Look, we can play "Whack-a-Mole", or we can run a campaign!

[Cuban_Liberal]

Every time some RW nut breaks wind, we see a gazillion threads demanding that Kerry immediately respond, and a gazillion more bemoaning the fact that he doesn't. With the power and size of the Republican Noise Machine, Sen. Kerry's campaign would have no time to do anything but play a huge (and losing) game of 'Whack-a-mole', and would never be able to get its message out, or follow its strategy.

The fact of the matter is that the Kerry campaign has a finite amount of money it can spend between now and November 2nd, and playing 'let's react' to every bit of RW verbal flatulence would soon bleed the campaign's treasury white. John Kerry knows what he's doing, and the polls reflect that, so please, try to keep that in mind.

Thank you.

[mzmolly]

1. X-cellent points. I'll try to be mindful.

Perhaps RW strategy is that Kerry spend $ on nonsense now so we have less $ when we need it?

:hi:

[Cuban_Liberal]

2. Let the 527s do some of the 'heavy lifting'.

That's why they exist.

:hi:

[michigandem2]

3. very eloquently stated...

I know that Kerry knows what he is doign..he has been in politics a long time and so far I am not too disappointed. Its a long road..we can't be objecting to every word they utter..fact is..people can see..plain as day that Bush is on the attack because he has no case to make himself look GOOD..he has to make the other guy looke WORSE than he does..so if we think about it...its perfectly sensible what he is doing...but sometimes we lose sight of that

[Cuban_Liberal]

4. Kick

:dem:

[Cuban_Liberal]

5. And another... n/t

[ibegurpard]

6. No rational person is expecting Kerry to respond to EVERYTHING

However, when it becomes obvious that something is getting "legs" then they have to move quickly to OBLITERATE it. It was becoming apparent that the "swift boat" story was reaching that point.

Now, about whack-a-mole...are you going to keep playing whack-a-mole with every complaint about Kerry that surfaces on here or do you think it would be better to play up the positives and attack the obvious freepers?

[Cuban_Liberal]

7. What?

"...Now, about whack-a-mole...are you going to keep playing whack-a-mole with every complaint about Kerry that surfaces on here or do you think it would be better to play up the positives and attack the obvious freepers?"

:wtf: are you talking about?

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cuban_Liberal]

9. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Care to enlighten me, with citations?

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cuban_Liberal]

11. Pot. Kettle. Black. n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

20. The poster is saying YOU are playing whack a mole by

starting a thread complaining about people complaining that Kerry isn't reacting quickly and strongly enough to attacks. There have been numerous threads saying the same thing you are saying: everything's cool, Kerry's playing a masterful game of chess, just be quiet and drink your Koolaid. Some of us don't want to be quiet when we see Kerry's king in danger and he seems to be afraid to move his queen. Some of us are scared that the GOP thugs plus the corporate media are going to do him the way they did Gore, Dukakis, Carter when Reagan ran against him, Mondale, McGovern, Humphrey, Stevenson -- get the picture now?

[Padraig18]

23. I didn't get that at all.

I didn't see him say anywhere that Kerry shouldn't defend himself; what I saw him say was that Kerry can't allow himself to be in the position of responding to every Republican attack, because he would never be allowed to get his own message out, if he did so.

[Sensitivity]

12. Please stop refering to mortal danger as "a mole." Integrity is central

to the Kerry campaign and it is fine for those who care to
circle the wagons against an attack against Kerry's honor and
honesty.

[Cuban_Liberal]

13. What?

:wtf:

[Democat]

14. The Swift Boat Liars book is #2 in the United States - that's not a mole!

It's a monster and it needs to be dealt with.

[Cuban_Liberal]

15. And it was...

...on the Kerry campaign's timetable and terms.

[sundancekid]

26. it's also published by white supremacist Regnery Press who puts out

99% extreme RW pulp print (i.e. Coulter, and at least 20 more etc.),where Scaife et al buy up literally hundreds of copies of this stuff to artificially inflate sales ... and so on and so forth ...
there have been excellent threads on DU re Regnery Publishing that you might also find helpful ...

[Padraig18]

16. Very well said!

:thumbsup:

[DemBones DemBones]

17. Kerry needs to whack some moles. I agree that he can't

be distracted from the issues and run around whacking every mole but he or someone in his campaign needs to decapitate any mole that appears to be gaining ground. And sooner is better than later. I like what he said today about the SmearVets but he should have said it sooner.

The American people need to hear Democrats, including the candidate himself, pointing out that Kerry denounced a MoveOn ad while Bush* refuses to denounce the SmearVets, and that the MoveOn ad was true while the SmearVets ad is packed with lies. It's in the records that Bush* failed to take his flight physical and was grounded, and no one can prove he served out his enlistment. Kerry's record doesn't have those embarrassing gaps.

John Edwards should be Kerry's surrogate when it comes time to whack moles, actually. That's part of the tradition for VPs. Edwards is a successful lawyer so he is bound to know how to go negative in a positive-sounding way. Besides, he's a Southerner and we have a gift for insulting people while sounding sweet as pie.

[ibegurpard]

24. Bingo!

Thank you! Some of these moles HAVE to be whacked.

[bushwakker]

18. You're wrong and today proves it

They tried "judo" and obviously they felt it wasn't working. JK needs to respond to this smear against his character EVERY DAY until Nov 2nd.

[Padraig18]

19. Does the opening post mention the 'swift boat vets' ad?

No, it doesn't; it's a general statement of strategy.

[bushwakker]

21. Seems to imply that JK should just "stay on message"

let's face it there only one real smear out there and it not just a blip. it is not just about playing defense - the sbl's ads are an opportunity to play offense.

[Padraig18]

22. I didn't get that at all, frankly.

AsI read it, what he said was that Kerry cannot allow himself to be placed in the position of always having to play 'defense', especially since he is now constrained by campaign-finance spending limits. Kerry has to play his oiwn game, and if responding forcefully to a given attack ad is part of that, cool; if not, not.

[sundancekid]

25. THANK YOU ... maybe this will cut down on the henny-penny losing game here

[Padraig18]

27. Maybe.

I wouldn't bet my mortgage or rent payment on that, though.

;)

[rucky]

28. You had me at "whack"

too right.

[JI7]

29. you are right

if kerry responded in a reactionary way to every right wing attack or every poll or anything else that came out he would have been out of money months ago.

the fact is that the campaign IS responding to attacks but the big media just wont report it. it's just something we have to deal with. we have to make sure we have money for when the elections get closer. what is the purpose of making sure we are ahead at the moment if we have no money left for when we get closer to election time ?

there will be some down points. the negative attacks will hurt . but it's all part of a strategy to know when to use to money for ads to respond back.

[Padraig18]

30. People need to accept that the Repubs are gonna 'land one' occasionally.

Kerry's is gonna take a few 'on the chin', and it's unrealistic to expect that he won't, but this isn't a 'tit for tat', one-round exercise, it's a 15-round prize fight--- and Kerry's gonna win it!

:hi: