Kerry: He's Peaking Already

[dweller]

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN and JEFFREY ST. CLAIR

By all rights John Kerry should have been at the
top of his form, the night he won the Wisconsin primary. Even
though the six biggest states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida,
New York and California have yet to vote, he's been hailed as
the Democratic nominee, with hit teams already on the rampage,
hunting down prospective Nader supporters, rounding up all known
and prospective third party defectors from the Democratic standard,
forcing them to kneel and kiss the Democratic Party platform
under pain of death, while playing a tape of DNC chair Terry
McAuliffe screaching convert or die!

Kerry has emerged from the bruising kiss
of imputed scandal and, unless Ms Alex Polier or other women
inconveniently crop up again, Teresa Heinz won't have to wield
the carving knife she has threatened to deploy to her husband's
private parts if his path to the White House is derailed by sexual
scandal. Polier not withstanding, never has a candidate had to
put up with less in the way of the baptism of sewage that is
a vital part of the primary process. Dean and Clark drew all
the fire. John Edwards, who could slice up Kerry in a minute,
has adamantly refused to unleash his forensic artillery.

So did Kerry have the jaunty mien of
triumph, that night in Madison? Not that we could see. His long
face, albeit abbreviated by corrective surgery, remained lugubrious
and he stumbled his way tiredly through Bob Shrum's phrases.
The one thing all Democrats this year want is a winner. He doesn't
feel like a winner to us.

Right now some polls show Kerry a few
points ahead of Bush. Other polls show Kerry peaked on February
15 and has started to slip behind Bush. The states that voted
for Gore in 2000, according to a Zogby poll, are softer on Kerry
while Bush states remain strong for their man. As yet Karl Rove
has yet to launch the Shock and Awe barrage that will explode
over Kerry's head some time in the late summer, after the Democrats
have got their boost in Boston.

Rove's targeting plans will obviously include such easy, but telling, hits as Kerry's support for Bush's economic plan.

snip, ouch, i have to get over it

[MasonJar]

1. What a crock of manure.

[grytpype]

2. Like Carter was "peaking" when he lead Ford at this point.

Carter went on to beat one-half-term Republican Ford in the November GE, for those of you who don't know...

[ochazuke]

4. Carter won with a solid south

He only won by a small margin. Ford was coming on strong because the economy was starting to improve, but Ford had never actually been elected in the first place, and he gave a very unpopular pardon to Nixon, so not such a strong candidate.

[papau]

3. ALEXANDER COCKBURN hasn't had a logical thought in years.

Nader like ego with writing ability - but not to be taken seriously

[The Zanti Regent]

5. I remember how Cokehead lied about Hillary

Time and time again ol Alec Cokehead painted Hillary as a right wing Nazi.

What a liar he is!

[Kolesar]

6. I've been reading a lot of Counterpunch lately, most of it sucks

My buddy has been sending me articles on the presidential race. Counterpunch's authors specialize in overstating everything.

Workers Socialist Website is like that too.

[Demeter]

7. It's A Good Thing Bush Hasn't Bottomed Out Yet, Then

How low can he go? Think 1929, and then double it.