WP: For Kerry, a Tough Geography Test

[kskiska]

A Race Against Bush Could Be Decided on Conservative Turf

Tuesday, February 17, 2004; Page A01

MILWAUKEE, Feb. 16 -- John F. Kerry faces a daunting challenge as he turns toward a prospective general election campaign against President Bush, a race that will test whether a liberal New Englander and member of the Washington elite can attract support in the more conservative swing states that cost Democrats the White House in 2000.

The Massachusetts senator's march through the Democratic primaries without sustaining any significant political damage has given party leaders optimism about the fall campaign -- and given Republicans pause, particularly as the president's standing has declined. But Kerry has yet to prove he can reach far enough beyond an obviously energized Democratic base to the swing voters in Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri, Florida or other states that Bush won narrowly and where the election is likely to be decided in November.

As Kerry points toward a victory in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary, the opening volleys of the general election have already begun. Bush advisers have signaled their determination to paint Kerry as a liberal Washington insider and run against him as someone out of touch with mainstream America.

(snip)

Kerry and his advisers express confidence that his background as a decorated combat veteran in Vietnam and a voting record that occasionally deviated from liberal positions shield him from such ideological pigeonholing. And they say Kerry -- unlike Michael S. Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor who remained passive in the face of attacks from Bush's father in the 1988 presidential race -- will fight back.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46430-2004Feb16.html

[Auntie Bush]

1. That's why he needs Clark on his ticket. n/t

[SilasSoule]

2. I like Richardson for V.P.

[stevedeshazer]

3. Good piece

Worth the full read.

[saltpoint]

4. Even with Rove and Ralph Reed cheating and --

-- smearing their way across the country, the Democrats win in November.

I think the American people are going to turn these folks out of office swiftly and decisively. Bush's poll numbers are not looking that good, and he just dragged Hussein out of a hole.

People now realize he lied through his teeth and so the chimp is on the way out.

[bluestateguy]

5. Erg!!! Stupid Warshington Post!!!

Now they're making me go through the whole registration crap again, and it won't let me in because I won't take their cookies.

[jsw_81]

9. Have fun with it

Just tell their registration thingie that you're a 99 year-old female engineer living in Hawaii and earning $500,000 a year. :)

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Excellent choices available

I am now a 97 year old CEO of a Legal Services company, employing more than 10,000 people. In Antarctica. My chief job is animal care. Must be all those huskies ...

[GRClarkesq]

6. To win without the South means being near perfect everywhere else

[kskiska]

7. I just hope he wins big in the mid-west

and makes Florida irrelevant, because Jeb's closed all the loopholes down there.

[jsw_81]

8. Absolutely

That's why Kerry should consider Bayh for VP. If we can take Indiana and Ohio, we win. Period.

[Hoppin_Mad]

10. No Problem

"a voting record that occasionally deviated from liberal positions "