Tactics and Substance in the 2004 Elections GoogleNews: Howard Dean

March 18, 2004

by J

Where are the Democrats?

I've got to say I agree with Hesiod and Atrios: Where are the Democrats? Kerry definitely cannot win this thing alone. My man Howard Dean is sticking up for him in public. Where's Papa Bill? Where's Dick Gephardt? Where's John Edwards? Where's Al Gore? For pete's sake people, McCain's entertainment of the Veep possibility probably did more for Kerry this past week than any of the rest of these folks. (This party so demonstrably broken.) In any event, Atrios suggests:
The Democrats have about 250 members of Congress. They have numerous official and non-official allies. They need to figure out how to use them to run this campaign in the 24/7 news cycle in a media landscape which is much more fractured than it was back in 1992. At any point in time, they need to have dozens of people ready to fan out to every possible media outlet and perform the inverse judo flip any time the Bush machine turns on the slime. There should be a small army, including a couple top generals, ready to lend their voice on any subject at any time. They should be briefed and prepped with the latest talking points, and they should be out their screaming them at every opportunity.
And he points to this wonderful little exchange between Holbrooke and Blitzer that I'd been meaning to blog. This is what an opposition looks like:
BLITZER: Ambassador Holbrooke, thanks very much for joining us. A little revised version of what John Kerry said. He said, "I've met more leaders who can't go out and say it all publicly, but boy, they look at you and say, you got to win. This you got to beat this guy, we need a new policy, things like that." So there is enormous energy out there. The president today said, if he makes an accusation, he has a responsibility to back it up. What do you say?

RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FRM. U.S. AMB. TO U.N.: John Kerry committed an unpardonable crime in Washington: he spoketh the truth. What he said is self-evidently true. There's a new poll out today by the Pew Institute, a worldwide pool, which shows massive and growing anti-Americanism around the world. Now American voters need to make up their own mind who they prefer, George W. Bush or John Kerry. But they also ought to know this administration is isolating us in the world, weakening us. Recent events in Spain, this election are another example.

John Kerry said something everybody knows is true. And, Wolf, you know it's true. And why don't I say just one other thing. Why don't you, instead of staging a silly he said/he said between the White House, which is throwing all this mud at John Kerry after he said something true. Why don't you poll your foreign correspondents on CNN. And ask them who the population and leaderships in the world would prefer to see elected? Very simple."
Too simple for poor Wolfie to understand, I guess.

Hesiod observes:
It involves a multi-layered approach. First, from the President all the way down to the undersecretary level, administration flacks are hammering Kerry on whatever line of attack they can come up with. If anything gains traction, they stick with that theme constantly.

[...] The next level of attack is all the GOP elected officials sticking it to Kerry on a daily basis in their districts and states. Usually this is done whenever Kerry visits a particular state.

Then you have the entire GOP media machine churning out sleaze. From Fox News, to Limbaugh and Hannity, to the scumbags at Weekly Standard and the National review. They are doing a shotgun approach to attacking Kerry. Throw out anything they find that even looks like it's bad for Kerry, and blast it out into the media bloodstream. If they have to, they'll make something up.

They just constantly churn stuff out, and hope that something begins to have traction. At that point, they'll run with it.
The Dems have known this would be coming whoever their nominee turned out to be. Where the hell are they? I want to see more than pleas for money in my inbox. I want to see the Democratic party's biggest hitters, elected and unelected, on the airwaves and in print every time I turn around sticking it to this corrupt, sleazy Administration. Both barrels. Guns blazing. Their timidity in the face of such egregious assaults from the Bushies really makes me wonder about what exactly they're committed to.
Posted by J at March 18, 2004 10:40 AM
Comments

John Kerry said something everybody knows is true. And, Wolf, you know it's true. And why don't I say just one other thing. Why don't you, instead of staging a silly he said/he said between the White House, which is throwing all this mud at John Kerry after he said something true. Why don't you poll your foreign correspondents on CNN. And ask them who the population and leaderships in the world would prefer to see elected? Very simple."---}me H e l l o?

PR:I agree, Poll both CNN and United Nations. Let's see who they feel more comfortable working with........mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Imagine alwww the people.....this ain't the 60's girls. Laying down with other countries will only ruin your reputation,like a 'french ho".

Posted by: JFK at March 24, 2004 12:50 AM

The authors support Howard Dean in the Democratic primary. Accordingly, his campaign will be a prominent topic on this site.

Why don't you guys learn to back a winner instead of a whinner! Learn that this campaign is not about John Kerry.....he'll blow away like a house of cards.

This campaign is about those of us who have grown tired of the HIll-Bill-Al act of the 90's. You people have no foundational truths. You change with every wind that comes along and blows your skirt up. Kill Criminals Babies....you don't even have the basic's down....how can America trust you with a higher calling?

Posted by: at March 24, 2004 01:07 AM

The authors support Howard Dean in the Democratic primary. Accordingly, his campaign will be a prominent topic on this site.

Why don't you guys learn to back a winner instead of a whinner! Learn that this campaign is not about John Kerry.....he'll blow away like a house of cards.

This campaign is about those of us who have grown tired of the HIll-Bill-Al act of the 90's. You people have no foundational truths. You change with every wind that comes along and blows your skirt up. Kill Criminals Babies....you don't even have the basic's down....how can America trust you with a higher calling?

Posted by: JFK at March 24, 2004 01:07 AM

I apologize,typo to read: Why don't we kill criminals (Capital punishment) not babies in the development stage---}abortion. You protect the wrong person when you "chose" to side with one human(who has the gift of life) over an innocent human who cannot get a fair trail in front of a liberal judge. Roe/Wade made it legal to abort not "honorable". Guilt follows many a young woman when she later decides to allow a 6mo old become a 9 month baby. IMHO Not to offend, but to voice for those who never will. Thanks JFK

Posted by: JFK at March 24, 2004 01:17 AM

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