] -The main thing is, no one is trying to really sell Kerry.
] Everyone is just trying to say, without bringing up Bush's
] name, that he can't possibly F*** things up more than the
] current regime.

I agree, and thats a mistake.

Think of it this way. You are in a car racing down hill with 2 other people, 1 is driving and the other in the passenger seat, with you in the back. You are approaching a bridge that is halfway raised, and you have no brakes. The Driver says "Hmmm, I'll punch the gas to try and get us over the rising bridge."

At this point, you are worried. The driver sounds a little crazy sometimes, and not too good of a public speaker. Even though you don't like his plan at all, you don't feel you have any alternatives that have any less chance of killing you.

So the passenger doesn't have to convince you the driver is stupid and you might die, what he has to do is convince you that his idea (open the door, tuck and roll) is better for your survivial.

... ... ok then. My point is Kerry doesn't needs to harp on Bush's total failures in Iraq, education, etc, because most moderates and liberal conservatives already know that. What he needs to present himself in a way that the moderates and liberal conservatives feel comfortable with jumping out of Bush's wild car for.

Acidus wrote:
] ] Kerry is nice, but he's no Clinton with
] ] foreign policy, and right now is one of the most crucial
] times
] ] in recent history for foreign policy leadership.
]
] Sorry Tina, I call Bullshit. Please list some of Clinton
] awesome foreign policy moves that you don't think Kerry could
] do.

Its not that I don't think he can do what needs to be done, but Clinton was completely brilliant and dedicated to foreign policy.
He had a reputation abroad for being a great facilitator of the peace process in places like the Middle East, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland, but most of all he was respected for taking trips to 6 continents and showing that America cared about what was going on in the rest of the world. Even his failures, such as in the Middle East, left the US ahead rather than behind in public opinion.

I don't think these sort of goals are out of reach for Kerry but he is going to start at a marked disadvantage. If he wins, his first priority needs to be showing the world that we are doing a complete turn-around of foreign policy- that we will follow international laws and treaties, that we will respect the UN, and that we won't be arbitrarily invading any other countries. Even if he can get this message across, he will only be getting us back to square one.

Of course, there's no way he could be as unqualified as Bush, but I still wish that we were hearing more about his plans to improve international relations with allies and and enemies alike. All I'm hearing about foreign countries is this chant: Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam!

I guess my point is, I am hopeful about the guy, but I want to hear some specifics, and about countries other than Iraq and Vietnam.
(If anyone has some articles on this, please forward to me.)
-Tina

Ok, so now that I've had night's sleep and time to get out all my gushing, here is what I think was going on last night, strategy wise.

...

[ Tina, Good work keeping us up to date on the convention... it's appreciated.

I can add only very little, but here goes...

The main reason you're not hearing about education is that it's not on people's radar. The polls (and yes, i know, you can't go with polls all the time) indicate that the top three issues are the Economy, Iraq and Terrorism, in that order, and that these three overshadow the rest. I may agree that education should be a HUGE priority in this country, but most people aren't thinking about that.

I think Kerry needs to remind people how bad his opponent has done, not always directly, and not angrily, but enough to keep it present in the mindshare. The rest of the time, he needs to give people reasons to think he'll help them financially, and put the economy in order, and he needs to highlight ways in which he can deliver on the homeland security promises yet unfulfilled.

As we keep hearing, re-election battles are always a referendum on the incumbent, so in some sense, you're always trying to sell the "I'm *not* the incumbent" more than the "I am, X, Y, Z." It sucks, but i don't think there's much alternative.

Incidentally, I still hope for KE04 ads which play the "I'm a uniter not a divider" speech over a scrolling list of highly divisive actions we've seen over the past 4 years.

Anyway, i look forward to more discussions... it's gonna be a hell of a few months coming up! -k]

tina wrote:
]
] -Another thing that escaped attention was the human rights
] violations at Abu Ghraib. Carter was the only one that even
] hinted at this scandal. I'm thinking that they were trying to
] shy away from it because it was such a downer, and the theme
] of the evening was to look onward and upward. Still, this
] subject is one that enrages repubs and dems alike, and I can't
] see why no one is addressing it.

I thought that Jimmy Carter was LOUD and CLEAR on this one.
]