Kerry's response to "flip-flopper" question has been...

[Dawgs]

"If the issue is consistency, it's fair for us to point out that President Bush has consistently been WRONG"

I know many have speculated on here about how Kerry needs to address the "flip-flopper" issue. Unfortunately I think this is it.

For a few weeks now Kerry has been using the WRONG word to describe Bush. The problem is that it's not sticking. For some reason, the American people don't care that Bush has been wrong, they only care that Kerry is a flip-flopper.

This first debate needs to be about Kerry... nothing more. If he can't sell himself to the American people he will have to rely on the new registered voters to pull this out. The voters already know that Bush needs to be replaced. Kerry needs to make the case that it should be him.

I thnk he needs to address the "flip-flopper" issue by explaining how he has been consistently right on this issue. He could use a good sound-bite, but attacking Bush won't work anymore. He needs to define himself.

We'll see...

[jean]

1. I'm praying they're using Prof Lakoff for help with language and framing

[bigpathpaul]

2. You're right, but we also need to help, because the media won't

I decideds don't care. We need to hammer home Bush's indecision.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund (http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=118263) has done a great job of documenting GWB's change of heart/mind on nearly every issue imaginable. I've also started the series below to call attention to it.

W.I.M.P. - Bush Flyers: "Which Is It, Mr. President?"





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[eileen from OH]

3. I don't know that denial and accusation are enough

In fact, I'd go the other direction. Point out that consistency for consistency's sake is no virtue and it's exactly why Bush's policy with regard to foreign affairs and Iraq has been such a disaster. By his refusal to change tactics we are digging a bigger and bigger hole. Refusal to face reality and ignoring facts and plodding along with the same failed policies isn't consistent, it's stubborn and blind. America WISHES Bush would do some flip-flopping in regard to Iraq.

eileen from OH

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. I don't think he's going to shed the label at this point

The media has been all too willing to play along for the last year. I think staying on the ISSUES will be the most important part, while not falling into the trap of giving the media a sound byte to abuse and spin into eternity like they did with Al Gore (who CLEARLY won the last debates).

[Blue_Roses]

5. I'm so sick of this damn "flip-flop" issue--it sounds like something a

2nd grader would say. REAL men know when they have made a mistake and need to take another direction. REAL men know when stubborness gets people killed. REAL men know when to ask for help. REAL men show emotions. REAL men know that WISDOM comes through mistakes.

Kerry is a REAL man. Bottom line. Bush acts like a child. End of it.

[Awsi Dooger]

6. Bill Clinton screamed this in our ear nearly two years ago

In the wake of the 2002 midterm debacle: "When people are feeling insecure, they'd rather have someone who is strong and wrong rather than somebody who is weak and right."

No matter how catastrophic and ignorant Bush's policies have been, it's a sickening reality so much of this comes down to candidate ability and performance, one man alone with his words. We can be right on every issue, but if that's not creatively and concisely stamped into the general public's mindset and vocabulary, we lose and deserve to.

These new registration figures are swell, a little bonus for the future but no chance they overcome a shift in preference, like we've apparently seen since the GOP convention. It is a soft swing that can be halted and reversed beginning tonight, but only if Kerry REDEFINES himself. He has already been defined, and not altogether unfairly. Kerry is so intelligent he rethinks issues based on perspective and potential, without robotically selling the exact words month after month.