Bush has put Kerry on the defensive this week....

[kentuck]

And that was their plan. Perhaps Kerry thought he deserved a small break after winning the Democratic nomination, but the Bush regime used that time to attack Kerry and to question his character and his ability to defend this nation. Just as a cherry on top, they pushed the story about Kerry falling on the slope and using an obscenity toward a Secret Service agent.

Also, Kerry's ad this week was a response ad about not calling for a $900 billion tax increase. It was necessary to say but it only further put him on the defensive. The Bush people have had a good week at the expense of John Kerry.

Kerry needs to retake the offensive. He does not do that by responding to charges by the Bush regime. He needs to make charges of his own and make Bush respond to those. They do not do well from a defensive position.

[cindyw]

1. Don't worry, Kerry does better on the defensive. Don't believe me?

Take a look at the primary. Kerry is the Zen master, rope-a-dope, possum playing fighter. Let it play out. Kerry will not disappoint.

[Fabio]

2. agreed.

it was a difficult week. But there are only 30 or so more to go. The republicans, who have and will have a large credibility problem on Nov 2, I believe are playing their line of attack to early.

We have 8 months. JK's campaign is reorganizing, strategizing, and allowing him to re-energize a little. I think it is penny wise and pound foolish to be drawn into early combat with these crooks and liars.

[Bluzmann57]

3. Discussing that last night

with some folks at a local drinking establishment. Senator(president?) Kerry was accusedof being a "serial taxer", as well as bush mocking his foreign leaders comment. But bush has absolutely no right to call anyone a liar. WMD? A 9/11 connection? "We will find the leak"? Lie after lie after lie...Lets hope Kerry comes out swinging when he's done skiing. I believe he will. And as far as the swearing, hey, Mr. Kerry is a human being, subject to the same foibles as the rest of us. Besides, this administration makes almost everybody cuss.

[alcuno]

4. 60 Minutes tonight. 9/11 testimony on Tuesday.

8 months to go. Kerry needs to pace himself.

[swag]

5. The information cascade was very bad for Bush this week

Financial pages were loaded with "jobless recovery" stories

Medicare lie scandal growing and taking root with older voters, who vote in larger percentages and numbers than other age groups

National Guard duty coming back to haunt Bush again

Richard Clarke in bookstores, on news pages, on editorial pages, and on 60 minutes

Massive demonstrations around the world and decent news coverage and images from most major outlets

Bombing and destruction in Baghdad and around Iraq on one side of TV screens while Cheney joked and bellowed about "safer world" on the other side of the screen

Media studies and panels showing the press went right along and accepted Bush lies, and now media turning around and trying to be a bit more skeptical (keep the pressure on!)

60% of Americans feel US headed in "wrong direction"

Polish president says country was "taken for a ride" - increased grumbling and anger among other "allies"

Kerry does have to counter the RW smears, but this week was not as bad as many here seem to think.

by the way, the 10-day push is falling a bit behind this weekend:

http://contribute.johnkerry.com

[gulliver]

6. Totally agree.

Kerry has to knock Bush down and keep kicking until his leg gets tired. Bush isn't staying down without a constant onslaught.

And Kerry needs to attack the Bush politics of fear. As long as Bush keeps people cowering, they won't think about Enron, job loss, constant terrorist attacks due to Bushian incompetence...

[Algorem]

7. Who even heard about him falling skiing.(Who falls skiing?)Who even

heard of him swearing at a Secret Service agent?I didn't.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. I think he fell and said the "f___" word while a Secret...

...Service agent was probably helping him up, much like any of us would say if we accidently fell or tripped.

Of course, the press and certain posters will take this opportunity to state that Kerry swore AT a Secret Service agent. Business as usual as far as I can tell.

[Algorem]

12. That deity-condemned coitusing son of an unmarried woman!Feces!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

8. Isn't Kerry on vacation this week? Let's see what happens in the...

...next couple of weeks instead of worrying about every little minor thing the NeoCons throw out.

[Lexingtonian]

10. nah, more like the counteroffense

It's all crap and will wash away in a few weeks' time. Reality is still George Bush's major enemy.

Tactically, no: nobody thought that Kerry would 'get time off' and everyone knows this is the most vulnerable period. And that the dynamic would be pretty much one way- he did better than expected for a week or almost two. Yes, there is a fair amount of anxiety. No, it's all rhetorical crap and opportunistic bullying tactics.

I'm sure he went to Idaho because his team said he had to take time off, that he was showing some fatigue and would make things worse rather than better by sticking around when not at his sharpest. It's the only rational explanation. His 'A Team' was probably working ahead this week, the 'B Team' and surrogates did the media appearances and it came out kinda sloppy.

We can count on the Administration or Bush personally delivering some poignant gaffe or lie this week, given the investigations and pressures and deceptions they're under. Have other Democrats chew on them for two days and watch Kerry get back in the fray. At least, that's how I would do it....

I wouldn't worry too much. They've close to run out of political capital for their side's radical record and ideology, now they're expending all the political capital gained via failed Democrats of the past thirty or forty years- which seems like a lot at first but they always discover there to be far less of it there with swing voters than they think.

Using it failed against Clinton three times and worked just enough against Gore due to his missteps with Democrats. It does tap into some nearly bottomless psychopathy among radical Republicans, though, so the noise generated in the public arena is usually far greater than the effect in changed opinions. This well goes dry pretty quickly. Watch them fall back on relatively moderate positions in a couple of weeks- There just is no keeping this stuff up for 90 days on their end without losing their own.

[nostamj]

11. please... Kerry was on vacation

and the insipid chimp blew his entire wad leaving a wealth of repeated lies to be used against him.

the mean-spiritedness of his FL propaganda event will bite him in the ass. Kerry didn't allow booing. the insipid chimp revelled in it. hardly presidential.

bush will lose because he has lost credibility, lost it with the entire world. his arrogance about 'not caring what anyone, any nation' thinks about his policies will be revealed for the genuine dangers they pose for the nation. at home and abroad.

of course the chimp seized the opportunity while Kerry was away and also used his FL rally to virtually eliminate the global ANTI-BUSH protests.

but they happened.