What should Kerry campaign do to get back in the race for the White House?

[kentuck]

I say that half-jokingly because I do not believe he is in as desperate a strait or as far behind as the polls suggest. However, I could be wrong and the polls could be right? Who are you gonna to believe, "kentuck" or the "polls"? :)

But, assuming the worst scenario that Kerry is really as far behind as they suggest, what should be his strategy to take control of his campaign? What should he change? What should he say? Is there anything he can do if the media continues doing the hatchet job on him that they are presently doing?

[wurzel]

1. Go after the media. That is the real enemy. GOP is a front for media

The GOP is the political arm of Media Megalomania Moguls. Not the other way round!

[kentuck]

5. That's an interesting theory, wurzel....

Perhaps you should expound on that in an individual post? I think you can make a very credible argument.

[Dems Will Win]

21. He should talk about the SECRET SECRET FOI DOC showing BUSH DRAFT!!!!!!!!!

PRINT THE PDF: http://somnamblst.tripod.com/draftalert.pdf
HANG THIS FLYER EVERYWHERE

This is a SPECIAL MILITARY DRAFT ALERT. In May, the Seattle Post Intelligencer published an article about a document they received through the Freedom of Information Act. It was revealed that the SSS is currently “designing procedures” for the implementation of a “Skills Draft” after holding a top-level meeting on it with Deputy Undersecretaries at the Defense Department. This draft would change the very mission of the Selective Service and require “virtually every young American”, male and female ages 18-34, to register for the Skills Draft and list all the occupations they are proficient in to fill labor shortages throughout nearly the entire government.

Here, for the first time, is the FOI document itself:

http://blatanttruth.org/selective_service091304.pdf

This document is real, having been acknowledged by the DoD and the SSS when they said no action is being taken on it at the present time, as reported:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/171522_draft01.html

Although Congress would have to approve new legislation to create a Skills Draft or reinstate the combat draft, Family Circle reported in its July 13 issue that Karl Rove has polled GOP members of Congress in September 2002 to see if they would support the President if he requests reinstatement. The Republicans said they would vote for the draft.

In addition, the SSS itself has said that it is “designing procedures” (Seattle PI, May 1, 2004) to implement the skills draft, meaning designing the compliance cards and the data fields needed to keep track of “virtually every young American” and their skills. Acting Director of the SSS Brodsky has also said the Skills Draft is the “top priority” of the Selective Service for 2004. The Issue Paper options include:

- Allow a non-combat draft for shortages in critical skills, without calling a combat draft.

- Fill labor shortages of all kinds throughout not only DoD but the Dept. of Homeland Security and other agencies, especially high-paying professionals like computer networking specialist or linguist.

- Create a single-point, all-inclusive database, in which every young person would be forced to send in a “self-declaration” of all of their critical skills, chosen from a long list of occupations like the Armed Forces Specialty Code. The usual penalties of imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine would apply to all non-registrants.

In the secret planning meeting document, the next steps strongly recommended by SSS Acting Director Brodsky were:

1. “Promptly” redefine the SSS Mission to draft men and women up to age 34 for skills, and deliver them within 90 days or sooner to the Department of Defense. Program a massive database to be ready to enter millions of names of those registering their critical skills.

2. Expand mission to deliver personnel in skills draft to the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, including FEMA, NSC, Border Patrol, INS, Customs, Corporation for National Service, Public Health Service and other agencies.

3. Form interagency task force to provide Administration with recommendation on this skills draft for the entire government.

4. Obtain White House Statement of Administration Policy on the future of the SSS.

5. Be prepared to market the skills draft, raising the non-combat age to 34 and the drafting of women to the Armed Services and Appropriations Committee.

In contrast to this planning and preparation to create a targeted draft, Kerry plans to spend an additional $7 billion to strengthen the Volunteer Army in what is essentially a “No-Draft Plan”. Moreover, Kerry is strongly opposed to the neo-con plan revealed in Wes Clark’s book Winning Modern Wars, in which Clark was told by a senior Pentagon official that invasions of Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Sudan and Somalia were planned and still to come over the next three years.

DON'T FORGET TO USE THE .PDF NOT THE .GIF FILE.

BUSH '04 = DRAFT '05

KERRY '04 = PNAC OUT THE DOOR!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. What everyone needs to do

is get out the word. I'm so disgusted when I hear "undecideds" on NPR saying they haven't heard that Kerry has any plan for Iraq, the economy, or health care. The media doesn't take time to tell about them, and I guess these undecideds don't know how to operate a computer and get online. So it is our duty to get out the information, talking to folks one on one. This is how races have been won.

[doc03]

3. They need to show Colon Bowell, Rice, Hans Blix and Scott Ritter all

saying Iraq has no WMD's and they are no threat to the US. Bush saying
that Iraq had no connections to 911. Bush saying he wasn't getting into nation building. Bush 41 saying going into Iraq would be a mistake and we would be stepping into a quagmire, this would really
hurt the Chimp since he supposedly idealizes the old man. Show them in the ads use their own words against them.

[Quixote1818]

13. I agree 100%

[DaveinMD]

4. I believe

the three polls that were weighted properly. These polls had the race a dead heat, even a slight Kerry lead. Pew, Harris, ARG.

[tedoll78]

14. And if we were to re-weight the improperly-weighted polls..

they'd be consistent with the accurate ones. This race is about tied, and I'm thoroughly relieved that Kerry closed the gap on the Bush bounce in a mere two weeks. If he keeps doing what he's doing, if he does well in the debates, and if we do our part, Kerry will win. It's definitely within our reach.

[ModerateMiddle]

6. I think he needs to take Iraq head-on

During the primaries, I suggested repeatedly, and believed strongly, that National Security issues were going to be the "price of admission" to this election. That there were a great number of issues that would important ONLY if the candidate met the bar for being able to deal with international terror and security issues. This is one of the reasons I was so strongly FOR John Kerry from the earliest stages - even through his then death slide.

I heard ONE news source say that Kerry said he is not in front of the generals now, talking strategy and plans and details, and that as such, he couldn't give specifics. This was a very good point, but it wasn't made often or strongly.

But he's going to have to say something other than "bring allies to our side", cuz right now, it looks like our allies aren't interested in sending their children to die in Iraq. Granted, most of them don't want to do it because it's W's war, but still. Another point he needs to hit is that George W. has bullied the world, been arrogant and ignorant, and it WILL take regime change in the US for the world to consider Iraq anything other than W's blundering mess.

[spooked]

7. Do REALLY WELL in the debates!

which he WILL do!

[doc03]

8. He may do great in the debates, it's all in how the media spins

them and you know how that will come down. All the media pundits will
find something Kerry does to dwell on like they did the sighs from Gore or of Bush 41 looking at his watch. Look at the CBS documents all the media keeps talking about is if they are fake and the substance of them is long forgotten. Fox, MSNBC,CNN and talk radio is hammering those documents 24 hours a day you would think Dan Rather was the Antichrist or something.

[kentuck]

20. Exactly right...

Kerry could do great and the media can spin it however they want. we know that from past experiences. And vice-versa with Bush, he can screw up royally and exceed expectations and therefore, win the debate. I wouldn't put too much stock in the debates.

[mzmolly]

9. AS long as we allow Bush to be the "tough on terror" guy WE LOSE!

We had a golden opportunity after the RNC, and we blew it. Kerry is afraid to use "strong" language believing he'll turn off swing voters if he does so. Rove has proven him wrong. The entire RNC was 'strong' anti-Kerry language. It worked Mr. Kerry

Now, if we want back in this race we have to HIGHLITE Bush's faiure to protect America on 911, separate the Iraq War from the war on terror, and point out the ways in which Bush makes us vulnerable to terrorism P-E-R-I-O-D! This IS the KEY!!!

We need to be short, sweet, repetitive and yes, even NEGATIVE because the truth about Bush is friggin NEGATIVE!

Simple talking points:

* Bush failed to protect America on 911
* Bush failed to capture Osama Bin Laden
* Bush wasted valuable time/resources going after a NON threat in Iraq, and in the process created MORE terrorists.

If we don't do this effectively WE LOSE...

[Onlooker]

10. Stick to the program

Someone posted some comments by Ann Richards in another thread. She said something like, if both Bush and Kerry are asked what time it is, Kerry talks about the clock and then maybe talks about one of several subjects. Bush, on the other hand, says, The world is safer because we got rid of Saddam. Her point was that the Republicans don't change their message to adjust to the polls. Bush has stuck to his message, and people see him as consistent and clear.

Kerry has to stick to his current strategy. If he's really behind by 8% points, he's not going to make it up in a day or a week. If he makes up 2% each week, we'll be fine. Kerry must stick to his message so that people know what he thinks.

I also think the Democrats must continue criticizing Bush through their ads. Stick to the message that Bush has screwed up the deficit and Iraq and it will come back to haunt us. If the DNC and all the 527s did that, it would eventually have a big impact. We can't talk about all of Bush's failures, or it will just get lost.

Lastly, in debates or in interviews Kerry has to answer each question with, "Here is my program. Let me give you the details." He should keep repeating a phrase like that so that people begin to understand his program, but he should not give too many details, lest his presentatin become wooden. He should give one or two exciting details, and keep telling people to go to his website for more.

Right now, our message seems to be all over the place, and the Dems need to be very focused. Poke one or two big holes in Bush, and the air will come up and his electoral prospects will deflat.

[mzmolly]

12. That's right. And, we allow them to set the tone over and over again.

:(

[JSJ]

11. hire better writers- hire better writers- hire better writers

The name of the game is to seem more clever, quicker reacting, and and a lot more humorous.

[Quixote1818]

15. He should hire the Daily Show writers!

[tedoll78]

16. I was about to say..

why not try to steal or borrow some writers from 'The Daily Show'? With a crack research team (like 'The Daily Show's') it'd be perfect!

[buycitgo]

17. start telling kids that Bush will REINSTATE the draft!

make no bones about it

just repeat it over and over and over

he doesn't have to do it; just surrogates and ads

play their game for a change

scare the CRAP out of college age kids

give them a damn good reason to VOTE this time

the pugs' ENTIRE campaign at this point is based purely on FEAR!

time for us to take a page from their book

tough titty if it's the low road

the low road stops at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. how many times do THEY have to get there before WE start learning their most effective tactics

I don't like it, but I DON'T want to see this country go the way of Weimar Germany, and I'm just now getting SCARED to DEATH that it's going to happen....didn't think so til I heard the media repeating the BS about Bush handily winning the internal polls about handling international incidents better than Kerry AND the huge lie about people thinking that KERRY is being too negative about Bush!!!!!

this has become a TOTAL 1984 scenario......surrealistic horrorshow

[Dangeresque]

18. He's doing it...

His big mistake was to get into the whole Vietnam thing...

What he has to do (and he's been doing it this past week, best I can tell) is to STFU about who did what when and where during Vietnam, and hit Bush on the issues. Iraq...deficit...taxes...environment. Hit Bush hard, show how he would be better, and *repeat the message*.

[kentuck]

19. The Bush campaign will talk about Vietnam regardless...

Because Vietnam is now seen as John Kerry's weakness, not a strength.

[Pepperbelly]

22. If ... IF the polls are accurate (which ones I don't know because some ...

show a Kerry lead), remember this: that would mean that Bush is at the peak of his possible support in SEPTEMBER. Note, one wants to be at the peak of their support by the 1st of November. Peaking in September is a bad thing.

[kodi]

23. human sacrifices, yeah, those are always good for bringing in the crowds

or just keep pounding at bush's lack of integrity and poorly made decisions on the economy, health care, and national security.

repeat often>>>>>>while bush burned baghdad pyongyang built nuclear bombs.

[in_cog_ni_to]

24. Let it "leak" out that Wesley Kanne Clark will be Kerry's SOS.

People need to know that he is STRONG on Foreign policy. Wes Clark as Secretary of State will show the sheeple just how serious Kerry really IS about foreign policy/the war on terror/homeland security. IMCPO

[Hamlette]

25. People like Bush because he tells them everything is great

it's a page out of the Reagan play book. They do not believe things are as bad as the Dems say. In Reagan's case, they were right. Compared to Bush, things were great under Reagan.

I have no idea how to do it. People want to believe things are great.

[doc03]

26. (No spin) O'Liely said Iraq is a mess and Bush screwed

up going into Iraq. Several prominent Republicans have made similar statements about Iraq. Show them in a fucking ad, they have showed Kerry at nauseaum saying I actually voted for it before I voted against it and the SBV for lies have used Kerry's testimony about Vietnam in their ads. Bush keeps blaming the bad economy on Clinton,
911 and corporate scandals. Dah! the first is false, 911 happened on his watch while he was playing cowboy at Crawford and his cronies caused the corporate scandals. Kenny Boy, remember!!!!