Kerry needs to take Bush to the mat on the AWOL issue...

[Junkdrawer]

Bush's biggest weakness as a politician is that he was a cocaine user that was arrested and then went AWOL (or worse) in 1972. Now, you would think that anyone with those skeletons in their closet would never be able to hold public office higher than, oh say, prothonotary. Well, if you do, you haven't met Karl Rove.

In 2000, Karl used the following strategy
First, after the Republicans drug Bill Clinton through every mud puddle and briar patch they could find, he appealed for a moratorium on examining politician’s pasts for more that fifteen years. While that worked surprisingly well, there were still a few who persisted in digging into Bush’s past. So Karl pulled the following stunt: He fed all his boss’s dirty deeds to the writer with the worst past he could find, in this case James Hatfield. After Hatfield’s book came out, he revealed (through a surrogate) Hatfield’s past and so the story became Hatfield’s past and not cocaine/AWOL.

This year, the strategy is a variation on that theme: go as negative as possible on Kerry (and his wife!) early on, then magnanimously offer a truce through a surrogate, this time John McCain. Kerry should refuse. Bush should have his feet held to the fire and be forced to explain every one of Kerry’s questions. Every one and more. Here’s why: most Americans think that Bush has already answered his critics. Well he hasn’t and he can’t. Instead Rove is banking on Kerry deciding that it is better to let Bush slide on this one than to continue to suffer attacks on his and his wife’s pasts. Well, there’s only one way to stop a bully: Take him to the mat.

[scottxyz]

1. Hope Kerry reads corrente.blogspot.com today

I like your strategizing, JunkDrawer. You have also been one of the more educated voices on the whole blackboxvoting.org thing - Kerry could use a person like you working directly for his campaign. In lieu of that -

The current status of the AWOL story - and the next points a reporter should look at - are laid out here.

http://corrente.blogspot.com/2004_04_25_corrente_archive.html#108308727894447433

Hey Kerry - if WaPo or NYT won't put a reporter on this - maybe YOU could? As JunkDrawer said, the way to deal with a bully is to take him to the mat. Most Republicans can be knocked down with a feather if you just give it try.

And I hear that Larry Flynt will be covering Bush's girlfriend's 1971 abortion story this summer in a book - backed up with sworn affidavits. This was during the AWOL/cokehead period.

[Junkdrawer]

2. Great read. BTW: Have you heard this:

And for those who aren't sufficiently disturbed about this company, something not reported in the press, but it came up in testimony in California last week: Section O of the Diebold contract with the counties. It requires the county to install a dedicated line in its GEMS server directly to the Diebold corporation, available for updates and uploads from Diebold 24 hours a day.

I'm not kidding. This is the second time I've heard of this feature. Also, from one of the very good researchers in Georgia, learned of a similar feature there.

Bev Harris


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1472526#1476419

[Junkdrawer]

3. Kick

:kick:

[TacticalPeek]

4. Evidence in support of your theory:

the many R's now appealing for calm and reason, and no fighting over what Daddy did during the war please, and let those wounds heal, and Kerry shouldn't lower himself, blahblah. Watch your wallet.

[chimpymustgo]

5. This backfired so stupendously for the GodAwfuls. Truce, my *ss.

Scream for mercy. Apologize. Take it back. Carry Kerry's bags for a month, dammit.