Kerry CAN'T go negative on Bush that much.

[PretzelWarrior]

to do so would be to follow the same course GOP is attempting--drive interest in this election to record lows. If the hype and optimism of elections in the spring result in registered voters...the cruel and cynical nature of super negative campaigns work to stamp out the idealism.

We need to support Kerry in his bid to keep them honest to some extent and follow their lead in pushing the agendas he would bring in his first year in office.

Kerry will reserve his few grains of "truth-telling" on Bush til later in the campaign when he can maintain some advantage for having done so.

Kerry campaign is to Bush campaign what US military is to Al queda terrorists. They can't possible co as low as their enemy for sheer hatefulness and evil....and why would they want to?

At his core, Kerry is a man of faith who believes you shouldn't just say one thing about your faith and do another.

Bush is going down, and it won't be because Kerry slimes him. He just needs to keep focus on what Bush ISN'T DOING NOW and what Kerry and Edwards ad optimistic and dedicated people WILL DO IN JANUARY

[Feanorcurufinwe]

1. Also Kerry is not just running to win the election,

but to govern the country. And anyone who is paying attention realizes that Kerry is making a real effort to unite the country behind him. And the positive campaign he is running is the start.

[WMliberal]

2. sure he can

and his poll numbers will go up. negative ads are proven to work. and he can do so without stretching the truth or "throwing slime." THAT will distinguish his campaigning from the GOP's tactics

[Erika]

3. Kerry Should Just State The Facts

The country is sinking under Bush's lack of leadership.

[WMliberal]

4. exactly

the facts, in bush's case, are overwhelmingly negative.

[rocktivity]

11. Right--Kerry doesn't have to go negative, just factual

As Randi Rhodes said just this afternoon, the way to win a game is to play offense AND defense. He's doing a great job reaching his base because he IS being positive about the future he can give us. But he has to start kicking ass with the mainstream media, because that where the undecideds are. And he doesn't have to have to "go negative" to defend himself against Bush--just factual. If he'd said something like "This is nothing but a politically orchestrated attempt to divert attention away from Mr. Bush's military record," the Smear Boaters would have beached within a week.

:headbang:
rocknation

[PretzelWarrior]

12. yeah. why don't they say more things like this?

why can't we get MTV covering Kerry with mike and camera on all his campaign stops, etc?

He just needs a larger megaphone. Maybe NYPD will loan him one.

[PretzelWarrior]

5. well, we have a definite difference of opinion on "going negative"

I'm talking....he doesn't need to mention Harken Energy or Bush's brothers' dealings or Carlyle Group or rumor of an affair with his personal jockey or any of that.

Clearly stating what your opponent's record while in office is fair game. (I mean, no one needs to spin the results negatively).

Plus, in 2000 not enough time was spent showing voters analysis of what Bush's time in Texas statehouse really got the state. If they talk about how his failed education policies, failed child healthcare policies, whoring for big business and other nondecisions wrought on the great state of Texas...it would bring home one point that is clear:

911 should not be put into the equation. The direction of TX is similar arc to the direction of this country under Bush and though tragic, 911 is not a good enough catch all excuse for why economy still stinks, why they can infringe on constitutional rights, and why they can frontally rape an unarmed country in their preemptive attack.

Kerry can and will do all of that while holding out hope that Americans are better than that and that these people must GO if our country is truly going to heal from divisiveness and tragedy.

Bush is the problem. Subtract Bush..big part of problem goes away. It's simple math. And he can do it with his own positive message.

[AndyTiedye]

8. Going Negative Only Works When Republicans Do It...

...because they have this great echo chamber called the media.

[WMliberal]

9. no, it works when almost anyone does it.

the only negative side effect is increased voter discontent with the electoral process.

[Julien Sorel]

6. I've already made this argument here several times.

Unfortunately, there are those who seem to believe A) Bush is stupid, but B) the Kerry campaign should do whatever the Bush campaign does, or else Kerry is going the way of Dukakis. So Kerry should only try running a campaign with positive themes after Bush does; however, if Bush runs an entirely negative campaign, Kerry must follow suit. How people can consider Bush an imbecile, yet demand that Kerry apishly follow his lead is a mystery I'll leave to someone else to solve.

One thing is certain: if Kerry doesn't win, the din of the "I told you sos" on this board will be deafening, no matter what he does. If he runs the most negative campaign in history from here on out, the line will be he should have done it sooner (with what money?), or louder, or he should have attacked Bush on this issue or that issue, or he shouldn't have defended here, but he should have defended there, and so on and so on and so on. If he runs a campaign both positive and negative, he'll be running a "Dukakis-style" campaign, this from people who clearly have no idea what a "Dukakis-style" campaign was. Ah, how nice it is, to be on the sidelines.

[PretzelWarrior]

7. well, good points. key for Kerry is how much he's won.

of course, I realize he lost very early but he really has been a political winner for years and years and years.

He looks the part. Never underestimate that. He speaks well. THere are people who will disagree with his choices as a young man, but they will respect that he volunteered and that when he came back he was togethr enough as a human to speak out about what he saw as morally wrong.

Little chickensh!t george never saw an alley he wouldn't duck down rather than face hard work or adversity.

The man is a walking icon to the shallowness, ineptness, and lack of morals in our country.

[Guaranteed]

10. If Kerry wants to go negative, Bush has given him a great

opportunity.

We don't have to let this go. We can talk about how Bush is a man who has a habit of smearing Vietnam War heroes, that he has an inferiority complex. And we'd be totally right in saying it.

[A_Possum]

13. Little danger of interest in this election being driven to record lows

It's gonna be a record high, no matter what happens from here out.