Is Kerry waging an aggressive campaign?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Poll question: Is Kerry waging an aggressive campaign?

[terrya]

1. Yes, he is.

And he needs to get even more aggressive. But he's waging a pretty aggressive campaign overall.

[Old and In the Way]

2. You ain't seen nothing yet.

They RNC Maginot Line is breaking down. As bad as the SBV blowback will be for Bush, I think his campaign needs this distraction, because he's got lots more stuff to worry about:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x644861

[Fovea]

3. He needs to have Edwards feed Cheney into a leaf shredder

and Bush has to become the mayor of Baghdad.

[Generator]

4. Yes!

He waited and now he's struck like the sly killer he is. (okay that's a little overblown ;)

But, (see my post) Kerry is the first with real media attention-to accuse Bush directly of breaking the law. It makes me giddy.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Kerry is waging a SMART campaign

Waiting until this week to counterattack the SwiftLiars' assault is starting to make better sense. The gap between the Olympics and the GOP Coronation is a full week of bad news, slow news, and ennui in search of an issue.

And Kerry doesn't even have to go full-bore; an oblique attack could easily take out most of Herr Rove's water-carriers, including the pundits who have thrown their lot in with the SwiftLiars.

A couple of good "glancing blows" will get Team Bush reacting emotionally, and Kerry should be able to control the terms of the debate with ease.

These guys are smart. They know how to fight. Now all they need is a few million committed news junkies like us to turn the heat up.

--bkl

[terrya]

6. I'd love to see Kerry go full throttle during the Convention.

To counter the nauseating love fest and lies coming out of New York. The DNC truth squad will be great, but I'd like Kerry being aggressive during the convention week.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. That would be nice ... but ...

... the goal is to send Bush back to Compound W in Crawford. If Kerry thinks he can better achieve that result by holding back here or there, he won't go full throttle -- and I think he will hold back, although the rest of the Democratic party may be loosed to do its damnedest.

We've learned how to roll with the punches; we're learning how to punch back. But it's still important to be able to survive the hard blows -- in political terms, to sustain damage without losing our cool.

I think that's what we're seeing from Kerry. He's holding as much of his fire as long as he can; Team Bush is strafing the media indiscriminantly, as the SwiftLiars have proven.

Kerry is playing cool, and he knows very well that Bush -- and most of his crew -- have notoriously short fuses. You can't so much as flick a booger in their direction without someone in the administration being moved to outrage, and outrage leads to making stupid mistakes.

Rope-a-Dope -- I think that's how Kerry & Co. are playing it. It's not over yet, and I think it will be an interesting election season.

--bkl

[Jack Rabbit]

7. No, he's not

Up to now, he's been letting Bush hang himself. It's time for him to get more aggressive and hand the Frat Boy some more rope.

In recent days, Bush has successfully diverted attention from his poor record (which would be a poor record even for a legitimate President) by allowing a 527 orgnization to tell bald-faced lies about Kerry's service record on his behalf.

That has be put behind the campaign and Bush's failures put front and center. That can only be done with some positive movement by Senator Kerry and his people.

To extend Dem Strategist's chess analogy, if one's opponent launches a premature attack on a wing, the best response to kick ass in the center. Kerry needs to make an aggressive move in the center.

[neoSattva]

8. Great Counter Attack

on the swifties, Kerry had to wait for things to fall in place:
- McCain telling Bush to condemn them,
- Bush not taking McCain's advice (a given),
- Journalists to dig into the "evidence" (mathews, Wash Post, NY Times, Oliphant, Shields),
- Most importantly - Find evidence of ties to Bush (flyers at gop office, and ((I heard once here last night)) a gop website promoting the swifties),

That all fell into place and Kerry/ Edwards mounted their assault:
- Kerry stmt including that he wouldn't sit and read 'My Pet Goat' while the nation is under attack,
- File FEC charge on Swifties,
- Edwards calling for Bush to be a man and stop hiding behind the swifties.

Patient and decisive, not to mention well timed. The question of Bush being in cahoots with "dishonorable" liars will be a big part of the news talk going into the convention.

Great start to the week!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

10. Kick

[Kathy in Cambridge]

11. Not aggressive enough

they need to use attack dogs to counter the Bush BS at every turn.