Kerry needs to go back to his Mekong Delta strategy

[quaoar]

When Kerry was skipper of his swift boat, dodging VC ambushes, he came up with a new approach to handling it. He advocated turning and confronting the enemy fire head on and firing back for all they were worth. That worked a lot better than fleeing up the river, going ashore and then doubling back to find the VC already gone.

So why isn't he doing that now? Why isn't it a good strategy to turn into the incoming fire of the Bush hate machine?

Right now he is letting Bush make the rules for the debate. The entire election debate swirls around a pack of Nixon-esque liars. Yes, he is doing a good job of showing the Liars to be liars, but he's on the defensive. He's responding to Bush. Bush should be responding to him.

The best defense is a good offense.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

1. He's takin it to Charley in Crawford

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/422708|top|08-25-2004::02:14|reuters.html

[olddem43]

2. Not only Nixon-esque liars, but in one case at least,

an actual Nixon liar, Patrick Buchanan.

[no name no slogan]

3. EXACTLY. He's letting Shrub dictate the terms

Instead of hammering, over and over, on Shrub's crap record on everything from the economy, the war, the environment, etc., he's busy beating back the BushBots-- using THEIR language, THEIR talking points, etc.

Just look at what it leads to: more bickering about irrelevant issues, more voter tune-out (because nobody's talking about issues anymore), greater voter apathy, and yet more proof that "all politicians are exactly the same", no matter what party they're in.

And that is EXACTLY what the powers-that-be want.

They WANT an electorate who is unengaged and apathetic about politics. It makes it easier for them to re-elect the same gang of rats who've sold us out, repeatedly, on the war, universal health care, "free trade", the environment, and everything else.

The more we feed into this beast, the more damage we do to not only our cause, but to democracy as a whole. Each time we get in the gutter, more and more voters tune out. Each time we talk about Vietnam, we aren't talking about the disaster in Iraq. Each time we talk about the events of 35 years ago, we no longer talk about the concerns of TODAY.

Quite frankly, most voters honestly don't give a fsck about what happened in the Mekong delta 35 years ago, or in the Texas Air Guard 33 years ago. They care about whether they'll have a job next week, affordable health care, or whether their loved one in the Reserves will go to Iraq next month.

DON'T play the media's games. When you do, you lose, and they win-- plain and simple.

[lancdem]

6. Kerry has made that point forcefully

the past few days - that Bush is running a negative campaign because he has no record to run on.

[MallRat]

4. Check this morning's news. The counterattack has begun in full force.

n/t

[lancdem]

5. I think he is beginning to do just that

Bush is now starting to be on the defensive, too. I believe Kerry is building up his attacks on Bush as the convention approaches for a reason.

[louis-t]

7. "showing the Liars to be liars"

Anyone see the clip last night with O'Neill talking to Nixon and saying HE had been in Cambodia? Now he's claiming he and Kerry were never in Cambodia. If only the general public's eyes would not glaze over when they see this stuff. I hope that clip gets plenty of airplay.

[Cocoa]

8. give something specific

this sounds like a demand that is designed so that it can't possibly be met, because you keep your definition of "fighting back" secret.

Show your hand, be specific in your demand.

[quaoar]

9. What is needed

Is to choose and issue that Bush can be hammered on (lots to choose from) that has resonance with the public and -- most importantly -- that has staying power. It needs to be something that sucks all the oxygen out of the room and dominates the headlines for a week.

[Cocoa]

10. why keep it secret?

choose ONE from the "lots of issues."

And tell us, which issue, and what should he do. Specifically, what should he do.

[quaoar]

11. To amplify

The media hunts in a pack, sort of like hyenas. None of the hyenas really wants to be the first one to bite the antelope's leg and risk getting gored. So they either wait for a brave hyena to step forward, or they find some wounded prey. And if they don't have any new prey, they will continue to gnaw the bones of last week's kill.

And I say all this, BTW, as a member of the media.

You don't want to wait for a brave hyena to step forward. You need to wound the prey. And it is better if Kerry doesn't do it himself. That's what surrogates are for.

But I don't think it should be a Bush-in-the-Guard issue. The public knows all about that already. What is there left to say? Hammering that at this point is overkill. And, it risks turning off those veterans who feel the Swift Boat ads have cheapened their own medals.

[quaoar]

12. No secret

Here's one possibility:

How about firing a shot over Cheney's bow? How about someone calling for a grand jury to be convened over the bribes Haliburton paid to the Nigerian government in that oil deal?