fact, not opinion.

The link is broken, but the article is wellknown here.

By ROSS SNEYD

Associated Press Writer

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Howard Dean may be many things, say those who worked with him over nearly a dozen years as Vermont governor, but an elitist liberal is hardly one of them.

He’s actually a lot more moderate — many would say conservative — than the reputation he’s built during his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Many of the people who were his allies and adversaries in Montpelier over his 20-year political career have been quietly bemused by the liberal persona he’s built as he campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire, especially through his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq.

>>>>>>>

"I don’t think Howard Dean is the right target for that attack if you look at his record here in Vermont," said Eric Davis, Middlebury College political scientist.

Dean kept his distance from his party’s liberals during his governorship.

"He seemed to take glee in attacking us at every opportunity and using us as a way to form alliances with more conservative elements," said former state Sen. Cheryl Rivers, a leader of the state Democrats’ liberal wing and former chairwoman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee.

Dean fashioned himself a position in the political center of Vermont politics even as the state has moved steadily to the left.
>>>>>>>>

[Padraig18]

25. What part of his well-known statement...

..."I'm a passionate centrist" is confusing you? Sorry to tell you, but everyone to the right of Dennis Kucinich, e.g., is not a Libertarian, a Republican or a conservative. :eyes:

[JohnKleeb]

26. ummm youre bringing up Kucinich

funny really funny being that if youve seen in the past, shes mostly a Kerry supporter which is all good, but has good things to say about DK as well.

[Padraig18]

27. I know, John.

Just making the point that DK is about as far left as our candidates get this year, and that doesn't make the other 8 Libertarians, etc. . :hi:

[blm]

31. The CATO institute says he scores highly for a Democrat with them.

they especially appreciate his penchant for deregulation.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

12. I think Kerry's campaign is great

I think Kerry's great. What's the problem?

[dajabr]

19. For starters...

The Media is keeping it a secret that Kerry is running for President, and Dean keeps pissing in his Cheerios.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

21. pissing in his Cheerios?

I would think the doc knows better. :)

[LuminousX]

22. Kerry is running for President? Why didn't anyone tell me!?