Reply #13: Kerry is a sitting duck. Why? By the numbers ...

[Casablanca]

1. "Passes the image test". With liberals only. Not fiscal conservatives who are pissed off about both liberal and neo-con spending. Not moderate swing voters who have come to despise all insider politics. Not union workers who don't see Kerry running a strong anti-corporatist administration.

All of the above are not voting Republican. They're not voting for Kucinich, as fine as candidate as he is. They're sending $10, $50, and $100 checks to Dean in hopes they'll be able to vote for him against Bush.

2. "A combat veteran". Cleland was a combat veteran running in the South. Clark _ran_ a war and served in the same war as Kerry. Colin Powell is a combat veteran. You are far overestimating the "combat veteran" appeal for anyone who isn't a vet themselves.

3. "A tested member of the government process". The current government process is a big part of the problem with America. Clinton sold out the progressive cause because he was such a good insider operative. Same for Kerry when he voted for the Iraq War. Same for Edwards when he co-sponsored the Patriot Act.

4. "Man who clearly gets the message out there." Kerry routinely dissembles. He has not spoken specifics any more than Edwards has out of political expediency, except while in anti-Dean or anti-Bush mode. His message on the war is clouded by his own flip-flops. Kucinich and Dean are the only consistent voices against the Iraq War. And that issue is THE 8 million pound gorilla that Rove fears.

5. "Polling consistantly". By right-wing pollsters who want the Iraq War taken off the campaign table. By the corporate media who don't want a candidate that is openly against media consolidation (Dean), but _do_ want insiders who have never seriously attacked the idea and won't as president (Kerry and Edwards).

6. "Battle tested." By whom? When has Kerry _ever_ dealt with the kind of circular firing squad tactics that Dean has dealt with, and has not folded? Did he stand with Barbara Lee against the 9/14 Anti-Terrorism Act? Did he stand with Wellstone against the Iraq War? Did he stand with Kucinich against the Patriot Act? NO!

Dean has held his ground under serious fire - in this campaign and as governor. Clark has - in his standing against his superior officers in the Kosovo War. Clark took the hits and was proven right. Kucinich has most of the time - in his career of being outvoted on progressive issues.

7. "Radicals out of office." Kerry voted with the radicals when it counted, and is now trying to cover his tracks. Notwithstanding his liberal voting record (which will be a liability with many voters), his tactic is "Do a lot of little good things, but sell out on the major battles." We need better than that from a Dem President.

8. "Dean isn't gonna do it." Very dogmatic reasoning there. Dean has taken and is taking serious media hits and is still very much in the running. He has proven fiscal conservative credentials that no other Dem candidate has. He has a better-than-Clintonian talent to speaking the truth to the sound-bite media clearly and concisely. He is consistently supported by grassroots funding that Kerry could never get, because he's funded by non-Dems and non-liberals whose past support of Bush has been repeatedly betrayed - by both Bush and the Dems (like Kerry and Edwards) that has supported Bush in the crucial battles.

9. "Clark has skeletons." Kerry has skeletons. Dean has skeletons. Kucinich has skeletons. And we haven't even heard half of them yet. Don't worry, the Rove machine will remind you.