Is Kerry's Campaign Dead or Not?

[slinkerwink]

Kerry is collapsing:
Can he save
his campaign?


SEN. JOHN KERRY's campaign is falling apart at the seams. His poll numbers continue to look bleak, and undecided Democrats both in early primary states and nationwide are not responding to his overtures.
Among the bad news that piled up last week:


A National Journal poll of Democratic Party insiders ranked Kerry third in the race for the Democratic nomination, behind Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt. Of the 30 top Democrats polled, none gave Kerry a first-place vote.

A CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll released on Tuesday found that Kerry finished fifth among Democrats nationwide, with just 10 percent saying they would vote for him.

A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday also had Kerry finishing fifth among Democrats nationwide, with only 10 percent saying they would vote for him.

A Fox News poll released on Friday found that Kerry finished no higher than fourth among the Democratic candidates when rated on "leadership," "intelligence," and "decisiveness."
In the past two months, Dean has topped Kerry in every poll conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. In South Carolina, where Kerry made his official campaign announcement, he finished with only 5 percent of the vote in the latest poll, coming in below Al Sharpton and tied with Carol Moseley-Braun among definite Democratic voters.

While Kerry's campaign isn't dead yet, morticians are standing by.

The link can be found here at:http://www.theunionleader.com/opinion_show.html?article=28431

[janekat]

1. It's a shame. Think he'd be a great President.

n/t

[elfwitch]

14. one thing bothers me..

I'm not really comfortable with the Skull and Bones membership. I read in several places that Kerry belongs/belonged to that. The Skull and Bones types cannot be trusted (i.e - Bush Sr. , Bush Jr.)

Admittedly, I AM very paraniod.

[Hawkeye-X]

2. Well it's not exactly a dupe

but I did post the same thing @ the Editorials section...

[slinkerwink]

4. darnit

I never check the Editorials thread------it's not exactly the most-checked thread here on DU.

[quinnox]

3. I would refer to a great line

and give it my own little tweak,

The death of Kerry's campaign has been greatly exaggerated.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. So when Kerry wins NH

it'll be all over for everyone else. :)

[slinkerwink]

8. aha!

So, when Kerry somehow overcomes the twenty-point lead Dean has on him......then all the dozens of Kerryites will dance in the streets. About 40 of them in New Hampshire, I think. ;-)

[Cocoa]

5. Kerry strikes me as not having started yet

or maybe that he got off on the wrong foot. Not dead, that's for sure.

[slinkerwink]

7. *giggle*

Apparently Kerry has two left feet......which would explain why he's always on the wrong foot...;-)

[sangh0]

9. The Union-Leader is a right-wing rag

I wouldn't expect them to speak well of a truly liberal candidate.

[slinkerwink]

11. it's also mentioned in msnbc's First Read

[flpoljunkie]

17. Union Leader also has trashed Wesley Clark. Detect a pattern here?

They, like the rest of the GOP, are rooting for Dean to win the nomination.

http://www.theunionleader.com/opinion_show.html?article=28428

Commentary:
Americans should be cautious
about considering Gen. Clark
By DAN K. THOMASSON
Guest Commentary


WELL, THE REAL Gen. Wesley Clark may finally have stood up, and what he turns out to be is someone Americans should be very cautious about before they consider him for the nation's most important job.

If any semblance of judgment and civility is required for occupying the White House, and I grant you there is sometimes cause to wonder, then Clark has pretty much disqualified himself from the Democratic nomination by accusing George W. Bush of direct responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on America. "You can't blame something like this on lower level intelligence officers," Clark contended in a scathing denouncement of the President.

Even those among the other eight candidates in the field who are most critical of Bush's performance haven't gone that far, and for good reasons. It is preposterous and unfair and it lends support to every crackpot theory expounded by the lunatic fringe that the President was part of a conspiracy that allowed this awful act to bolster designs on Iraq.

That may not be exactly what Clark meant, but it is clearly the implication left, especially when his charge is added to those of other critics who see sinister motives in the White House's reluctance to turn over all the classified material about 9/11 to a commission investigating the disaster. For that reason alone the administration should cooperate with the commission.

more (it gets worse)

[Zero Gravitas]

22. How dare he

demand that the President of the United States (or in this case George W. Bush) take responsibility for what happens on his watch. The nerve of it. :eyes:

[AWD]

10. Not dead, but...

...there's a distinct death rattle sounding.

This race was his to win, and his campaign was so poorly planned, they allowed others to take over. All they have left now is attack and dodge.

They're in trouble if they can't turn it around....and it's not looking good.

[slinkerwink]

12. I agree

:nods:

[sybylla]

37. I agree resoundingly, AWD

I saw a great deal of potential in Kerry but have been disappointed in the lack of a strong plan by his campaign. I just today received an e-mail from the state rep of the Kerry campaign that was all bash and no substance. Attacking other dems in my book is so wrong not to mention over-all bad form. It reeks of desperation and is not at all a good campaign strategy. This won't play well with fence-sitters and likely spells the end.

[reprehensor]

13. Shoot a moose next time.

Pheasants. That's for wimps.

[slinkerwink]

16. so he shot a pheasant?

interesting.....

[Forkboy]

15. "I feel happy!"

"you're not fooling anyone you know."

[vi5]

18. It's a crying shame, but I think it is....

I very badly wanted him to be our candidate and to rise to the occasion on the primaries. But he has been doing just what Al Gore did in 2000 in that he's been listening too much to his handlers and consultants and not just acting with his guy. He has enough experience and gravitas to get away with being a straight shooter but he squandered his chances at every opportunity so far.

Maybe he can turn it around but I don't see how.

[slinkerwink]

19. too much handling can coddle an egg

It just don't bode very well for him now....

[tsipple]

20. It's the Union Leader Opinion Page

Take it with a truckload of salt. Kerry is still very much in this race.

[robsul82]

21. The nomination WAS his to have...

...but he just squandered it away. Poor JFK.

Later.

RJS

[edzontar]

23. Kerry is a great guy, overall....

I think he got caught in the Iraq mess and ended up looking like a waffler--which can hurt you if the mood is "Anti-Washington," which i think it is.....

He's been a frustrating figure in the campaign, I think...

It's too bad, a good candiate he could have been...

[blm]

24. Union Leader is a rightwing paper and of course they want Kerry gone.

Too many Democrats are too dense to figure out why the media built up Dean with such an intense focus on everything that made him sound like a fighting populist but not scrutinizing Dean's actual record of governance with shows him to be a compromising centrist.

They NEED Kerry gone. They know from BCCI and IranContra that Kerry can make the case against them and expose their entire agenda to the American people if he ever had the time in front of them to make it.

They know the intelligence community, including Rand Beers and Joe Wilson, and William Perry and experts like Gary Hart are all part of that team, and BushInc. does NOT want their voices heard.

[Andy_Stephenson]

26. But BLM he has the spotlight now...

why is John not using the opportunity?

[blm]

33. He DOESN'T have the spotlight and YOU know it.

The media gives the airtime to Dean and even queries the other candidates about Dean.


Think about why intel and top military types are lining up behind Kerry, Gbnc. They KNOW he can do it. BushInc. knows it, too. NOONE has done more to expose them in the last twenty years as Kerry did. Now 9-11 proved Kerry to be right on so many of these issues, and the public has a greater chance of understanding the case. That's why the media will not give him the proper focus during the primary.


To make the case against Bush, Kerry has to have the FOCUS of the American people on him. Noone else can make the case against Bush as completely to EXPOSE the BFEE. The case has to many twists and turns requiring some concentration. Why anyone wants to keep that from happening is a mystery.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

35. also, bringing up BCCI on the campaign trail will just cloud the debate

it will make no sense to Joe six-pack other than: Bush = bad. But Dems already now that, and the infotainment news will not get the soundbites they want.
It would just be wasted time and effort for Kerry.

[DrFunkenstein]

25. Is The Dean Campaign Dead Or Not?

It is becoming more and more clear that Dean cannot pull away from the pack. There is a strong suggestion that he has a ceiling of support in the party with the rabidly anti-Bush, anti-war crowd of people who read their news on the internet.

The Dean campaign has repeatedly alienated the other campaigns through lies and distortions, creating a backlash that has been swelling since September - and especially since he lashed out at Clark as a Republican.

Further proof comes from the last debate in Detroit, where Dean's final comments aimed only at his own base of activists with no attempt at outreach. Although expected to "mellow out" once he became the frontrunner, he has continued to play to his hardcore supporters.

The effect of this is the notable rise of both venom and gaffes in his speeches. Were he used to compare Bush to the Taliban, or shrug when asked if it was good that Saddam was gone (which will play well in TV ads), now he is comparing fellow Democrats to cockroaches and bringing back the "Bush-lite" comment - to the audible groans of the audience. Hardly Presidential stuff.

Which brings us to electability. Many people register their protest in the polls, but polls don't win primaries. Votes do. And most primary voters are ultimately pragmatic. More than anything else, they want a winner - not a sitting duck. The Governor of a state with a population of about 610,000 people that signed the nation's only civil unions bill and radically opposed the war from its start is the equivalent of a barnside for target practice.

Bush will have about $200 million in TV ads rolling non-stop in 2004, plus a bully pulpit. If Dean can't sit still while Gephardt aligns him with Newt Gingrich, how will he fare against the Rove machine. If he plays it angry, he will play into Rove's hands - kind of like Return of the Jedi. And unless Cheney throws Bush down a steam pipe, that doesn't bode well.

Did I mention that Dean has yet to do well (as opposed to not poorly) at ANY of the debates? I have also yet to see him perform effectively on any of the political talk shows, especially on Sunday morning. It seems that Dean only does well in monologue.

So despite a big media shot during the late summer, and headlines as the frontrunner ever since, Dean has yet to command any sort of credible lead. Considering that most other camps will vote for someone BESIDES Dean first, I just don't see it happening. He's riding a slight bubble now, but we all know what bubbles do best.

[HFishbine]

27. Yawn...

I'm feeling rather sleepy all of a sudden.

[ryharrin]

31. Why?

Did you just start listening to Kerry talk?

[SahaleArm]

34. You shouldn't have ordered...

the Dean hypnosis pack:).

[HFishbine]

39. Even when it's partisan

I love a good wise crack. Good one!

[RetroLounge]

32. Your thread got locked because of this post

so you put it over here? Whatever.

I think the post here is about KERRY. Pay attention...

and no, it's not dead. I don't think any of the campaigns are dead.

DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN
(makes 'em crazy...)

[Mairead]

28. I wouldn't believe the Union Leader very readily

They're a rightwing rag.

That being said, I suspect Kerry is discovering that his quaffing of the DLC koolaid was a major mistake.

[mrgorth]

29. I'm a Dean supporter BUT...

I am still considering Kerry and would like to see him do well. Frankly, not to sound to conspiratorial, but I do worry if part of Dean's popularity is being built up by the enemy so that they can crush him more easily. I don't know. I'm just so nervous about this.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

30. Dean's repeal of the ENTIRE Bush tax cut is no-no #1.

Rove will make him eat that.

#2- Dean is seen as VERY weak on National Security/Defense and they will KILL him with all his past comments. "Northeast liberal peacenik who suggested America's military will one day not be No. 1 in the world" is the label they have all ready for him.

[library_max]

36. Kerry's not pulling ahead by any means

But he's got a lot of staying power. He has not yet begun to tap his funding resources. He seems like a come-from-behind possiblity if the front-runners stumble or cancel each other out.

[mandyky]

38. LOL, the Dean one like this got locked

The title is funny, but do we really have to bash each others' candidates like this.