The High Road is paved with losers

[quaoar]

We who spend a lot of time reading and researching and studying the issues can easily see through the bogus numbers, ridiculous arguments and outright lies that make up the Bush campaign.

We post all manner of evidence to show that it's all a bunch of BS -- and it is. But the vast majority of voters don't take the time to check all that out. They see the ads. They listen to their friends, family. They skim the news. That's about it.

In politics, perception is more important than reality.

That's why lies and smears are such effective weapons. It doesn't matter that it's bogus. Doesn't matter what the official record says or what eyewitnesses said. Doesn't matter that it was paid for by Republican sleazeballs. All it has to do is create an impression -- and the more it is repeated, the better chance it has to succeed.

It is quite clear that the Bush campaign will be 24/7 about tearing John Kerry down. It will be scorched earth. And if we spend all our time refuting all the lies, they will win.

That's the Bush game plan -- throw mountains of shit at Kerry and see what sticks. Keep throwing it even when it is debunked. Don't admit anything. Continue to peddle the lies. Then throw out a batch of new lies and keep everybody busy refuting them. Some of the lies might stick -- doesn't take much.

Bill Schneider said on CNN today that Kerry had to get tough yesterday but that he needs to move beyond that and be positive again.
That's the conventional wisdom, for sure. But this is unconventional warfare. Bush isn't abiding by the Marquesse of Queensbury rules. He's a street fighter. All he knows is blunt force. And it's only going to get worse.

The Swift Boat Liars are set to run new ads with former POWs saying Kerry's anti-war stance hurt them while they were captive. It won't matter that John McCain will say it's all bullshit.

That's why Kerry needs to deliver the political equivalent of a 2x4 upside Bush's head. Yesterday was a good start. But it has to be sustained and brutal -- brutal enough for Bush to want a truce.

The High Road is a luxury we do not have. It is paved with losers.

Nice guys finish last. They don't get the girl. They lose the sale. They watch the inauguration on TV.

[Gloria]

1. I agree....

Bush as to be cut off at the knees...........

[Tarheelhombre]

2. The problem is that half of America is filled with redneck dimwits

Who are swayed by simpleton arguments and appeal to prejudice and division.

[cvoogt]

3. Drop some sh*t on shrub from that there high road

Bu$h has been in the gutter for a long time and Kerry has to reach down to his level without totally stooping to his level. The underdog gets held to higher standards than the incumbent ... uninformed people give the WH resident a free pass on so many things just b/c he's the president/commander-in-chief and seems to be very anti-terrah, and to oppose the commander-in-thief would be treason wouldn't it?

But as for the challenger, well now, he has to live up to ludicrous Purple Heart blood-loss expectations and explain why it is that he is in fact thoughtful when he votes. Time for him to roll up his sleeves and deliver some blows. Don't mess with Massachusetts.

[quaoar]

4. Welcome to DU, cvoogt

[jrthin]

5. I have to agree. n/t

[bagnana]

7. I AGREE!

Clinton himself took the high road against his opponents, but his team took no prisoners. He won. I think it's fine that Kerry has come out swinging but even more importantly Kerry's team has got to go on the offensive, big time.

[jonnyblitz]

6. and you people who trash protesters because

they "make us look bad" SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! :puke:

[sangh0]

9. How ironic!!

A protestor telling someone else to STFU.

I thought protesting had something to do with Free Speech

:shrug:

[sangh0]

8. Please name one "sustained and brutal" attack by Clinton

IIRC, he was NOT a loser, and he was attacked, so I'm sure you'll have no trouble describing how he brutally attacked GHWBush

[depakid]

12. Clinton's campaigns weren't even comperable

His first campaign was a three was race and perot was out there trashing Bush 1 harder than Clinton ever could. The second campaign was against an obvious loser who wasn't going anywhere and everyone knew it-there was no reason to attack.

This campaign is much more like the Gore and especially the Dukakis campaign. And Kerry is going to lose it if he continues to follow the "conventional wisom" of people like Tad Devine as opposed to tactics like this poster (and many others) have suggested.

[BillZBubb]

15. This is exactly the right point.

The Bush*s have one strategy and it has worked for them in many primaries, and 2 of 3 presidential races, and now has them leading in a 4th. They have only one objective: WIN AT ANY COST. They know their method works. Without Perot, Bush I probably would have eked out a win, too.

They totally dismember their opponent. They know the public claims to dislike negativity--but they remember and vote on the negative information. They also know the public soon forgets that the candidate was a negative lying asshole.

It also plays into their meme of strength. They are fighters, they'll go all the way if need be. Those other guys are wimps, losers. Democrats still don't get how well this plays in the South.

We are reliving the Dukakis campaign right now. Deja Vu sucks.

[depakid]

16. Consultants and focus groups- they kill us every time

Listening to focus groups (who put on their best faces in public) is very different than real life- where people- especially so called swing voters- make political decisions based on visceral emotions and repetitive memes. Just because Goebbels was evil doesn't mean he wasn't right. Time to take a few pages from his playbook.

[quaoar]

18. As the other posters said

Clinton didn't need it. Dukakis and Gore did. They lost because they failed to respond adequately. They let the Bush family define them.

[MrBenchley]

10. If you want the low road, there's folks stumbling all over it

as we speak...

But ultimately this stuff is about character...

"If the enemy is an ass and a fool and a prating
coxcomb, is it meet, think you, that we should also,
look you, be an ass and a fool and a prating
coxcomb?"

Henry V, Act 4, Scene 1

[mazzarro]

11. I concur totally with you!

Playing nice in this contest was what has shot down the democratic party in all elections. This is no time to be nice any longer. I will suggest that Kerry get rid of the DLC experts and instead bring in the rough and tumble fighters like Carville. Keery need not take prisoners in thsi fight; he should let them have it anyhow, anyway, all the time till this fight is over!

[mzmolly]

13. That's exactly right.

:(

[sampsonblk]

14. Pointing out the damage Bush has done is the HIGH road

I don't consider it low at all. But right now, Kerry isn't pressing Bush's faults hard enough. "Mislead" us into war isn't getting it done.

He should make fun of Bush, like the Bush people make fun of him.

[AP]

17. Maybe saying that the other guy's taking the low road is what someone

on the low road says to get votes?

Kerry and Edwards have showed an intensity that you don't find among losers.