posted on April 30, 2004 02:41:35 PM new
Democrats fear Kerry looking like Gore
By RON FOURNIER
The Associated Press
4/30/2004, 3:24 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a recurring night mare for Democratic strategist Tony Coelho — the party's presidential candidate portrayed as a flip-flopping opportunist, ill-served by a strife-torn staff. It happened in 2000, when Coelho ran Al Gore's campaign. Now, it's happening to John Kerry.
Democratic leaders fear he's getting "Gored."
"What the Kerry people don't understand is, it's succeeding," Coelho said.
Scores of Kerry supporters like the former California congressman say their initial response is to remain hopeful, based on polls showing the presumptive nominee tied with President Bush while the Democratic Party is better funded and more united than in 2000. But they are worried about history repeating itself.
"No question, it's a rerun of 2000," said Donna Brazile, campaign manager for the former vice president's 2000 race.
"Every Sunday, Team Bush goes in overdrive by outlining the upcoming week's attacks on Kerry. It's followed by paid advertisements and assigning top-notch surrogates," Brazile said. "This is the exact moment in 2000 when Gore was seriously damaged as the Bush team painted the former vice president as a "serial exaggerator.'"
Republicans are pressing the same points against Kerry, mocking him at every turn.
"How many times can a flip-flop flip before a flip-flop becomes a flop?" Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt asked in a recent news release.
Kerry has given the GOP plenty of fodder, including:
_ Voting against the Persian Gulf War in 1991, in favor of the use of military force in Iraq in 2002 and against final passage of an $87 billion reconstruction bill for Afghanistan and Iraq. Explaining that he supported an amendment that would have provided the aid by rolling back Bush's tax cuts, Kerry said, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." The Bush campaign turned the quote into an ad.
_ The Massachusetts senator, who supports higher automobile fuel economy standards, told reporters last week that he doesn't own a gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle. Asked whether his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had a Suburban at their Ketchum, Idaho, home, Kerry put a razor-fine point on his answer: "The family has it. I don't have it."
_ For years, the decorated Vietnam War veteran has said that he threw his ribbons over a fence at the Capitol during a 1971 anti-war protest, not his three Purple Hearts, Bronze Star and Silver Star. However, in a tape of a television interview Kerry gave after the protest, he suggested that he also threw his medals.
Three decades later, Kerry accused the White House of drumming up a "phony controversy" to change the subject from turmoil in Iraq and a shaky U.S. economy. Supporters say the strategy is even broader — the White House is throwing every conceivable flip-flop or character flaw at Kerry's feet, just as they did to Gore.
Early in the 2000 campaign, Republicans accused the former vice president of taking credit for inventing the Internet, a claim Gore never quite made. Bush's team also jumped on a suggestion by Gore that he and his wife were the models for the novel "Love Story." The vice president later said he was wrong, and chalked it up to a miscommunication.
Neither incident alone ruined Gore's image, but Republicans planted seeds of doubt harvested late in the campaign by Bush.
During a fall debate, Gore said he accompanied Federal Emergency Management Agency director James Lee Witt to a Texas fire zone. Gore's campaign later said he inspected the fires, but not with Witt.
It was a small mistake, but big enough for GOP vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney to say in September 2000 that Gore "has failed to speak the truth" about all sorts of things.
Sound familiar?
"They're painting Kerry as a liberal, and it's succeeding. They're painting him as somebody who flip flops, and they're succeeding," Coelho said, adding that the race is far from over because Kerry has time to show voters his own biography and character. The campaign plans to unveil new biographical ads as early as next week.
Coelho left Gore's campaign in June of 2000, citing health problems. The staff was torn by rancor.
Several Gore advisers who survived that mid-year purge now work for Kerry, including Bob Shrum, with whom Coelho clashed. Shrum fought with Kerry's first campaign manager, Jim Jordan, and first ad-maker, Jim Margolis. Both are gone.
Coelho said he's feels good about Kerry's prospects, even if the campaign structure makes him uncomfortable. Several other Democrats expressed similar views, but only on condition of anonymity.
A senior official at the Democratic National Committee said that while Karl Rove is clearly running Bush's campaign, Kerry's team appears rudderless.
Kerry has said he won't be a "wishy-washy, mealy-mouthed" Democrat, pledging to challenge GOP attacks in a way that 1988 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis never did. But he may want to worry more about comparisons to Gore.
"I do think Republicans are trying to Gore him," said Waring Howe Jr., a Democratic leader in South Carolina.
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EDITORS: Ron Fournier has covered national politics or the White House since 1993.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on April 30, 2004 03:12:49 PM new
It's re-stating the obvious, but the trouble is, he flip-flops so much no one knows what they are getting.
He needs to simply pick a position and make it known. But if you actually take a side, regardless of which side, half the people are going to hate you. But he cannot win if he never stands on anything.
Why doesn't Kerry simply release a checklist of what he actually stands for?
War (Yes) (No)
Taxes (Yes) (No)
Gay Marriage (Yes) (No)
etc...
I am Pro-Iraqi-War, but I'm really NOT pro-Bush. I'm not anti-Bush enough to vote for ANYONE just to get rid him. I still just see NO reason to vote for Kerry.
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We do not stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing -- Anonymous
posted on April 30, 2004 03:14:05 PM new
If Kerry is starting to look like Gore then the Bush people must be pretty worried because Gore beat Bush 4 years ago.
posted on April 30, 2004 03:30:30 PM new If Kerry is starting to look like Gore then the Bush people must be pretty worried because Gore beat Bush 4 years ago.
But who conceded defeat, allowing George Bush to become President?
Could it have been Al Gore that gave up?
Not ALL American Presidents have been selected by popular vote....
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on April 30, 2004 07:46:59 PM new
Gore was terrible and beat bush. Okay we know all about florida, but he was the more popular guy(believe it or not). Kerry is much different, and hopefully will pick a good VP like edwards. Here in PA we just had our primary and the people I talked to were just not into the election yet. People wont start to notice things till the conventions.
posted on May 1, 2004 05:40:01 AM new
LOL, thanks Bear,
Don't need to go back to Vietnam to know Kerry is not the person this country needs in the White House.
AIN'T LIFE GRAND...
It's too bad that their blindness can't see they are killing more soldiers than President Bush ever has... Protest Loud and Proud! Your fellow taliban and insurgents are rejoicing at the support...
posted on May 1, 2004 11:17:32 AM new
Alot of the political analysts were saying back then that Gore was too stiff...that they perceived the American people thought he was holding back and/or distanceing himself from Clinton. I've heard them say Kerry is too stiff or flat, too...but I have yet to really see this for myself. I do think Kerry could be 'warmer' or more sincere or something; as that is what *I* think people respond to in Bush especially for all his ineptness in speeches etc.
posted on May 1, 2004 11:26:43 AM newThe US Supreme Court.
The Supreme Count didn't put the words in Gore's mouth. He himself stated he was conceding the election.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on May 1, 2004 01:19:54 PM new
WHY should they be scared- Gore actually WON the election-The problem is that there is so much wrong with the whole Bush administration that its hard to know where to start- when Bill Clinton got all of the headlines no one was getting killed-But I think as it comes down to the wire Kerry will be able to focus more on Bush's 4 years of failure-
posted on May 1, 2004 02:13:29 PM new
WHY should they be scared- Gore actually WON the election-The problem is that there is so much wrong with the whole Bush administration that its hard to know where to start- when Bill Clinton got all of the headlines no one was getting killed-But I think as it comes down to the wire Kerry will be able to focus more on Bush's 4 years of failure-
posted on May 1, 2004 02:33:50 PM new"They're painting Kerry as a liberal, and it's succeeding. They're painting him as somebody who flip flops, and they're succeeding," Coelho said...
They don't have to 'paint' him that way....anyone who looks at his voting record can see just how far left he is.....waaaay left.
And he does change his position according to which group of voters he's speaking to. Those comparisons are constantly being reported in the media. He said "xxxx" in this state and "xxxx" in this state. That just makes him appear insincere in his positions to me.
posted on May 1, 2004 02:37:19 PM newwhen Bill Clinton got all of the headlines no one was getting killed
if you check your facts you'll find out that statement isn't true. Check what our military was doing during the clinton administration....they were fighting....dropping bombs...people were getting killed.
