Media Will Soon Blame Kerry

[snyder]

Mark my words, once Kerry has this turned around the media is going to blame him for "prolonging it." They will proclaim that they're tired of the whole thing and that no one wants to hear about the Republican smear machine. Kerry's campaign is going to have to be agile, which I increasingly doubt their ability to be. When the media decides they've heard enough of the SBVT, the Kerry campaign has to be ready to morph the issue into one of integrity and ethics.

This smear still hasn't hurt Bush. All it's done is to force Kerry to defend himself and make up lost ground. Kerry has been prevented from going on the attack. He's been put into a reactive mode. If I were Kerry I'd be jumping all over Bush's lines during his convention. He's got to toss out the usual etiquette and extract a hefty price for what Bush did.

[sui generis]

1. fuck the media

it ain't about them

[Southsideirish]

4. They run the whole show. People don't realize how powerful

they are. Look what they did to Howard Dean - last summer they were entranced by him - then they got bored and ruined him. They are monsters.

[snyder]

8. Yes it is ...

... "about them." They're the gatekeepers. They decide what people know. You can bet your ass it's about the media. The Republicans know it, but the Democrats seem to think they can glide above the fray. Horseshit!

[PROGRESSIVE1]

16. Bingo!!! Democrats need their VERY OWN Newscorp!

We need an echo chamber. It is not my job to be objective, but to promote our Ideals!

[fob]

35. Screw Newscorp, Bring on MaxCleCam and webcast it!!

[sui generis]

28. yeah yeah yeah

idealist, meet realist, realist, idealist.

Of course you are right - and I agree that the media will suddenly decide that Kerry has "overplayed" this, so we have to make our points before that happens, and more importantly, we need to have too many more things for the media to comment on for the media to dedicate more than a word and half to this.

[democrat_patriot]

42. Doesn't matter.

They 'form' opinions for 80% of this country.

[Sparkly]

2. Nah, I think it's Bush* who's on the defensive now, and prolonging it

by not denouncing attacks on the Navy's own credibility regarding its awards, its records, and its veterans.

[Carla in Ca]

31. When is this going to be over?

Of the four candidates, the one who actually served is getting all the attention. I think Bush is getting a good laugh from all of this. No one is turning this energy to his LACK of service. I just can't believe it!

[Cocoa]

3. they'll say Kerry had it coming

by dressing so sexy.

[CatWoman]

17. LOL

Kerry: "I'm too sexy for my hair"

[Trajan]

5. More of the same handwringing ....

Grow a backbone, sir ....

You are simply wrong .... Kerry is getting GREAT mileage: you recommend a 'turn-your-tail-and-run' approach .... FUCK that ..

The Era of the Pink Tutu Democrat is OVER ! ...

OVER ! ....

[snyder]

38. I'm Not Telling ...

... anyone to "turn tail." Not by a long shot. I'm telling them to stay in the ring and fight like hell, but to anticipate where the next punch is going to come from and get there first. Kerry's campaign has been notably bad at this so far. No matter what happens with the Swiftliars, it can't escape notice that Kerry has been following someone else's lead.

Kerry's campaign has to seize the initiative. If they let Bush and his surrogates write the scripts, one of those scripts will work. Meantime, I see no evidence that Bush has paid any price for the Swiftliars.

[funkybutt]

6. they already did...here's the link

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/25/wed/index.html

and welcome to the DU!! :)

[2Design]

7. actually it has shown that kerry is a much better leader than BushCo

could even dream of being. Kerry has taken the fight to the source of the sewage which is BushCo at Crawford. The stench in Crawford right now is a lot, I could understand the media not wanting to be around stench.

[West Coast Democrat]

9. Is this the Sean Hannity spin?

[Trajan]

19. It is the FedEx "WE'RE DOOMED" spin .....

[mfritz]

10. They've already started

One of the reporters asked Max Cleland today something like:

Yesterday in his speech Kerry said it was time to move on, today he sent you here to talk about it. Does Kerry want to have it both ways?

In my opinion the fact the Kerry wants to keep focused on this while Bush wants to move on to the next attack shows that Kerry is now winning on this issue. He should keep the focus here a while longer because they case against the smears is so good that it will cast doubt on all future Bush attacks.

Without the attacks Bush has nothing. How can he have a credible agenda for a second term when he controlled the House and Senate in his first term. If he has a good idea, why wasn't it already passed?

[rocktivity]

11. But by blaming Kerry, are they not blamining themselves?

THEY'RE the ones who took the Smear-Boaters seriously when they should have backed off the second it became clear that they COULDN'T back up their claims. Now that Bush people are resigning left and right (if you'll pardon the expression), and naval records have virtually vindicated Kerry, they think he should move on? Who do they think they're fooling? This is about THEM, not Kerry!

:headbang:
rocknation

[snyder]

37. I'm Telling You ...

... within a day or two the media will be going after Kerry for continuing to talk about it. Kerry's people have to be prepared for this.

[LynnTheDem]

12. Not true

bush has DROPPED in polls because of his Swift Boat Liars front.

[louis c]

13. I think

it is going to be difficult for the Rpugs in NY to go negative against Kerry, now.

If people are sick of this, how can they continue any negative bull-shit at the convention?

If they have to talk about Bush's accomplishments, past or present, it will be pretty boring stuff.

[seabeyond]

14. the line......does kerry want this to end

i am hearing it everytime now it comes up. stock answer

we stop when the ads stop

we wont allow this attack quietly. ball in your court

[snyder]

25. I Disagree

To say "We stop when the ads stop" is giving the other side control of the issue. We stop when we're good and ready to stop.

[Tomee450]

34. Exactly!

The Kerry spokesmen should ask the media person why his organization continues to give coverage to people who have been proven to be liars. If the coverage continues, the Kerry campaign must respond. The cable news stations bear much of the responsibility for the spreading of this smear.

[mzmolly]

15. Your right to an extent, but Bush is now on defense.

:hi:

I'd say the campaign is proving quite agile.

Edited for spelling - sheesh!

[snyder]

26. Agile? I'm Not Convinced

I think Kerry's campaign got caught napping.

[mzmolly]

32. Democrat? I'm not convinced. I think Bush got caught lying.

Welcome to DU ;)

[snyder]

36. You Think ...

... that I am not a Democrat?!

[trogdor]

43. It doesn't matter...

...not to me. If you want to pitch in and get rid of Crawford's village idiot, that's cool. I don't care on which side of the fence you pitch your tent. Lots of moderate Republicans would like to see control of their party wrested from the extreme right, just as we would.

[kwolf68]

18. Yes they will

But everytime I turned on the TV there the story was.

What was JK to do? Just let the idiot media do their circle jerk without a proper response?

If you attack Kerry you are in a fight...this is what the Repukes hate. They are only confortable from the cushy side of a TV show where they outnumber Democrats 3 to 1, or have a radio show where they can censor, shout down opponents.

Kerry isn't that easy. Kerry is a fighter and is going to take this fight right to their slimy asses.

I was SICK SICK SICK in 2002 when we got beat in the Senate...NOT becuase our candidates weren't good people (they were the best), but because I didnt think we had FOUGHT hard enough.

The only thing that makes a Democrat sicker than losing is LOSING without standing up for yourself. John Kerry is bringing that pride back to our side. Win, lose, or draw...he is showing us how to beat these corrupt, corporate, fascist whores.

[DemWitch]

20. one word... WRONG

I think Kerry has played this like a fine tuned instrument. Say nothing, act casual, and wait until Shrubya Inc has enough rope to hang itself, and then yank that bad boy.

EVEN IF Bush had nothing to do with these ads (fat chance), there is enough circumstantial evidence out there to give the appearance of it, and that coupled with Bush's never apologize, never do wrong, ever attitude played right into it. Now Bush is the one one the firing line. Kerry can walk away, focus on the issues and Shrubya Inc has to do a lot of mopping up.

Bush's refusal to meet with Cleland created the perfect storm. He disrespected a honored wounded vet, which caused that vet to go on the offensive, saying what everyone has been thinking, putting Shrubya on a major defense. Perfect.

Hasta La Vista, George... you'll be able to spend a lot more time at your cherished ranch come November...

[Julien Sorel]

21. We're doomed!

Or not. Kerry doesn't have the power to prolong anything. The media created the whole situation, and will kill it once something better comes along. They are already in the process of killing it, with the AP running a prominent story using Navy records and the conflicting statements of the Swift Hoaxers to make them look like liars.

In the meantime, this month Bush has spent 25+ million dollars on negative ads that were drowned by the the Swift Hoaxers. Unless something changes, this was a win for the Kerry camp, and now Bush is vaguely associated with dirty campaigning in the public's mind, which means his future negative ads could be viewed more skeptically.

[Dawgs]

22. I agree...

This is working. Let's let him finish it. This may already be enough.

Kerry looks more and more like the stronger man. Bush is looking like a coward who sit's and hides while on vacation.

Once the debates start, Kerry will look like the better man. At that point he can stress all of the other issues that Bush can't defend.

[patcox2]

23. Grown up attitude is to know your enemy and adopt appropriate strategy.

A political campaign's goal is to "play" the media, to control the coverage. You never do something and just hope and pray for the right response from the media. Hoepfully, you make your strategy decisions based on your calculations as to how the media will play your actions.

The media knows this, they resent it a bit, and thats probably part of the reason why they don't cover substance in campaigns as much as they cover the strategies.

I don't think there is anything positive for anybody in a "strategy" story. Any headline or intro that starts with a comment about strategy just makes the politician in question look like a cynical manipulator. but I digress.

The skill of the Kerry campaign and the success of this strategy will be shown by how the media reports it. If it turns into a "Dukakis in the tank" story, thats not the media's fault, its the Kerry campaign's fault for not seeing that outcome. Their job is to know the media, to know how they will report a story, and to make sure it goes their way.

This is a publicity stunt, remember that, Kerry is doing this with the intent of creating a news story. If its a negative story, he can't blame the media, after all, there would have been no story if he hadn't set it in motion.

I am not criticizing Kerry at all, by the way. What he is doing is risky, but I hope it works. I am just suggesting that pre-emptively blaming the media kinda oversimplifies things.

Its interesting that Bush hates the media more than we do. When you are so feeling sorry for yourself about the biased media, remember that.

[ibegurpard]

24. Bah. I agree with your assessment of what they need to do

but I completely disagree that they're not equipped to do so. How can you possibly think that they aren't aware of the pitfalls here? It's the Bush campaign that is wanting to change the subject now... they know that the more attention is paid to this, the more it will fall apart and tarnish them in the process.

[Kimber Scott]

27. CNN making fun of campaigns "passing notes."

nt

[speedoo]

29. Kerry has an answer ready.

1. I gave a speech in Ny on Tuesday about policy. It got almost no coverage.

2. The media gave the Swiftliars enormous coverage before checking the veracity of their claims. We warned you about them, but you did not listen so we have to take the fight to them ourselves.

[CatWoman]

30. YAH FUCKING HOO!!!!!!!!!

KER-RY!!

KER-RY!!

KER-RY!!

KER-RY!!

[mzmolly]

33. Good answer! Please post it in my media preparation thread.

:hi:

[Generator]

39. Well my answer is Kerry is not going to back down until

He wins. Yes wins. That means these ads will be taken off the air. Keep up the heat Kery. Ultimately, Bush is a coward and a bully. If you keep at them, they back down. It is not in their nature to win. They have no courage.

There is a bigger point to all of it. Honor. To not let a lie stand as a lie. No more. There is no more of letting the lies pass as acceptable. This is the very heart of the entire Bushco Misadminstration of bullies. Lie and lie and then lie some more, change the words to make it look like you didn't lie.

No retreat, no surrender.

[lancdem]

40. I'm with you

Kerry is keeping this alive for a reason - to put Bush on the defensive going into the RNC. And it's only going to get worse for Chimpy.

[Terran]

41. CNN this AM did just that

Instead of the usual repub spokeman, Cliff something, they had a grinning house Negro on talking about how Kerry is the one who has "prolonged" the whole SBV controversey.

(apologies for the use of "Negro" but this man was really horrible, and deserves no better, IMO)

[NoBorders]

44. I have the impression Kerry is in the driver's seat now

My guess is that his campaign has shifted strategies now and they are hitting the throttle--it's close enough to the RNC that the finance imbalance will soon be moot and he no longer needs to keep his powder dry.

He's thought this whole thing through, knew what was coming, and was waiting for the right time to take the initiative in the campaign. Perhaps the SBV precipitated this sooner than he'd planned, but nonetheless I think his campagin was ready to go against the Rove smear machine.

I suspect that Kerry has over 20 years of pent-up frustration at the RW machine and he will do everything he can to not let them take him down the way they planned to.

That's what my instinct tells me anyway...

[donkeyotay]

45. Yep, they've already started

First, the whores boosted the budget on Smear Boat by hyping it endlessly.

Then, they started with "don't they both do it?" and "shouldn't we LOOK TO THE FUTURE?" in accord with the dimson's campaign meme since they don't want to run on THEIR record.

Now they will blame Kerry when he tries to answer the 2+ weeks of free smear. Now that people have uncovered things like French's fraudulent affidavit, they say, "shouldn't we change the subject?"

This is a redux of 2000, and Kerry is getting Gored. They're just getting started.