Kerry worth a second look

[quinnox]

Now that Kerry has got his campaign team in gear, he seems to be in a good position in the stretch run. He has an upcoming decision on finance, and after that is made all the elements will be in place to mount a major comeback. I think he is worth a second look, especially to those who lean to the liberal left on issues. Anger can be mesmerizing, but it won't win a national campaign. That requires a positive message.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Nope.. Not even worth a second look

He's lost me a long time ago with his IWR vote and HAS NOT YET APOLOGIZED for it.

What's more, Kerry needs to redirect the attacks on Dean to someone else, say, Chimpy McFlightSuit, rather than Dean.

Dean is our frontrunner, and he's gonna demolish Kerry in NH, forcing Kerry to drop his campaign after NH, because he *knows* he won't get anywhere.

Hawkeye-X

[kentuck]

3. NH will be very close and Kerry will get a lot of credit for a close race.

AFter being such an underdog. I think Kerry is going to be this year's "Comback Kid"...

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. He certainly has set up that possible scenario

and Dean fatigue is inevitable. And, with all his money and endorsements, Dean is practically an "establishment candidate" now.

[Forkboy]

6. lol

obsession is a wonderful thing!

[Bandit]

8. LOL

At least there is great consistency there. I do have to admire that trait. I just don't like the constant bashing. I do wish the best for Senator Kerry though. My heart has always been with him but my mind says it probably won't happen. :-(

[Hep]

14. It's not Dean you have to worry about

His fatigue is one thing, buthis hundreds of thousands of supporters are what you should be thinking about. We're not likely to fatigue.

And considering the source of his money and endorsements, he remains as far from the establishment as a front runner can be.

[Bertrand]

17. If Kerry lost you with his IWR vote

why do you support Dean, who supported Biden-lugar and said:

"as I've said about eight times today," he says, annoyed -- that Saddam must be disarmed, but with a multilateral force under the auspices of the United Nations. If the U.N. in the end chooses not to enforce its own resolutions, then the U.S. should give Saddam 30 to 60 days to disarm, and if he doesn't, unilateral action is a regrettable, but unavoidable, choice.


???


http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/02/20/dean/index2.html

[blm]

18. Just what Bush wants. Shut up Wilson, Hart, Cleland, Beers

and Perry. All the guys who prove Bush's incompetence and complicity from 9-11 through Iraq.

Nice that so many Democrats here are working to keep Bush protected from Kerry and his whole team.

[agingdem]

2. Exactly...

Instead of anger we need someone who speaks with the voice of reason and experience. We already have a guy in the White House with no foreign policy experience. Dean says he wouldn't have voted go to war...well he wasn't in a position to vote for anything.

[virtualobserver]

4. Historically, have any campaigns that experienced high level "shake-ups"

..gone on to win the nomination?

I'm not tying to draw a flame here, I'm just curious. It seems to me that it would be hard to overcome the media descriptions like "sagging" and "struggling" that they tend to use . It would take a very good team to get past that.

[paulk]

9. There's been a few, off the top of my head

Al Gore in the 2000 election cycle. - In Sept. '99 he moved his campaign headquarters.

Reagan in 1980 - after losing the Iowa caucus.

It's not the disaster it's being painted as.

[Pez]

12. reagan's '80 post-iowa shake-up is a prime example...

...of what a bunch of dolts the press are being. just because the media's sponsor/ratings driven coverage doesn't mention it, doesn't mean it didn't happen...

...or that it's worth talking about in such a critical time, when policy, experience and platform should be the main focus.

gossip over issues? what a waste of time; it's also insulting.

[ShimokitaJer]

7. I'd like to see him make up some lost ground

But I'm reserving judgment based on how he runs his campaign from now on. Up until now, it seemed that he was too busy trying to tear down Dean to properly emphasize his strengths, which I think are considerable. You can't advance your campaign in a pack of nine just by telling people why the leader of the pack should be torn down.

I think Kerry has a lot of potential, but it remains to be seen if his campaign can move in a new direction. Judging by the posts so far, some of his supporters might not be able to.

[oasis]

10. Kerry opts out of public financing for his campaign. He's in it to win it.

[quinnox]

15. Yea, interesting

I wonder how much of Kerry's own money he will use. In the story, they make it sound like he doesn't have many personal assets excluding his wife's fortune which is off limits, but I saw a report before that Kerry's personal fortune was over 100 million, so I am a bit confused on that score.

[oasis]

16. He dosen't have the "liquid" assets. That's my understanding.

[blm]

19. His mother's death last year left him alot of money.

.

[Hep]

11. Anger can be mesmerizing, but it won't win a national campaign.

So it goes from DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN to dean dean dean dean.

I like this much better. Does he now only want to tap me on the mouth for supporting flag burning?

[JohnKleeb]

13. already did and made him my second choice

Now I am still disappointed in IWR but if it wasnt for that, and minus the DK factor, I would support him in a heartbeat. I do however know that Kerry has a good record on a variety of issues and thats probably one of the reasons I made him my second choice.

[DrFunkenstein]

20. Thank You, John

In certain ways, you are much more credible advocate for Kerry than many Kerry people are. I don't think anyone here would question your sincerity. I think the levels to which I don't like Dean as a nominee probably taint my opinions.

But I think you are right about Kerry's record. He was a progressive back when it wasn't even a word (well, you know what I mean). Back when too many liberals were content to sit on an agenda set in the late 60's, Kerry was pushing for stuff like campaign finance reform, fuel efficiency, living wages, renewable energy, corporate welfare and corporate crime fighting, and shifting massive funds from the bloated defense programs to social programs.

[JohnKleeb]

23. Your welcome

Theres a joke I tell why I like him, and thats how can you not like a guy who got on Nixon's enemy list. He has good stances on a wide variety of issues, I like that.

[welshTerrier2]

21. My Penny and a Half

Kerry's biggest problem thus far has been Kerry ...

He will lose some of us lefties because of his IWR vote ... my response to this: vote your conscience ... do what you need to do ... i have no problem either way ... i argued long and hard against Kerry because of this vote ... and now, I've decided to look at the bigger picture ... we have got to get bush out of there ... nothing, IWR votes or anything else, would be worse than another 4 years of schmuck-boy ...

But Kerry's greatest deficiency is in the area of bottom line success ... his campaign has lacked spark ...

And now, he's put a new team on the field ... Deanies who are happy to see Kerry in a weakened position failing to garner either votes or media attention are wrong to feel that way ... every democrat gaining ground is what we need ... every democrat ... we want voters listening to democrats and getting interested in the campaign ... to think that if Kerry does better it means Dean is losing support is foolish ... let the chips fall where they may ... we need an energized electorate and, like it or not, not every democrat will be energized by Dean ...

So I say, absolutely give Kerry another look ... do more than that ... hope that another democrat can get his act together and energize our base ... and if the shoe fits, go out and work for him ... it's unclear whether the staff changes he's made will make a difference ... I hope that they do ... you should too ...

[Scott Lee]

22. Kerry is Old School. Time for New School.

Look, it's not like he's evil or anything. It's just that I can't escape the feeling that I'm looking at a business as usual D.C. insider everytime I see him. Establishment stuff. And right now, we need a revolutionary overthrow of the party establishment. They and their miserable efforts for the last few years is why I left the party in disgust at one time.

[Octafish]

24. Thanks, Quinnox. Kerry administration would move America forward...

I volunteer for Kerry. I do so because he's the best chance for bringing back the America I so love and we so deserve. Kerry believes the power of government should be used to do good for ALL Americans.



John Kerry, left, sails with President John F. Kennedy
aboard the 62-foot Coast Guard yawl Manitou
in Narragansett Bay on Aug. 26, 1962.