Doug Ross @ Journal

Thursday, September 02, 2004

Kerry Campaign begins to Implode

If you hadn't heard, there's been a major shakeup in John Kerry's campaign staff.

Kaus is skeptical that Joe Lockhart can help the faltering Kerry Campaign. So am I. I'm skeptical anyone can help Kerry now (short of force majeure in the economy or Iraq). In fact, his campaign must be in deeper trouble than I thought because a shake-up at this time is a tremendous admission of weakness. The reason, no matter what anyone says, is the Swifties. Despite whatever cover the media is giving, they are winning because they have the (majority) of the facts on their side. And their attack has not really gone away. Other events may push them off the front page, but the damage is done. No one is looking at Kerry the same way anymore. And they shouldn't.

The Faltering Kerry Campaign

Impressions of Wednesday Night: Zell & the Veep

Holy cow! Democrat Zell Miller's speech was the most powerful and angry convention speech I've ever heard. Fire, brimstone, and an utter evisceration of Kerry's Senate record. He wrote the same kind of speech that I would have written, only orders of magnitude better.

In a nutshell: Kerry's woeful record in the Senate is his own worst enemy.

I don't know whether any left-leaning moderates would have flipped to Bush based upon Miller's speech, but as Peter Jennings announced, he threw "red meat to the crowd."

By contrast, VP Dick Cheney's speech came off like he was a soft-spoken Uncle spinning some yarns over the holidays. The best part:

[Kerry's] back-and-forth reflects a habit of indecision, and sends a message of confusion. And it is all part of a pattern. He has, in the last several years, been for the No Child Left Behind Act and against it. He has spoken in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement and against it. He is for the Patriot Act and against it. Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. It makes the whole thing mutual - America sees two John Kerrys.

Where's Eliot?

Flashback one month. New York's ubiquitous attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, had just laid down the law to the GOP convention.

Democratic state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on Thursday warned Republicans not to "dare" use the memory of 9/11 for political purposes when they convene for their convention in New York City next month. "Do not go there," Spitzer said at a breakfast he sponsored for the New York delegation at the national convention Thursday. "We have seen in the 9/11 report how many errors were made and opportunities were missed. No one, and I mean no one, should use it for politics."...."we will not let you do it."

Uhmmm, Eliot, the convention speakers appreciate your advice. You can now go back to chasing headlines and further positioning yourself for a run at the Governor's office.

Kerry's Impossible Task

TechCentralStation:

The position taken by John Kerry vis-à-vis the Vietnam War is simply untenable; and he is not likely to find any satisfactory way to resolve it, because to do so would be to make himself comprehensively unpalatable to the American electorate...

The position taken by John Kerry vis-à-vis the Vietnam War is simply untenable; and he is not likely to find any satisfactory way to resolve it, because to do so would be to make himself comprehensively unpalatable to the American electorate.

Of Swift Boats... and Double Standards

The entertaining Vodkapundit spells out the hypocrisy of the mainstream media.

• Kerry campaign lawyer Bob Bauer and Democratic National Committee counsel Joe Sandler also represent 527s -- not illegal, but doesn't it deserve a little scrutiny?
• Jim Jordan, John Kerry's campaign manager until last November, works for three of the 527s.
• Harold Ickes, an executive committee member of the Democratic National Committee, heads the Media Fund.
• Bill Richardson simultaneously chaired the Democrats' national convention and a 527.
• Michael Meehan became Kerry's spokesman after running NARAL Pro-Choice America's "soft money" programs.
• Zack Exley went from being a MoveOn.org executive to the Kerry campaign.

Now I must go into Ron Popeil Mode and say, "But wait, there's more!"

• Fred Baron, chairman of Kerry Victory 2004, who gave $50,000 to Richardson's 527.
• Stephen Bing, John Edwards's top donor, who contributed $8 million to 527s.
• Susie Buell, Kerry vice chairman, who raised more than $100,000 for the campaign and gave more than $1 million to 527s.
• Lewis Cullman, a major DNC donor who raised more than $100,000 for the Democratic Party and gave $1.65 million to 527s.

Today's bullet points come to you courtesy of Benjamin Ginsberg, the lawyer who once served as outside council to President Bush, but was forced out due to media scrutiny over his connection to the Swift Boat Vets.

Ginsberg's article, published in the Washington Post of all places, is instructive.

...If the media clamor that President Bush renounce the $500,000 Swift boat ad is fair, how many reporters asked Kerry whether he would request his 527s to cease their $63 million in negative ads? Also, wouldn't an unbiased press corps have gotten John Edwards to release his list of major fundraisers, as the Bush-Cheney campaign voluntarily did? ...

...In a 50-50 nation, how do the media square this imbalance with the claim of being objective, fair and nonpartisan? The double standard in reporting on 527s suggests that some of the withering scrutiny visited on the Swift boat veterans should be directed inward.

Swift Boats and Double Standards