Kerry Enlisting Clinton Aides in Effort to Refocus Campaign

[oldhat]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/06/politics/campaign/06kerry.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

Former President Bill Clinton, in a 90-minute telephone conversation from his hospital room, offered John Kerry detailed advice on Saturday night on how to reinvigorate his candidacy, as Mr. Kerry enlisted more Clinton advisers to help shape his strategy and message for the remainder of the campaign.

In an expansive conversation, Mr. Clinton told Mr. Kerry that he should move away from talking about Vietnam, which had been the central theme of his candidacy, and focus instead on drawing contrasts with President Bush on job creation and health care policies, officials with knowledge of the conversation said.

The conversation and the recruitment of old Clinton hands came amid rising concern among Democrats about the state of Mr. Kerry's campaign and criticism that he had been too slow to respond to attacks on his military record or to engage Mr. Bush on domestic policy. Among the better-known former Clinton aides who are expected to play an increasingly prominent role are James Carville, Paul Begala and Stanley Greenberg, campaign aides said.

Mr. Kerry's aides emphasized that this was an expansion of the staff for the fall campaign, and did not represent another upheaval of the Kerry campaign. Still, several Democrats outside the campaign said the influence of Mr. Clinton and his advisers could be seen over the past few days with Mr. Kerry's attacks on Mr. Bush's domestic policies. They said the Clinton team had been pressing Mr. Kerry to turn up the intensity of his attacks on those policies after a month spent largely avoiding engaging the president.

[featherman]

1. I'm not one who has been knocking the Kerry campaign

but I sure LIKE having Stan Greenberg, Carville, and Begala on board. Nobody knows how to poll like Greenberg.

[NMDemDist2]

2. and Joe Lockhart is onboard too.... looking like a winning team

all around

[Leilani]

14. Joe Lockhart was excellent today

on This Week with Stephanopolous.

Big improvement over Mary Beth Cahill...they should keep her off TV.

[papau]

48. Every Bush election is about how bad other choice is - Kerry must break

through this by saying "There he goes again" and giving more than a to-do list - in addition to the to-do list he needs to give a This I believe/This is where I will take you feeling to folks.

[oldhat]

3. Kerry's pulling out the big guns.

Among the better-known former Clinton aides who are expected to play an increasingly prominent role are James Carville, Paul Begala and Stanley Greenberg, campaign aides said.

It's about time.

Oh yeah, fire in the hole.

[Sugarbleus]

39. heheeh--->Oh yeah, fire in the hole.... I LOVE it!! eom

[jean]

4. it is so weird that nyt can write a detailed story about what should have

been a confidential conversation.

That said, it's great BC had an expansive convo with Kerry. Excellent for the campaign AND a good way for him to pass the time in a hospital bed!

[AspenRose]

5. YES!

FIRE. Doesn't matter if you see the whites of their eyes or not.

[oldhat]

7. Here comes the full broadside.

Hang on.

[mbperrin]

6. Turn Carville loose!

KKKarl will think he's been in a mixmaster!

[Gman]

8. The calvary to the rescue!!

Carville, Begala and Greenberg

[unfrigginreal]

9. It looks like we're getting the good with the bad from the Clinton team...

brilliant strategists that leak like a sieve. Christ I wish they'd learn to STFU about private conversations.

[PartyPooper]

10. Bill Clinton is such a trooper! *90 minutes from his hospital bed!*

Instead of stumping for Kerry and Edwards on the campaign trail, I expect he will record some awesome ads for the Dems while he is recovering post-op at his home in New York.

He is one great guy!

:loveya:

:yourock:

[Tatiana]

11. And this is one reason the campaign will become more focused.

This is wonderful news. Thank goodness Kerry has the sense to listen to Clinton. This is where Gore made his mistake: misunderestimating his opponent. But Clinton, Begala, Carville, and Lockhart know the drill and most importantly, they know how to beat the Republican thugs back.

I look forward to seeing more offense from the campaign and less defensive posturing. We are going to win, folks. It ain't gonna be pretty, but we're gonna pull it out.

[barb162]

28. Hey ugly is great with me

as long as we win and kick that trash out of Washington.

[jefferson_dem]

12. This is very exciting!

"...Mr. Bush had succeeded over the past month in transforming the race from a referendum on an incumbent president to a referendum on Mr. Kerry.

"It was an enormous shift," Mr. Begala said last night. Then, referring to Karl Rove, a Bush aide, he added: "And it required the cooperation of the candidate. And you know what? The Kerry campaign is no longer cooperating. Sorry Karl.""

So true. Time to rock n' roll!

[belle]

57. Nice quote. Now: MASH THE MOTHERFUCKERS! PUT 'EM IN THE BLENDER!!!

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. The campaign is just getting started after the convention

These guys are great. Carville seems to have an open invite on any talk show.

[sallyseven]

17. Did you see Mary Matalin on MTP today

Was she scary or what. Her makeup was over the top. She looked like Drusilla. I was scared. They must have taped that show on Thursday. God what a mess. Almost as screwy as her opinions.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. She has changed her look

for the worse. She is doing this Liza Minnelli deal. At one time she was sort of attractive.

[oldhat]

22. Whoa.

At one time she was sort of attractive.

:wow:

[Sydnie]

21. Yes, I just watched it again too and

she seemed like she had forgotten her preparation H toward the end of the show. Carville was going in for the kill and she couldn't even sit still in her chair. She was rocking like the Rain Man!

[belle]

58. I would feel so much better about Carville if he would just dump her

already. i can't begin to imagine what goes on in their private life, and frankly don't want to.

[Leilani]

15. Stan Greenberg is married to Rosa DeLauro,

Rep. from Ct., isn t he?

[mzmolly]

16. WOOOO F-N HOOOO! The campaign is "listening" YEAH!!!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[progressivebydesign]

18. Just posted this phrase on another thread...

"It's (STILL) the economy, stupid!" I can guarantee that phrase was uttered during their conversation. That wonderful phrase that drove Clinton into the White House... oh, and "Are you better off now, than you were 4 years ago?".

Clinton is sooo cool! I'm glad he's helping as much as he can. He'll be up and around soon..

[niceypoo]

20. Hell, with Carville and Begala on board.........

I might start to have faith in the democrats again. Letting the DNC run his campaign was a huge mistake. They are wimps and milqtoast and cost us the midterms and ruined Dean and almost ruined Kerrys chances. Good riddance to them. Ditch the focus groups and roll up the sleeves. Woohoo!!!!

[hansolsen]

23. I don't trust Clinton's advice as far as I can throw him and Hillary. Hil

wants Bush to win so she has a clear field for 2008. Clinton may be giving Kerry poison pills by the handfull right now. Perhaps that is too cynical, but I bet Kerry is taking all this with a full shaker of salt.

Ceding foreign affairs and the war in Iraq to Bush, and trying to win the election on domestic issues alone, is weak and ineffective, and we lost our collective asses the last time we tried this -- congressional elections of 2002. That is when the Dem Party fell off the cliff the first time. Now Clinton is advocating we jump off again. I don't think so.

We need to keep a full half the campaign, and half of every campaign speech on the mess in Iraq, and a better plan to win the war on terrorism. And that half of the campaign needs to tell the American people, and tell them every day, in every speech, that George Bush is a little monster and the most immoral man who ever served.

It is not the economy, stupid. This election is all about ethics and morality. We are losing as of right now, because this is poorly understood. Am I the only person who sees this dynamic at work??

[alcuno]

24. Right wing wishful thinking.

I am so sick of hearing about how Hillary wants Kerry to lose. It's insulting to her and I've listened to her enough to believe that she wants the country in capable hands now. She has talked about how devastating another 4 years of * would be.

This election is about ethics and morality? You bet. It's immoral to allow people to sink into poverty and have no hope for the future. As for ethics, having a president mislead the nation to war is highly unethical. I agree with Hillary. He should lose his job.

[hansolsen]

31. Fine. So please tell me why the Kerry campaign has mentioned that

Bush misled the country into war just once in his midnight s[peech, and there has been no followup. That dirct challenge to Bush has been dropped like a hot potato. what gives??

[kungfugrip]

25. You seem to have caught the case of Freeper Clinton paranoia

Clinton WON in 1992. WON in 1996. Gore lost in 2000 because he refused Bill's help.

[hansolsen]

32. Hillary voted for the damn IWR and is compromised on the great issue

of this election. Her advice, through Bill, is suspect as hell. She wants no part of opposing the war in Iraq -- that issue is a lose lose proposition for her. That is not "freeper" thinking, that is common sense.

[lancdem]

54. And Kerry voted for IWR

Does that mean he wants to lose the election? Give me a break. And just because Kerry is going to exploit Bush's domestic weaknesses doesn't mean his campaign's going to ignore foreign policy.

[hansolsen]

62. Kerry needs to leave his IWR vote in the dust. It is ancient history.

If Kerry wins this election he will own Iraq in a few weeks. He needs to start with a clean slate to figure out what to do with Iraq now, regardless of what he may have said on the subject before.

I was pleased to hear him say this is "the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time". Now if he would tie Shrub's lies about WMD to Bush's character we would be getting somewhere.

[theoceansnerves]

26. you've been listening

to dick morris too much.

[hansolsen]

33. Dick Morris is a slimy swamp thing who is like a stopped clock, right

twice a day.

[yardwork]

29. If the election were about ethics and morality shrub would have conceded

by now. There is no bigger liar in the country that George W. Bush.

[hansolsen]

34. Yes, but tr and tell that to the Christian right; they think he walks on

water, and the Kerry campaign has done little or nothing to challenge Bush directly on issues of morality. The ethics of lying the nation into war, approving torture, etc, have been backburnered because the Kerry braintrust is ambibalent about coming out in direct opposition to the war.

Damn that ambivalence.

[latebloomer]

51. I agree with you

Kerry should be coming out with all guns blazing about the utter immorality and waste of this war. Unfortunately he seems to agree with it, as does Clinton-- hence, we get repub-lite, and all the domestic issues in the world are not gonna make up for the common perception of Bush as the big strong daddy who is defending us all. :puke:

[hansolsen]

63. Let's hope the Time Newsweek poll data is a wakeup call to the Kerry

campaign. This election will turn on Bush's character, not his competence. There is a dark and evil side to that man. We must help the American people see that side of him. Many refuse to look.

[Carolab]

45. Carville spoke to this on MTP

He stated that * indicated he is content with the state of the union, and explained that being content with things like the mess in Iraq, the record deficit, a job loss record equaling that of Herbert Hoover, the 17% rise in Medicare and 43 million Americans w/o health care coverage should not contentment make.

[lancdem]

55. There's absolutely no evidence Hillary wants Bush to win

I'm sick of DUers buying into this garbage. Even if it were true, Carville and Begala hate Busg as much as we do.

[belle]

59. Oh lord. Hillary does not want Kerry to lose, because if he does...

her chances of winning in '08 or any other year are pretty bloody slim, as are the chances of any other Democrat, or indeed, probably, any other legally elected candidate.

Hillary Clinton is just another damn politician. No more, no less. Please to be getting over your Bad Mommy complex and focus on reality. Thank you.

[Z-E-R-0]

27. Why Cede National Security To Bush?

I don't get it. This is what happened in 2002.

[hansolsen]

35. Yup. Losing strategy. N/T.

[barb162]

30. Carville is an animal, I love him

he has that killer instinct, goes right to the jugular of the Bushies and their lies. And you know what is the best, he is funny doing it and fun to watch

[Insomnicole]

36. Excellent!

I suspected this might be in the works when I got a fundraising email from "James Carville" instead of "Mary Beth Cahill" the other day.

[Sugarbleus]

41. Hey, I got something from him via snail mail too..almost forgot.

It was funnier n hell. Had a picture of bush/cheney with some choice "Carvelle" words...lol

Come to think of it, the whole approach from him was MUCH more hard hitting than anything I've seen so far. Woohoo

[Justice]

46. Me Too - Funny!

I have the picture on my refrigerator to remind me everyday that these jokers have to go.

[John_H]

37. tick, tick, tick, tick.....

[demoman123]

38. He needs to bring back Sid "Vicious" Blumenthal.

Old Sid knows how to dig up some dirt. :)

[JackDragna]

40. Here goes.

1. Go after Bush's weak points.

2. Respond to each of Bush's attacks with a rebuttal, followed by a counterattack. Rinse, lather, repeat.

[AgadorSparticus]

42. "rinse, lather, repeat." i like that!!! it's pretty darn simple when

you put it like that! :-)

[Seabiscuit]

43. A "month"???

"They said the Clinton team had been pressing Mr. Kerry to turn up the intensity of his attacks on those policies after a month spent largely avoiding engaging the president."

Funny, I don't recall Kerry intensely "engaging the president" for over a year until last Thursday night.

Sounds like Clinton's as fed up as I am with Kerry's pussy-footing around throughout his campaign.

It's time to TAKE IT TO THE MATTRESSES, JK!!!

[Piperay]

44. TERRIFIC

this wonderful news and long overdue! :thumbsup:

[Tight_rope]

47. Time to kick ass!

[Randy4Randi]

49. Will Begala staying on at CNN and working for Kerry be a problem?

Is there a conflict of interest going on here in the public eye?

[The Stranger]

50. CREDIBILITY IN FOUR WORDS

"Weapons of Mass Destruction"

Everyone knows it was a lie. Make them face up to it. There are many, many questions that derive from it. Questions about credibility, leadership, ulterior motives. It will take legs without having to drive it every step of the way with more costly ads.

Go with the Economy and Jobs, but keep hitting the Administration on its credibility, and four words that so well capture it is WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

I only fear that this was pissed away by taking the position that he would have invaded even if there were no weapons of mass destruction. If so, taking that position was a mistake.

[latebloomer]

52. it was definitely a mistake

Kerry should be pulling out his old phrase "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" He won't, he is on board with this war, so why change horses in midstream?

[Malva Zebrina]

53. Carville, Begalia and Greenberg have face time in the media

that is what Kerry was missing. If they don't have face time, they know how to get it. I am encouraged to see a fighting team that knows what it is talking about.

I think the master politician, Bill Clinton, steered him right--incredible--from his hospital bed! My thoughts are with Bill as he goes through his by-pass operation today.

[Catfight]

56. Bush needs to stop being graded on a CURVE, the bar keeps getting

lower and lower. Job expectations are being lowered, Bush hasn't achieved any projections, under a corporation, he'd have been FIRED long ago!

Kerry is going on offense, Bush is going to go up in smoke and hot air! Watch out for the Angry Young Republicans to beat up more women and children!

[bearfan454]

60. Dukakis waited too long.

Kerry needs to attack now.

[mountainvue]

61. Yes!

This is what we need now!

[gulfcoastliberal]

64. Whomever advised Mr. Kerry to "avoid engaging the president"

is a complete and total moran. I thought this was a presidential campaign against the most ruthless cutthroat bunch who are in full attack mode. I believe someone said the best option is to turn the boat into the attackers, not scuttle away down the river.