NYT, pg1: Echoes of a 1972 Loss Haunt (Kerry) 2004 Campaign

[DeepModem Mom]

JOHN KERRY'S JOURNEY
Echoes of a 1972 Loss Haunt a 2004 Campaign

By TODD S. PURDUM
Published: September 24, 2004


BOSTON - It was the campaign that seemed to have everything. A rented mainframe computer and a sophisticated telephone voter list when typewriters and index cards were still common. A legion of eager volunteers, including a bike-riding boarding school student named Caroline Kennedy. Plenty of cash, celebrity supporters and a compelling first-time candidate: John Kerry.

But in the end, the 1972 Democratic campaign for Congress in the Fifth District of Massachusetts, stretching from the gritty old mill towns of Lawrence and Lowell to the upscale suburbs of Lexington and Concord, lacked one big thing: voters. Mr. Kerry lost to his Republican opponent in a district George McGovern carried, after a bitter battle in which his antiwar protests were attacked, his patriotism was questioned and he himself was derided as an elitist careerist. His political future seemed shattered before it began....

***

Thirty-two years later, Mr. Kerry is once again surrounded by many of the loyalists from that first campaign - the only one he has ever lost. He is once again on the defensive over his Vietnam War service and his antiwar record, once again facing a Republican opponent who mocks him as an out-of-touch elitist, once again fighting to fulfill his campaign's early promise.

So what are the lessons Mr. Kerry learned so long ago? To hit back hard when attacked? To bide his time and ration the early passion that made him such an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War and such an eloquent, appealing candidate, but also a target of criticism? Perhaps a bit of both. From that election to this, his career has been marked more by cautious calculation than bold strokes, and to a striking degree, his vulnerabilities then remain his vulnerabilities now....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/politics/campaign/24journey.html?pagewanted=all&position=

[truthisfreedom]

1. let us pray.

8^) Pray that a win this year allows us all an expedient exit from bush's "get my war on" Iraq invasion, pray that we can help our fallen soldiers through their troubles, and heal as a nation. Pray that we can recover from the bush mafia family takeover that has haunted us as a nation for almost 4 years.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Amen. (nt)

[whirlygigspin]

3. Hallelujia

[KansDem]

14. "bush mafia family takeover "

Actually, this takeover has been a couple decades in the making:

1980--Reagan/Bush
1984--Reagan/Bush
1988--Bush/Quayle
1992--Bush/Quayle*
1996
2000--Bush/Cheney
2004--Bush/Cheney

It should be obvious to every American that we are governed by a mob of criminals; a crime family. Al Capone would be green with envy...

________
Although Bush didn't win this year, he was what the Republicans had to offer, or more precisely, what the GOP considered to be its "brightest and best..."

[booksenkatz]

4. The media seems quite content to

thoroughly examine JK's difficulties/life in 1972, to focus on a loss; yet we are forbidden from lifting the veil on that same year in the life of Our Insane Lord.

Liberal media my ass!

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Good point! Same year! (nt)

[goforit]

13. The NYT may loose some business after all.

I am flabber-ghasted that they are looking like
the Radical right Wall Street Journal every day!!!

Hello Fox!!!

[Leilani]

6. Really good article...

Confirms my opinion of Robert Shrum.

[saracat]

8. Good article,?????

The headline is a pip and it's prominently featured. It is focused on a JK loss! Not a good thing even if you may agree with the content.So much for the "liberal media"!

[saracat]

7. Another use of the word "loss" and "campaign"

along with John Kerry.The implication is clear. What is up with the NYTimes constantly insinating an Kerry Loss? They are almost leading the pack in criticism in this all too critical period!

[The Zanti Regent]

9. More GOP lies from the SCREW YORK TIMES

We need a fairness doctrine reinstalled for ALL media!

[leesa]

10. No they don't. Just more whoring for Bush by the NYT

Kerry's doing fine.

[Cocoa]

11. Bush haunted by 1992 loss

he's going to lose the same way Poppy did.

Poppy was completely out of touch on the economy, and Sonny is similarly living in fantasyland, both with the economy and Iraq. "We're making good progress..."

[w4rma]

12. Where is the article on Bush's first campaign loss "haunting" him? (nt)