Why is Kerry letting himself be defined? When will he fight back?

[mrgorth]

I get the feeling that if he could just come out swinging he might even overtake * in the polls. Is Kerry letting them get overconfident so they don't pull OBL out?

[JohnnyFianna1]

1. No it's because some of their more controversial commercials have a negati

ve image about Kerry but they also (9/11 commercial for instance) actually lost bush voters

[jpgray]

2. I think he's concerned (and rightly so) about the media disparity

The cable programs will define him 24 hours a day, and give him 30 seconds to define himself. If he came out swinging against Bush directly, his attacks would be construed as something they are not. Remember the 'journalism' surrounding the recent Spanish election--facts are not important with our media. This is why they will play a Bush ad and say how it hurts Kerry, but they will not deign to comment on its accuracy, or the context the information should be placed in. They do both for the White House when someone attacks the Bush administration.

That said, indirect attacks by independent progressives (like Dean) or arms of the Kerry campaign can be used by Kerry to keep the attacks up without losing face himself. I'm not sure if he's making the right decision, but I can understand his hesitation.

[JI7]

3. Bush has about 200 million dollars for ads

it's not about kerry "letting" them do anything. he will never have nearly the amount of money as bush does. if he did it would be more simple and he can just run his own ads to counter the bush ones. so his campaign has to plan how to spend and in a way to help him as much as it can.

[MurrayDelph]

4. Yeah, but I'm still waiting

for the counter ads to use the line:

"George Bush; he has to lie about Kerry because he can't
afford to tell the truth about himself"

[JI7]

7. it's not so simple

because then the bush people will just point to how kerry DID vote against the 87 billion funds for iraq and they will just point to kerry as being a liar or whatever. of course the lie is that kerry voted against the troops and not against the 87 billion bill because the package was mostly about giving money to corporations and soldiers STILL don't have what they need even though the bill passed. but the bush people wont respond to that they will just point to the vote on the bill. and the media wont tell the truth. so it's up to kerry's side to plan on how to respond in a smart way which will be effective and not so easy to attack back by the right wing.

[Gloria]

5. The Daily Show started on the ads last night

It was a bit soft on Bush, but there were comments about the accuracy of statements being made.
Helms raved about the Bush ad (I think he showed the one about the $87 billion) then dissed the Kerry ad about the "misleading" Bush ads. I think he was saying the Kerry ads were too wimpy, the Bush ad was great because it was so nasty.
Jon mentioned that the GOP ad tried to say one vote was on about 4 issues...

Anyway, it was sort of a muddy segment..they've done better. I hope they do A LOT better if they do another bit on ads.

[readmylips]

6. Kerry is right! Bushcos in a lot of trouble....

Condileeza the joke of the town. More lies about jobs. People see bush as a lier and secretive. Whatever bush says about Kerry are all lies and more lies. Kerry will come out fighting after April 8, after condisleeza testifies in public. The Kerrys are getting their battle ground in position. This has been a geat time for Kerry; stay out of the fight.

[lancdem]

8. He is actually doing better in the polls

The last two have him beating Bush by 3 and 5 points, respectively.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

9. The point is not to overtake Bush in the polls in April

the point is to win an Electoral College victory in November. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Try not to get too distracted by the spin put out by the Republicans and their accomplices in the media.

[TheDonkey]

10. I believe he is saving his guns

a risky manuever but has worked well with him in the past (ie. the nomination).

Teresa and his band of brothers have not been showcased in front of the nation yet.

[belle]

11. I've heard that about him, that he paces himself in campaigns, and...

that it really works, or so said his last opponent. forget the source, alas.

[DinahMoeHum]

12. Between Iraq and the 9/11 hearings, * is hurting himself. . .

So Kerry's not gonna do anything to help * at this point.

:kick:

[Skeptical Democrat]

13. Just a guess, but he could be allowing the soft money orgs

do the work for now while he raises money to spend for the sprint after convention. Bush is spending down his money now on millions in ads. Then they may be closer to even ground when it gets closer to election.

That's just a guess. As someone said earlier in this thread, this is a long term sprint, not a one day race, or something like that. It's not so important to be ahead today as to win the electoral college in November. That's the ticket.