OK Kerry, the time to get tough is NOW!!

[Ruffhowse]

I'm tired of slumping in the polls. There's not that much time left. I keep seeing Kerry sort of plodding along like there's no urgency. Meanwhile, Bush seems energized on the stump and his attacks on Kerry seem to have more bite. Kerry REALLY needs to get more aggressive in attacking Bush. Now, I'm not one who appreciates the politics of character assassination, but to win these days, you've got give out as good as you get. And I have to admit Bush is really good at character assassination. Kerry tries to get his digs in and they just seem to fall to the ground like lumps of clay. He should immediately sharpen his attacks on Bush, and I think the best avenue to pursue is Bush's honesty. Kerry HAS to permanently tag Bush as a LIAR in the minds of the voters. So far, I think being that blunt has been rejected by the Kerry campaign as too negative. They prefer the softer approach of "mislead". Well, I tell ya folks, we ain't gonna win this by the softer approach. Kerry should be calling Bush a liar EVERY day until election day. There are SO many examples he can cite, that I won't go into any here, but the most important thing is to show the voters that Kerry is TOUGH ENOUGH to go to the mat with Bush and out-wrestle him, even if it IS mud wrestling. Bush has defined this arena, we gotta show we can play in it too. Unfortunately, this is what the voters respond to. So FORGET your damn focus groups, Kerry campaign, and start getting mean, or you will lose, it's as simple as that.

[cthrumatrix]

1. eeeze up...... the polls are tools & misleading... the past PROVES that

[Teaser]

2. Please read Late Breaking News...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x826479

Kerry is getting tough and calling Bush a liar, OK?

All this "advice" for the Kerry campaign is tiring.

[Ruffhowse]

4. I'm sorry but in that quote I don't see the word liar anywhere. Terms

like "question his honesty", and "we've been misled" are just what I'm talking about. Kerry has to say it in plain English and use the L word......LIAR! That's where you see Bush work so well on the current playing field. He knows how to punch out a character assassination barb in plain English and make it stick. His stump speech is filled with that kind of stuff. Kerry gets stuck with being to cerebral, which might sound great for the intellectuals among us, but I've got news for ya, there are WAY more people who just automatically tune that level of discourse out. I mean come on, these are people who like Professional Wrestling and NA SCAR racing. We need to get tougher.

[Upfront]

3. I Agree

I am not sure Kerry wants to win. We may have the wrong candidate, at the wrong time, and the wrong place. His statement that he would still go to war knowing what we know now, was as stupid as Mondale saying he would raise your taxes. You know what happened to Mondale.

[shawcomm]

5. It didn't help that he said he would raise taxes too...

Because we all know the repubs aren't going to repeat any of his 'nuance' as they like to besmear, they'll just say he wants to raise taxes.

Another bad idea was to go out and complain about the AWB expiring. Keep to the economic issues.

I don't think we need to hide honest criticism of where we think the campaign is going wrong. We need to win, not lose while trying not to hurt anyone's feelings.

[liberal_in_GA]

8. He did not say he would raise taxes!

I believe he said he would eliminate the tax cuts for those making $200 K a year and above--in other words, the people benefitting from the Bush plan. He would keep cuts for middle- class Americans.

As for the war, I don't see how it is so hard to understand that Kerry HAD to say he would have still gone to Iraq. We have troops there dying every day. A prospective commander-in-chief can't assume office having said he doesn't support the action over there. What would that do to morale, knowing your own president doesn't believe in the cause for which you're risking your life? He is trying to think like a president--getting us out of this mess without letting the troops know that he believes it's a mess.

[shawcomm]

9. My point was that that is the perception that will be made.

What I was saying is that the perception will be made by the right that he will raise taxes plain and simple.

Regarding the war, I don't see a problem with him saying he doesn't support the war against Iraq. Saying that doesn't mean he doesn't support the troops. That's the same right-wing BS we keep getting painted by. It's the same BS Kerry is painted with by the not-so-swift veterans. He didn't support the Vietnam war, which we all know is wrong now, but that doesn't mean he didn't support the men. He did it to try and prevent them from being killed or maimed. Those swift vets should be thanking him.

If he believes the Iraq war is wrong, he should just say so.

[lancdem]

6. I don't doubt Kerry wants to win

but he has to run the best possible campaign in order to. Mediocre won't cut it.

[BillZBubb]

7. Hopefully, Kerry won't find this out too late.

Actually, the time to get tough was in April when the Flip-Flopper smear assualt started. Kerry's been in serious trouble ever since.

[HootieMcBoob]

10. They were warned - See this Buzzflash piece from March

There's been no rapid responce whatsoever. Kerry has been on the defensive since then.

This editorial in Buzzflash back in March was right on the money.

March 17, 2004

BuzzFlash Message to John Kerry: It's the Golden Hour of Opportunity, Define Bush or Be Defined by Him. There is No Option "B."

<snip>
Now is the defining moment for John Kerry.

This is the time where either he defines Bush as a liar who has betrayed the nation -- or he will end up being defined as a liar.

There is no middle ground with the Bush dynasty. They can't run on their records or their accomplishments, because their record is one of ruin and their accomplishments don't exist.

So they use character assassination to stay in power.

Since BuzzFlash began in May of 2000, our mantra for Democrats and other progressives has been "define or be defined." Al Gore didn't listen to our advice.

We hope that John Kerry does.

For a month, Kerry had Bush on the ropes. It was a heartening sign that business as usual (rolling over for the Republicans) had ended.

But this is, indeed, the golden hour of opportunity.

Show your stuff John. You have no choice. Either successfully undercut Bush's credibility now, or you'll end up looking like Pinocchio. Just ask John McCain and Al Gore.

The Republicans have refined Samurai character attacks to a fine art. Besides lining their own pockets with money, it is what they do best.

The barbarians are no longer at the gates.


They are in the White House.

John Kerry, you must pull Excalibur out of the stone and vanquish the dynasty of deception and deceit, before they destroy you and your good name.

The future of democracy depends upon your success.

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/04/03/edi04018.html

[BillZBubb]

11. Buzzflash was on top of the situation once again!

I still can't understand why our Democratic candidates can't figure this out. The Bush* family runs all their campaigns this way. The first thing they throw up is the "waffler"/"flip-flopper" lie. It is an easy charge to make and for anyone with a successful history in public service you can find many examples where they compromised to get something greater accomplished. The Rethugs know this and they spin it into something sinister and weak-kneed.

They do it everytime and it almost always works. The Democrats blindly keep letting it go by without a fight thinking the public is smarter than that. Well, unfortunately the public isn't too bright.