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By not vehemently refuting charges and hammering them until they're not just nullified, but turned upon the accusers, the Kerry camp is being quite like Gore's campaign. The "inventing the internet" distortion should have been aggressively fought, just as the dog issue should have.
When the enemy accuses you of something that's untrue or extremely misrepresented, it has to be repeatedly countered, until the point's reached that it can never be used again, then it has to be taken as an offensive issue to show how deceitful they are.
The $87B vote is a huge issue, and Kerry has to say that he was voting against Bush's greedy and unaccountable giveaway, not against the troops. Bush's plans are not the only solution, and voting against incompetent or greedy plans is what legislators are supposed to do.
The SUV issue is a good one: although minor in the long run, the accumulation of small things happens quickly. Kerry should say that this vehicle belongs to his wife and/or her grown children from a previous marriage; not only is it an false accusation, it's yet another example of this administration not being able to get simple facts straight and being desperate. (See that? It was easily turned against them, and used to further hammer home an important talking point: the amateurish incompetence of this mob.)
The medals issue is serious: he NEVER said that he'd thrown away ALL of his medals and ribbons, and since he displayed them on his office wall, he didn't run from this either. He should demand them to show where he said that he'd thrown them all away. He can then go onto the attack against one-note Junior: maybe he never changes his mind, but some of us do, and we take responsibility for our actions.
The commercial claiming that he'd raise taxes by $900B in his first 100 days is sheer fancy, and it should be jammed down their throats.
The fact that he's voted to raise taxes should be expressed as this: he voted to raise HIS OWN TAXES and those of other rich people, because he recognizes his responsibility to his countrymen, whereas Junior maneuvers to REDUCE HIS OWN TAXES, and then pleads poverty as an excuse to take services away from the poor.
It's not enough to just refute charges--which he isn't really doing--but it has to be done vigorously, and when the tide's turned on a specific issue, it needs to be brought up over and over as an example of their incompetence and lack of principles.
Yes, this smacks of the Gore campaign. Gore was spooked by the right's hatred of Clinton and purposely put the most vocal anti-Clinton Democrat (Quisling Joe) on the ticket with him. Ya might as well put on a hair shirt and apologize for having consorted with the Devil. Hell, THAT would have been better; it would have at least addressed the situation. In precisely the same way, John Kerry should not run from the term "Liberal"; he should say "call me that if you want, it's a good thing" Liberals gave you the FDA, SEC, Social Security, Medicare, Civil Rights, labor laws and basically everything that lifted us out of the savagery of the gilded age. He also has to have a straight answer for his Gulf War I vote. These things aren't going to go away.
Yes. Very much like Gore.
I have high hopes for the guy, though, and I think he may have some personality traits that are endearing to people: he comes across as shy and awkward, whereas Gore was aloof, and he comes across as someone who's given back to the society that gave him so much. There's a sadness to him, but he shows up for duty and manages a smile; somewhere in the hearts of many, that brings reassurance.
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