should kerry use the clinton shift?

[westsidexview]

the williams shift was used on ted williams to keep him from getting hits. williams, a baseball slugger, would have the opposing teams' defensive squad move to the right of the field to stop williams. the same tactic of moving to the right during an election or should i say campaigning to the right during a election was a brilliant clinton tactic. as reagan said,"i can't do a damn thing unless i am elected". should kerry ask some people to move to "the back of the bus" until the election is over? i realize some people's only source of political oxygen is the democratic party but the election depends upon the swing voters. should some keep their heads down and their mouths shut until the election is in the bag?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. horribly misguided

Everyone fails to realize Clinton's tactic worked because he was BILL FUCKING CLINTON! He was a campaigning specimen the likes of which come around only once a generation. He got away with it because of the appeal he himself brought to the table. You win elections by being your own man and by selling your own message, not someone else's. That's called demonstrating leadership qualities and that's what America likes.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Good Idea!! Then the DLC can blame his loss on the left.

You forgot to mention President Gores "shift" to the right in 2000.

Clinton didn't win because he "shifted" to the right. He won because Perot was in the race in '92 and the repugs ran a walking corpse in '96.

But the myth of "winning the middle" continues and Kerry has bought into it.

[MallRat]

3. Sadly, I have to say yes.

It worked for Bush. He energized his base early in the 2000 campaign, and then managed to get the "compassionate conservative" meme so deeply ingrained in the lexicon that picking up the center was easy pickings.

And like Reagan, Kerry can't do a damn thing unless he's elected. If progressives want to see their policies become reality, they need to give Kerry room to maneuver.

We all have to be pragmatic- and if that sounds like ends justifying the means, I'm really sorry, but it's the ugly political reality of America 2004. Short of naming McCain as a running mate (and yes, I draw the line there), Kerry needs to do whatever he can to claim the centrist voter.

-MR