W's only ace with women is fear. Can Kerry get us beyond fear?

[splat]

It's the key -- show us a plan to bring the world together. Introduce the respected advisors (hints about his cabinet) who have worked on this plan. Include internationalists who have put out feelers asking what's possible.

Yes, the pissing match will go on, but it does come down to whether the country is going in the right direction, and we're waiting to hear the alternative to where Bush has us. It's time for Kerry to show us the direction he'll take the country in, with seriousness and a coalition of the peaceful to back him up.

Him talking about getting us out of Iraq is cheerful. But how's he gonna flip the terrorists? Tell us the plan, man. Lead.

[sandnsea]

1. Lead, I agree

Best thing I've seen anybody post in a long time. I'm tired of all this spitting match campaigning. Kerry just needs to "act as if". Lead. We want to go somewhere better than where George Bush has taken us. Kerry just needs to start taking us there.

[Hekate]

2. I like it

I'm heartily sick of the Bush regime's fear-mongering, in addition to everything else they do. I know there are position papers galore at the campaign HQ, but there must be an abbreviated form he and Edwards can use.

Here's something I would like to hear: No more color coded alerts. Realistic funds to vulnerable states for realistic things -- NY never did get the money promised to them, it ended up being far less per person than Wyoming; Oregon has almost no one left to patrol their shores, because they're all called up to Iraq; states have been allowed to spend homeland security money on non-related projects; and if there's a government sponsored civil defense program civilians could volunteer for in my state I haven't heard about it.

That last one bugs me, because in WW II there were defined activities for people on the home front -- it was not only a sensible way of planning for community response to a possible attack (didn't happen here, but it could have) but it gave people a sense of shared purpose and shared sacrifice. I may not have been born then, but hearing and reading about it was definitely part of my childhood.

What did we get after 9-11? We were first told to go shopping to prove our patriotism, and subsequently we were told over and over and over to be afraid. There was nothing terribly coherent -- and lately we have not heard from Tom Ridge, not even at the RNC.

There's a ton more, but that would be a start.

Hekate

[NightOwwl]

4. And no more

POLITICALLY MOTIVATED TERROR ALERTS!

Remember the brand new threat coincidentally occurring just 2 days after the DNC? No? Well, apparently neither does Ridge, or Ashcroft, or Bush or the media. Sure, they outed an Al Qaeda double-agent, spent millions of taxpayers money upping unnecessary security, and scared people who don't know any better. But so what, Bush needed a bounce.

I want them called on this bullshit. I want Kerry to promise there will never be a terror alert unless we are in absolute danger. You know the old saying, actions speak louder than words. If Kerry is doing his job, I don't need to hear about it. I trust him to do what needs to be done.

[EST]

3. Okay, guys, this has been done!

Take the time to listen to (like tonight) one of W's speeches and follow up with Kerry's. You will find that you are right about W-he says fear, danger, fear ,fear, John Kerry, fear, danger, flip-flop, danger John Kerry. Then ends with an acknowledgment that every thing has gone to shit, but, iffn' y'all reelect me I'll fix it all by doing nothin' different.
A careful run through of JK's speech-at least the recent ones, not the hello I'm John Kerry introductory ones-will show symptom,fix-symptom,fix-symptom,fix. W sucks-I'll be different, I promise, and then back to symptom,fix. It really is there. Also 'ol W has fucked up so terribly much, I'm convinced he simply can't put it all, in detail, in one speech.

Second point. It seems that every day brings a new revelation of something else this outfit has dorked up, so I expect it will take a series of developing talks to get the full picture, and some details are, of necessity, going to be scanty or blurry until he actually gets in there and is able to take a full inventory and assess the damage.

Lastly, for the wavering. Congressman- uh, dammit I can't think of his name right now, put it very well. He said this is a three step program:
One-select the best, most liberal/progressive/whatever ELECTABLE candidate you have available---done
Two-Work your ass off, contribute every shekel, every minute, every ounce of effort you can afford and get him elected---in process
Three-Make him better
This looks like the winning combination for getting the qualities you want and the values you need in a leader for the next phase of American history.

[splat]

5. It's not merely a debate

If it had been done, I wouldn't have written that post. It's not that we aren't paying attention.

Kerry said in Racine, W.Va., that W is wrong, that he's cost you jobs, etc. but it's reactive. Anybody can criticize, but can you replace him with an effective, workable plan that will keep our children safe?

He needs to spend more time on mature, consistent, confident, overarching vision of how America can/should/will be, specifics on how he's gonna turn things around: If you elect me I will convene a meeting of the world's leaders on terrorism, show every coffin, count the cost of this war in soldiers' lives, use the National Guard at home, not for foreign wars. Change brutal foreign policies that justify terrorism is the minds of those affected by it. Stop jailing people at great expense for minor drug offenses, spending our taxes on $200 an hour Halliburton drivers and leaving the cities to cope with few federal dollars.

Don't permit Social Security taxes to be diverted into investments that enrich CEOs and give the investor all the risk. Don't reward companies that cut their quality and payrolls to the bone to look good for Wall Street. ...offer every American an opportunity to be a Volunteer for America -- local meetings to address local problems, local community service earns a tax credit, strengthen the Peace Corps abroad, establish a Geek Corps to close the digital divide. Reward those who make society better, not those who personally benefit from others' misery.

The details can be his, but the plan needs to be a whole system that shifts our emphasis from foreign wars of "liberation" to shoring up the damage done to America by W.

Yeah, that blunt. We need a strong leader who'll tell the SBVTs to go to hell, and W to go back to Crawford, so we can get back the American Dream.

[EST]

6. Yeah-wonderful!

I do hope the DNC reads what you write. I certainly admire it!
on edit-I forgot to add: AMEN!

[SensibleMajority]

7. Building a society

This is my first post. I really like this thread, it sounds like something that should get to those running the campaign.

Since I'm new, is there any way to send this to the DNC? (Forgive me if everybody else knows the answer.)

One thing I'd like to add: More clinics instead of having to go to emergency rooms for everything. When I was in college, the infirmary was a great idea for minor ailments. Every neighborhood should have one.

How about a Medical Service that will help doctors pay for school if they serve in a neighborhood for a few years?

[NightOwwl]

8. Here's the contact info for KerryEdwards:

http://www.johnkerry.com/index.html

On the bottom left side of the menu there is a "contact us" link, with phone numbers to the national and local campaigns.

And here is their email address:

http://www.johnkerry.com/contact/contact.php

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[EST]

9. Yeah welcome!

n/t

[splat]

10. What do you want?

Thanks for the good responses.

I thought the campaign might have (at least) interns skimming here, too.

Anything else anybody want to add to the proposal/plan/laundry list? That was off the top of my head, the heat of the moment, but there's room for more before we bang on the door.

[kentuck]

11. I would run an ad of FDR....

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

America is too great of a country to live in fear. Vote for courage.
Vote for John Kerry.

[auburngrad82]

12. I would be MORE afraid of the possiblity of an attack under *

Right now every terrorist has a photo of * hanging on their wall. He's a convenient target and the man they love to hate. If we get Kerry into office we at least have a chance of reconciling differences with the rest of the world and maybe take away some of the reasons terrorists love to hate us.

As long as Bush is in office we are targets.

[SensibleMajority]

13. passed it on

Thanks for the Welcome, folks.

I did paste this url and some of the thread into the form at the Kerry website, but it's hard to imagine they'd read it or pass it on to the decision makers.