It's simple, Bush and Rove have figured it out..

[Dawgs]

Talking points, talking points, talking points!!!

Do the Dems even have any?

This is all we hear from Bush and Cheney...

-Kerry is a flip-flopper.
-He voted for the war before he voted against it.
-Kerry will raise taxes.
-Kerry is a traitor to all VV(Swifty TP).
-Kerry is sensitive in the war on terror.

Most people do not even know that these are lies. All they know is that Bush keeps saying it over and over.

Kerry either needs to come up with some of his own, or he needs to get and fight these bold-faced lies.

I saw his speech last night and was NOT all that impressed. He started out okay, but finished very slow. I have been on Kerry's side well before the primaries, but his actions lately have got me wondering whether he can compete with these guys.

[LittleApple81]

1. I think Kerry is just warming up. And he knows what he needs to

do. HOPEFULLY for the future of the USA and the world. I am not religious but I am praying this is the case.

[quaker bill]

12. It is a bit damn late in the game

to be doing stretches on the sidelines. He better start delivering his best punches very soon or they will be calling it a TKO.

[Shoeempress]

2. Here are a few I'd like to see:

Where's Osama?
Where are the WMDs?
Where are our jobs?
Where's our 10 Billion dollars? (of course the answer is in Halliburton's pockets)

[elehhhhna]

9. Who are the traitors in your administration? Ask that!

[mbali]

10. A couple of thoughts . . .

Where's Osama?
Where are the WMDs?

He's got to be careful with this since both of these issues are completely out of his control. While he should mention these things, he shouldn't hammer on them because if Bush suddenly turns up Osama or WMD before the election, Kerry's screwed.

The other two are good and likely to be much more effective. That's because, like Republican talking points, they are broader and conceptual - they're not a flat statement of fact but a general characterization of something negative about Bush.

You'll notice that Republican talking points attacking Kerry are all nebulous things, characterizations, not facts, that create impressions in people's minds but don't require any thinking or analysis.

-Kerry is a flip-flopper.
-He voted for the war before he voted against it.
-Kerry will raise taxes.
-Kerry is a traitor to all VV(Swifty TP).
-Kerry is sensitive in the war on terror.

These kinds of attacks are very hard to counter in one or two or even three sentences - just saying, "no, I'm not - you're lying" doesn't work.

The only way to defend against these kinds of accusations is to present far more information than will fit into a soundbite - and by the time you finish, the press and the viewers have grown bored and move on. That's their great skill and why their attacks tend to work - they do this all the time, not just in elections, but in their governance as well, and it is very effective.

The last two talking points you suggest are much more like Republican talking points - they plant an impression, raise a question, and the only way to answer them is to do some 'splainin'.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Take focus off Kerry, put it on Bush and his broken promises, misleading.

Keep any focus on Kerry optimistic and realistic commander.

Keep focus on Bush misleading, miscalculation, incompetence, and broken promisces.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. We could use some pithy talking points for HAMMERING into thick heads nt

[soupkitchen]

5. The main talking point to me should be, Bush doesn't think things through

It lends itself to a lot of variations

Well, if he had thought the Iraq invasion out maybe he would have..


I really don't think he's thought privatizing social security throug


What is a miscalcuation but an idea that hasn't beeen thought through.


Well that's what happens when you act before you think.


Don't you think we need a president who is capable of thinking things though?

Etc, etc, etc.

[Kierkegaard]

6. Apparently you didn't see the rebuttal speech K/E gave after the RNC

Borscht and Rube haven't figured out anything other than the need to avoid any discussion of real issues. People aren't that stupid. They LIVE in the Borscht kingdom!

K/E brought out the brass knuckles last night in Canton Ohio. It's the strongest showing I've seen from both of them. Of course, the 'liberal' media (MSNBC) cut them off in mid speech, but CSPAN2 carried the whole thing. It was magnificent to watch them dismantle the RNC hate fest.

:bounce:

[AgadorSparticus]

13. yes, i agree. but i'm still waiting for a catchy, more succinct version

in the form of a one liner. i still hold that most americans do not have an attention span longer than that. it would help if ALL the democrats came out and repeated this one liner. that's what they do and it works for them every time.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

7. Ours are simple and Kerry is already starting with them.

-Are you better of now than you were four years ago?
-Is America going in the right direction?

(Rhetorical questions)

I DO kind of feel like JK should have been pounding these questions at least a month or so ago, but better late than never.

Bush may or may not be a flip/flopper, but he's certainly a flop.

[soothsayer]

8. were you impressed by bush's speech? talk about sloooowwwww

The stark contrast between Kerry---who has ideas, plans, vision, courage, integrity, a forward-focus---and bush, who has none of those things AND who has mismanaged the US every bit as much as he has bungled every job he's ever been handed, is going to become so clear as we move to Nov (in the debates, certainly), that only the most rabid repuke meatheads will even think of voting for *, and most will stay home.

[Dawgs]

11. You don't have to convince me...

It's the people that don't pay attention that much that need convincing. All they hear are sound bites, and ones like Bush spits out are hurting Kerry. Kerry can use the facts to do the same damage against Bush.

I heard a good one today from Kerry.

- Bush's job creation would not create a NEW NET JOB until 2011. John Edwards and I will create jobs now... not ten years from now.

I hope he repeats it over and over again.