Reply #9: Interesting comments

[karynnj]

I agree with you on the religious part - I really thought that was Kerry's worst attempt - worse even than the very early one I heard in Morristown - but it's clear that it's still in flux. (It's fascinating to me to see these things change in this early period. I do wonder about the Luntz comment in his preface that this should be left to the general election.)

Like you, I doubt Kerry would run in 2008 on criticizing Bush - that's just dumb. Even in 2004, running against Bush, Kerry concentrated far more on vision. Luntz chose the clips - his results would have been different if he took a segment of Kids' First. Also, it was interesting that Biden's comment on having an international effort to confront terrorism was extremely positive. This was what the Republican mocked Kerry for. This may be another Kerry was right issue in disguise. I would guess that a similar Kerry segment (from his 2004 terrorism speech) would have scored as well and thanks to the RW people know this Kerry position.

Kerry's support of the Line item veto plus his long ago support for Gramm Ruddman really may tie together on the deficit/fiscal responsibility issue. This will be an issue where he can generalize what is broken beyond Bush and push fixing it.

His comment on Kerry being good at bashing Bush is very humorous. Here, the accepted truth is that Kerry didn't fight back and that we need someone who will stand up more to the Republicans. I don't think either are the truth. Kerry is not an attack dog, nor has he ever wanted to be, nor is he the weakling that the LW lunatics suggest. If the Democrats are looking for a solid, smart "father" who still has ideas on how to repair our relations abroad and fix things her, Kerry may fit best. Luntz ignores Kerry's stated goal to keep identifying alternatives to Bush policy. What if Luntz showed the part of the Brown speech that Oliphant described in his column "Kerry's Roads Not Taken":

"As John Kerry had the temerity to say this week in Rhode Island: ''Today more than ever, when the path taken last year and four years earlier takes us into a wilderness of missed opportunities, we need to keep defining the critical choices over and over, offering a direction not taken but still open in the future."

This is 100% in sync with Luntz'a observation that people want to hear solutions.