I think I'm beginning to understand the Kerry stratergy..

[Rosco T.]

let's face it.. 90% of the population have the attention span of a house-fly...

90% of what get's said now will be forgotten by Nov 2nd.

95% of what's said will get spun by BushCo to make it irrelevent or turn it back on them.

Kerry/Edwards are BOTH exception Lawyers.

Kerry is a hunter.

so..

- no use bringing out the 'big guns' till closer to November, it will just get forgotten/made irrelevent.

- lead your Target till it's in a good position for a clean shot

- when you take your shot, make sure you either take it down immediately, or it has no where to run and is hemmed in so it can't get away.

- save your best material till THE LAST DAY of the trial, so the other side has to scramble.

Right now, OTHER things are plinking off BushCo (TANG, CBS, Kitty Kelley and the (ever increasing) shots comig from Kerry/Edwards now)) and things said now could get 'lost in the chatter'. It will also tire out BushCo and is doing some (not all) of the work for us.

I *SUSPECT* that we won't see the real FIRE BEGIN till late September, and then it will be coming SO FAST, SO HARD, SO LOUD that a) it won't have time to be forgotten, b) it won't have time to be spun and c) BushCo will have used up all it's 'big guns' on all the crap between now and then...

and we still have the DEBATES to look forward to...

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Let's hope so.

[xray s]

2. you could be right

I think Kerry is going to surprise us at the debates. I think he is saving some stuff for then because there will be a big audience and he will be able to talk directly to the voters without the infotainment filter interferring (at least not until the debates end...but he can overcome that with the right message in the debates)

Stay tuned

[freedom_to_read]

3. good analysis... 1 thing about Kerry

... that makes him a "good closer," he's disciplined and good at saving big issues for later in the campaign.

1 example: he hasn't said anything about the Supreme Court yet.

another: he waited until now to start talking about North Korea.

I think you're right, that Kerry has stuff waiting in the wings, to bring out in the last month of the election.

[elperromagico]

18. He mentioned the Supreme Court briefly in his Congressional Black Caucus

speech. So he might be getting that message out there gradually.

Honestly, it's one of the main reasons I'm voting for Kerry. We can't have Bush appointing anyone to the Supreme Court.

[freedom_to_read]

27. me too elperromagico

presidents come and go, but SCJs stay around forever.

[sandersadu]

4. Half-Agree

You're right that Americans have short attention spans, but the first thing they say about John Kerry is that he's a flip-flopper.

You've got to lay the groundwork, especially for personal/character attacks months in advance, and then have everything you say feed into that theme.

For example ours should have been:

(1) Incompetence: 9/11 was biggest attack on our soil and happened on George Bush's watch when he wasn't paying attention. Instead of being rewarded for "strong leadership after 9/11" he should be punished for weak leadership pre-911. Iraq also fits this issue nicely.

(2) Liar: Everything about Bush is a lie. His biography, Christianity, statements, policies, hell even his accent. We've allowed him to be a "straight shooter." It may be too late to reverse this.


There are lots of other lines of attack where Kerry should have been building up for months, but we're Democrats after all, so we can't be THAT strategic.

[Rosco T.]

7. Saving it up...

the groundwork HAS been laid for Incompetence and Liar.. just NOT BY KERRY.. that way it's already started to be set in the 'back' of the public mind.. and then late in the game Kerry re-enforces it..

and he can't be said to be a 'flip-flopper', thus far he's tactfully AVOIDED both subjects...

[oasis]

You are correct sir. Kerry's the best at playing it close to the vest.

:thumbsup:

[Merlin]

5. Two things

First, there's not doubt you're right, with a couple of qualifiers:
1) This works as long as you keep your quarry within range until it's time for the kill shot. K-E has permitted the target to get way too far out front.
2) I think the closing comes in the last two weeks, not before. That allows no margin for error. Let's hope they know how to execute the execution.

It's going to be a nail-biter.

[Rosco T.]

13. Keeping your quarry within range....

point taken... however 'way too far out front' depends on your firepower...

if all you have is a .22, then you can't get far away...

if you have a highpower rifle, with a dialed in telescopic sight, then 'far away' become a little meaningless...

then again... 'way too far out in front' assumes you're not actually ahead of them waiting for them to step into the clearing while the 'beaters' are fulshing them out...

triangled-fire..
driving the quarry WHERE YOU WANT THEM...

1) Kerry
2) Edwards
3) 'all the others'..

right now, 'all the others' are behind BushCo.. slowly pushing them forward...

Kerry/Edwards are waiting on both sides of the clearing ahead...

[Parche]

6. debates

You are probably correct
Look what happened last year, Dean was way ahead, and then Kerry
won almost everything, and look where we are now.

I am waiting for the debates, when Kerry will crush GW and dickhead cheney

[Southern Patriot]

17. Dean fell into a hole and broke his leg. **

**

[LSK]

25. kerry won iowa before "yeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh"

[papau]

8. I hope - and pray - that you are correct.

:-)

[Lactar]

9. Kerry Victory

Personally, I think if Kerry wants to win, he needs to just
sit back and let * sink himself. 

Kerry needs to shut up about Vietnam. It isnt fair, and it
isnt right, but every time the subject comes up, Kerry gets
the short end of the stick. Lets not fool ourselves. They are
better at fighting dirty than we are. Dont get drawn into a
fray over vietnam with them, no matter HOW good our material
is, the media will never let Bush lose that fight.

Kerry needs to shut up about guns too. That's not gonna win
any votes from people who are not already voting for him, but
may cost him a great many votes. A lot of gun owners are
single issue voters. Its just a fact of life.

Kerry needs to talk about the economy. He needs to talk about
health care.  He needs to learn to talk in soundbites. Repug
web sites call him "the nuanced one" as if its a bad
thing, but I believe it IS costing us some votes. Make it
quick, make it snappy, just enough to make an undecided care.

Let * stumble around on his own. He makes an idiot out of
himself enough without any help from us. Kerry needs to push
HIMSELF. The idea is to convince the apathetic to vote, and
the undecided to vote for him. You need more for those people
than "I'm not *, * is bad" because if they felt that
way, they'd already be on our side.

[in_cog_ni_to]

10. If the chimp has it his way

there will be only 1 debate. He's trying to get out of the other 2. Chicken shit scumbag that he is. :grr:

[oasis]

31. If the Chimp skips another debate that will be an issue.

[cheezus]

11. that would explain BCCI

I can't understand why it hasn't been brought up. Seems like a slam dunk for Kerry.

[independentpiney]

20. I've been thinking he's saving BCCI until near the end

That could kill the political aspirations of the entire bush clan forever.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[newyawker99]

15. Hi Liberal Til I Die!!

welcome to DU!! :toast:

[hippiegranny]

26. what I'm not buying:

Bush is 7 points ahead. I don't know who the hell they're "polling," but this is not possible. The media is complicit on these poll numbers because their job is to prop up this pissant little fraud for sake of their corporate bottom line. They want liberals to think the cause is lost and stay home in droves. It is all part of the BFEE strategy and we shall not fall for it.

Kerry is NOT losing. He is ahead in electoral votes and he will win the popular vote too - in a landslide.

Kill your TV - it lies.

[Goldmund]

14. Oh, I sure hope you're right

But what will we say when it's October 15th and Kerry is still talking about Vietnam and taking weak shots at Bush's healthcare record?

What then?

There's a great article in the new issue of The Nation by Alexander Cockburn (I wonder how his ancestors came to have that last name....), called "Swatting at flies". It lists all of the issues Bush has handed to any challenger, and the list is longer than could possibly be covered from now until November. It's not like there are two or three issues that could effectively be used against Bush, so we have to wait until 5 minutes til midnight to bring them out. There are loads and loads, and in addition to that, there is so much about Bush's character and the nature of Neocon agenda that should be pushed out into the open -- and those kinds of pictures take longer than a month or two to paint.

Face it, the truth is that Kerry is a child of the establishment, and he won't do anything that will more than gently rock the boat of the Imperial power of American presidency. He's supposed to be the next captain. Better than the one we have now, for sure, and not a part of the Neocon criminal clan; but this ain't no Dennis Kucinich or Howard Dean.

[Kahuna]

16. I think you're right. For one thing, if Kerry comes up with anything good.

bush will steal it as his own. He's famous for that.

On the other hand, while Kerry is delaying his specifics, he could make good use of this time to tear down the Chimp's percieved strengths.

[LSK]

19. F911 on DVD in October

That should have an effect. More people go to Blockbuster than the movies nowadays it seems.

[molly]

21. Good thinking - amen!

[devinsgram]

22. Yes, why bring out things they can put a spin on

and turn it around put it back on Kerry. Better to wait till the end and then blow them away. Rove won't know what hit him.

[Catfight]

23. I made it to number 3 and was distracted....buzzzz, by a house fly. n/t

[quinnox]

24. That might be

I bet Kerry does have some surprises in store for the Bush team before this drama comes to a close.

[ItsMyParty]

28. You know what?????

..that's also exactly the Bush plan. Do you think we have heard the last from them?? Do you think the Swifties was the blowing of the wad?? They will pull something..I guarantee you they will because I've watched them too long. It's going to be a matter of who can bring out the biggest explosion around election day. My bet would be a parade of illigit children fathered by Kerry--one black, one Asian--you get the picture. These boys are still warming up in the wings and that's why the WH isn't saying much about the AWOL thing. They have something to knock that puppy right out of everyone's mind. I just hope John has a real son of a bitchin' something that nails the little creep to the floor.

[demokatgurrl]

30. They definitely have more dirty tricks

up their sleeves. I'm almost insomniac worrying about what it is and when it's coming and how Kerry will respond. I hope he is more prescient than I am and KNOWS what's coming.

And I hope you're right about his strategy.

[rocktivity]

29. Being pushed around by an AWOL liar is not an option for Kerry

Bush allowed his campaign to sanction the Smear-Boaters, and said nothing even when it became clear it was all a smeat. If the Kerry camp doesn't follow through on AWOL, it will reinforce Bush's accusation that he doesn't have the will or the brains to defend himself himself or anyone else. If Kerry holds on to his base and impresses enough new (as opposed to undecided) voters, he'll win in a walk.

:headbang:
rocknation