Village Voice: John Kerry Must Go

[bushbegone04]

EVEN THE VILLAGE VOICE IS TURNING ON US NOW? THIS IS SERIOUS.


by James Ridgeway
John Kerry Must Go
Note to Democrats: it's not too late to draft someone—anyone—else
April 27th, 2004 11:45 AM

WASHINGTON, D.C.— With the air gushing out of John Kerry's balloon, it may be only a matter of time until political insiders in Washington face the dread reality that the junior senator from Massachusetts doesn't have what it takes to win and has got to go. As arrogant and out of it as the Democratic political establishment is, even these pols know the party's got to have someone to run against George Bush. They can't exactly expect the president to self-destruct into thin air.

With growing issues over his wealth (which makes fellow plutocrat Bush seem a charity case by comparison), the miasma over his medals and ribbons (or ribbons and medals), his uninspiring record in the Senate (yes war, no war), and wishy-washy efforts to mimic Bill Clinton's triangulation gimmickry (the protractor factor), Kerry sinks day by day. The pros all know that the candidate who starts each morning by having to explain himself is a goner.

What to do? Look for the Dem biggies, whoever they are these days, to sit down with the rich and arrogant presumptive nominee and try to persuade him to take a hike. Then they can return to business as usual—resurrecting John Edwards, who is still hanging around, or staging an open convention in Boston, or both.

If things proceed as they are, the dim-bulb Dem leaders are going to be very sorry they screwed Howard Dean.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional reporting: Alicia Ng and Phoebe St John

[bushbegone04]

1. Please tell me

this isn't happening. I have always been a proud Village Voice fan - they're supposed to be on our side!

[Classical_Liberal]

2. I think alot of them are actually excited about a Bush victory

. I don't know why the writer thinks Edward would be better though. Why not just go for the true fighter Howard Dean.

[David Dunham]

3. Insipid article. Ridgeway is a Chris Hitchens type.

[BayCityProgressive]

4. yes, because

the hot headed dean or the ambulance chasing inexperienced edwards would be any better. See you can create negative propaganda for anyone. No Democrat has a very good chance, the media is firmly against the Democrats now.

[cybildisobedience]

26. I agree....

the key point to remember is that the corporate media will SAVAGE anybody who goes up against their fair-haired child, Bush. It doesn't what they did right or wrong in their past -- Kerry's traffic ticket would be played up bigger than the discovery of the bodies of 20 young boys buried in Bush's backyard.
The issue isn't who is at the top of the ticket, it's coming up with a plan to deal with the media bias that has to include:
- strong surrogates who are sent out to defend the Dems
- a strategy that gets Bush on the offensive, instead of one that has Kerry explaining why there might be an SUV driven by Secret Service men
- a concerted effort to call the media on their bias constantly -- to their face -- to get them back on their heels
- an effort to actually purchase media outlets, so that we don't have to beg for a crumb from corporate-controlled networks, or hope for a word of two of balance on the airwaves.

[Demobrat]

5. I have always thought that

the people who were convinced that the Dem leaders wanted to lose this year, for Hillary's sake in 2008 or some other reason, were nuts. But I'm starting to wonder if they might be right.

[bushbegone04]

6. Funny I have been thinking the same thing

Ever since the Good Morning America thing yesterday. Maybe the DNC is saving it all for Hilary Clinton. It seems that if Kerry wins in November then she wouldn't be able to run until 2008 which means she'd be going up against an incumbent which is really hard when your from the same party.

It is chilling to think about this.

[orwell]

10. No Go

Hillary has no chance. There is too much negative baggage from Bill's presidency.

If the Dems wanted to run a woman senator, Feinstein is a better choice.

O

[Dogmudgeon]

7. Kerry's not radd enuff 4 da Voice

Typical "hipster" complaint, really.

No self-respecting "street-savvy" radical dude, business, or magazine would be able to hold its head up if it actually committed itself to a workable program for change. So they figure out where the battle is, and ruefully step out of it -- "I wouldn't dirty my hands by stooping to your level!"

The Right has no problem using this to illustrate their stereotype of the Left, from Latte and Melitta to Jane Fonda, and back.

Vote for Kerry. If U really R radd enuff, you can always push Kerry further to the left.

--bkl

[eumesmo]

23. This was a rediculous article

I was having trouble understanding it. Your idea that Kerry's not liberal enough makes sense.

April's a bit early to give up, isn't it? Maybe not. After all, Kerry's probably down about 2 or 3 points, and 7 months isn't nearly long enough to make up a 3 point lead, is it. No one's every come back from that far down with so little time left to go.

[SoCalDem]

8. Please, don't everyone jump down my throat, BUT

Kerry is not a "charismatic" guy.. He never has been, and never will be.. The "stump speech" rah-rah rhetoric is one thing, but he does not come across as an "up" kind of guy.. Granted, times are tough, and we NEED a nose-to-the-grindstone guy, but I am kind of worried myself..

I WILL vote for him, but when I look at him and listen to him, I see "our Bob Dole".. It's his "turn" and he is the choice of the party, but the excitement that was there for some of the others, just is not there for him..

I see NO ONE (except McAuliffe and the usual suspects) going out of their way to elevate him, and after a summer of "Republican Love", I am afraid that he will end up as Gore-Lite..

The "record" is a dangerous thing for senators and congresspeople. That is one reason why they do not do well traditionally.. They have too many things "on the record", and nuanced votes are easily twisted into soundbytes that can be deadly..

Outsiders and governors have an easier time of it, because so much of their "past" is irrelevant... Things that they did as a governor, often are easily explained as a "regional" issue.....

Kerry is being "Gore-ed" and there is nothing we can do about it except hope for an overwhelming Democratic turnout and that our "hackers" are better than their hackers :(

[emulatorloo]

12. Next Time We Will Nominate a Cheery Baby in Diapers!

w no record and no past.

[Demobrat]

14. I'd settle for somebody who didn't drone on

until his listeners were lulled into a stupor. The problem with Kerry is that he commits one of the worst sins in America on a daily basis - he's boring. Americans don't like lectures and they don't like boring. And Kerry epitomizes both.

[eumesmo]

22. Who's a stronger candidate? Gore or Kerry

I've heard others express the same thought regarding Senators. With a long history and voting record, there's a lot to go after.

[SoCalDem]

25. I think Kerry is stronger

Gore's ties to Clinton probably hurt him in moderate republican areas in the south.. The repubes got everyone all lathered up about the "Clinton troubles", and of course the media destroyed Gore.. At least Kerry is fighting back.. Gore's people played "nice" and then everyone abandoned him when he needed them the most :(

[eumesmo]

27. I'm not disputing your response, by questioning the logic.

I really don't know who's the stronger candidate, as neither one really leaps out at you. I think it's an interesting question. However, the reason you gave that Kerry is stronger doesn't make sense to me. You said that Gore's ties to Clinton may have hurt him among moderate Republicans in the South. That may be true, but the only states Gore had a chance of carrying in the South were Tennessee and Florida, and surely Kerry will have a more difficult time with these states than Gore had. It's also difficult for me to believe, in general, that moderate Republicans in the South would prefer Kerry to Gore regardless. Gore's from Tennessee. Kerry's from Massachusettes. JMO.

Where Kerry might be stronger than Gore would be in the debates. Kerry has a very good voice.

[democracyindanger]

9. Hilarious

Nevermind that the piece is ridiculous on its face--he needed TWO peoples' help for about a dozen sentences? What a hack.

[cjbuchanan]

11. I seem to recall something similar about Clinton

I might be wrong, but I recall reading an editorial in June of 1992 saying that the next president was either going to be George Bush or Ross Perot. The piece was even saying that the Dem party should drop Clinton and nominate Perot. Well look how it turned out.

Kerry was not my first choice, but he will be our nominee. Right now, things are not looking great, but they are also not looking bad. Polls are just about tied, Kerry is bringing in a bunch of money and the ground forces are getting organized. Does Kerry need to do a better job, yes. But remember, as recently as early January, lots of people were saying Kerry had no chance of winning the nomination.

Anyway, there will be a lot of ups and downs between now and November, so let's not get freaked out, let's just work to get W out.

Now I'm tuning out.

[emulatorloo]

13. Emulatorloo: Village Voice Must Go!

EOM

[Cocoa]

15. Ridgeway wants the Dem party to destroy itself

if they overrode such an overwhelming signal from the primary voters, and picked someone else, it would be all over for them. Why would anyone vote in a dem primary again, if the party elites, egged on by the media, picked someone else?

[Demobrat]

16. Iowa is one state out of 50.

I wouldn't call that an overwhelming signal.

[RC]

17. Gee, didn't anyone notice that this

was BS written by a rove wantabe. Is anything actually true in that piece of RW propaganda?
The money mentioned belongs to his wife if I remember correctly. And with all the lies from the right, bu$h could very well self destruct if and when the real truth about 9/11 gets out into the general public. I don't see Kerry sinking anywhere except in the twisted imagination of the rancid right.
And don't forget the body count in Iraq escalating by the day. remind the people of the flowers the Iraqis were growing to throw at us when we liberated them from that evil Saddam.

[SideshowScott]

18. I'm still flabbergasted that people think Bush is better than Kerry

Well with one half of the press sleeping and the other half cashing checks like good whores its really not THAT surprising to me that this kind of thought is working its way thru the mainstream thought.
Its funny how they are jumping all over this but we had to use a cattle prod to th Press to print ANYTHING about what Bush did when Kerry was dodging bullets in Vietnam. Lord knows it would be an act of God if the press printed ANYTHING about Bush being a failed Business man, His brother being in the S&L fraud AND on the China payroll, His rotten Texas Record, etc etc etc etc ect..
If the Press would just expose one half of anything ( Or nothing )that Bush has done this Medal thing would be a non-issue.
I guess the Voice is trying to cash in on the Whore gravy train..Now thats sad...Just sad

[checks-n-balances]

19. What a damned disingenuous hypocritical DINO jackass

So, by implication, he's suggesting that Bush is better? In this "anybody-but-Kerry" article?

I bet he was one of those a**holes who thought Dean wasn't "stable enough" or some such BS as that.

Also, he's essentially saying he'd trade the truth for a more entertaining Orwellspeak? What a shallowass.

If the Village Voice were German and existed in 1939, and one of their columnists badmouthed Hitler's opponent, I'd hope they'd have had the scruples to yank that sorryass writer. We've got that much at stake.

[Classical_Liberal]

20. You obviously didn't read the article

He said that he wanted the dems no nominate somebody other than Kerry. Maybe not practical or possible but hardly Dino.

[Snellius]

21. V.V. has been running several articles hostile to Kerry

Last week they had a story about how Kerry's lackluster college tour was like a professor's lecture, aloof, preachy, that only managed to put students to sleep. Coming from an uncompromising Dean and Nader wing, it's hard to sympathize with a compromise candidate chosen mainly to appease the moderate sensibilities of Iowa and New Hampshire.

[Skittles]

24. I cannot take this article seriously

it's utter crap.

[Misunderestimator]

28. What an ass...

is he an operative of Zell Miller's? Sounds like it.

[savistocate]

29. always discredited Clinton

most obtusely. .from angles unknown to the human mind.

[Misunderestimator]

30. I'm all for equal employment opportunities..

but why must a liberal paper, that I respect greatly, have to employ a wingnut?

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

31. DU Response: Village Voice Must Go...

...screw themselves!

[JPZenger]

32. Many States have their delegates legally committed

This article is insipid for many reasons. But here's another one. In many states, the delegates are legally required to vote for the candidate who won their state's primary - at least on the first ballot at the convention.

[mistertrickster]

33. Personally, what I'd like to see . . . the convention throws it open.

Who the hell decided that the voters of Iowa get to chose the democratic nominee?

Bring back the smoke-filled rooms with the schemers and the schmoozers.

Maybe they'd draft Gore.

Hey, he won last time--don't ever forget it.

I get the feeling he'd kick serious ass this time around.