Apparently Kerry is an "October" Guy

[BabsSong]

I've been reading a lot of articles about Kerry and listening to a lot of commentary on him. There is one thing that seems to stand out over and over in all of it:

People who know him, have observed him, been with him for years say that he frustrates the hell out of his supporters in the early and mid stages. They condemn him and say he's doing nothing, etc. But, come October, "Kerry is always there" and that he "is a good closer".

Apparently the gist of it all is that if early on you have these great flaming positions (like on Iraq), they can be irrelavent by October (example: who the hell knows what Bush will do in these months). It's better to come at these things on how they stand in October. It also keeps the opponent guessing and when you hit him with positions in October, opponent doesn't have time to get enough info out to tear apart, etc. Now, the only thing I cannot find with all I've absorbed is whether or not John actually opens up and finally attacks the opponent head on?? I don't care if he doesn't particularly do that now; but I think in this race, he absolutely has to in the fall. He's going to have to tell the American people (don't assume they know) what Bush has done TO them before he can tell them what he wants to do FOR them...and he sure has to do that attack during the debates. Are there any people from MA out there that can fill us in on whether he finally gets into the outright attacks on the other guy's vulerabilities???

[emulatorloo]

1. "Facing '96 Loss, Brawling Kerry Fought to Win"

Here's a story worth reading and sending to your friends:
From NYT, Feb 07 2004, reprinted on Kerry Website

<snip>

"Everyone smells blood in the water or a weakness when they go up against John Kerry," said Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., son of the former House speaker, like Mr. Kerry a former lieutenant governor and now a public relations strategist here. "What people do not get is that nobody answers the later rounds better than John Kerry. All of a sudden he sees that people are underestimating and taking him for granted and he will spring on you. He's going to be so unrelenting that you're not going to know what hit you."

Mr. Weld agreed, in somewhat less effusive terms.

"When John was flat on his back and reporters were calling me from Iowa and New Hampshire to throw the last handful of dust on his grave, I said, `Wait a minute, I was five points up in September and I ended up losing by eight points,' " the former governor recalled in an interview. "This is a guy who can take a punch and who can overcome being behind, and those are important qualities."

<snip>

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/clips/news_2004_0207g.html

[unblock]

2. sounds like republican talking points to me

this that kerry is a strong closer may or may not be true. of course, we all hope it is.

but the key point is that while bush/rove are the masters of lowering expectations, the "kerry is a strong closer" raises expectations for kerry, forcing him to outdo himself just to meet expectations. very similar to the old standby, "my opponent is a strong debater" that everyone trots out before the debates.

[kaitykaity]

3. He "closed out" the Democratic primaries,

that's for sure.

I had heard this as well, and my inclination is to
believe it.