Kerry should do what Clinton didn't: Tell media sex hounds to get lost!

[JackRiddler]

So here is Kerry's chance to do what Clinton should have done back in 1992, or in 1997 at the latest, which would have avoided a whole lot of trouble and helped America grow up.

Assuming the charges are limited to an affair with a consenting adult and do not involve force or anything illegal, Kerry should not deny or explain anything. Something like the following will do:

"Whatever love relations I may have had with another consenting adult are none of your business. The American people have had ample opportunity to show that they do not vote based on stories about sex lives, and rightly so. They are sick of media-driven distractions from the issues that actually matter to them. I will make no statements about things that every reasonable person will agree are rightly private. Get your cameras out of my crotch!"

This is what Jesse Ventura did, by the way, for whatever it's worth. He's the only one I can think of who stood up for his god-given rights to sexual privacy.

It would work fabulously. (So well, in fact, that I hope instead he equivocates and weakens himself, because he is bad news for our country.)

So what are the chances? He's Mr. Business-As-Usual on NAFTA, 9/11 investigations, Iraq invasion, PATRIOT and everything else that matters. Can he at least make this minor contribution towards improving American culture?

Regardless of your opinion of Kerry, what do you people think he should do?

[boobooday]

1. You got that right.

Let's not have any more "crotch politics." When the white house press corps brings up W going AWOL, they scream "politics."

But a candidates sex life, hey, that's serious.

Susan Estrich just wrote a column about how John & Theresa were making out backstage at some event.

I guess running for president means having an "open marriage" only not in the usual sense.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

Jeanette

[coloradodem2005]

2. I would Agree.

Kerry should tell people to f*ck off. Of course Dean already did that and he is being villified.

[Mz Pip]

3. I kinda agree

It worked well for Bush. He wouldn't answer "personal" questions during the 2000 election and it worked.

MzPip
:dem:

[arewethereyet]

4. IF its true, he must come clean and really soon

as in tomorrow morning

[aldian159]

5. Here's what he could say if bob woodward asks him.

"Bob, I thought you worked for the Washington Post, not the New York Post."

[Alopenia]

6. Sorry, but it DOES matter if a man is unfaithful to his wife

I think it speaks very much about the trustworthiness of an individual. As a woman, I have a BIG problem with this sort of behavior.

[JackRiddler]

9. How do you know about Kerry's marriage?

Sure, Theresa plays the role expected of her in the campaign and talks about the sanctity of their bonds blah blah.

How do you know any of that is true? How do you know enough to call it "cheating" if they screw around? What if it's considered okay between them? (Given this country's utter prudishness they wouldn't be able to say, would they?)

They are practically billionaires! She inherited the Heinz fortune from Sen. John Heinz, who was also in Skull & Bones. You think this was a marriage of passionate love? It's an arranged power marriage, like almost any other among the ruling class.

What if Theresa doesn't care? Why should we even know the details? If she does care, isn't it her problem, and not ours? You're proposing we should waste time discussing the sex lives of strangers?

[arewethereyet]

10. it matters

its not about sex so much as its about honor.

[spooky3]

13. But it's not our business. It is the Kerry's, and no one else's.

Candidates should not have to forfeit all of their privacy just to run for office.

[arewethereyet]

17. I should know if someone has honor

especially if he wants me to help him become the leader of the free world. If he were not doing so then, you're right, it would be none of my business.

Honor matters.

[YouMustBeKiddingMe]

7. Yes, but if there is absolutely no merit to the stories, say so.

But DON'T LIE!

This is exactly what Bush is facing now with the AWOL issue. He lied time and time again, and in the 2000 election the media covered his butt for him, but now the media is running with it and he's backed into a corner. He was AWOL and has no place to hide now.

And to make matters worse, his credibility is being questioned on multiple fronts now. The budget, WMD's, the Plame affair, his service record, etc. If he'd dealt with this issue straight up when it first surfaced it wouldn't be piled on top of multiple credibility issues now.

[spooky3]

12. I disagree.

You're telling him to say there's no merit if that's true, and that it's no one business if there is merit? Then he essentially gives up his privacy--many people conclude that there is merit in the stories if he says "none of your business".

He needs to make the same statement whether there is merit or not. If it is a private matter, it is a private matter and no one is entitled to know anything. Clinton's situation was different, because there were issues of workplace discrimination raised and courts were involved. He could have taken the Fifth and to non-court inquirers, said it was his own business. But if Kerry has had any private affairs that involved no legal issues or workplace relationships/potential discrimination, etc., then voters have no right at all to know the answers. If he loses a few votes from people who believe they have a right to know, so be it. That's a small price to play for maintaining privacy in the few realms that a candidate can maintain it.

[mourningdove92]

8. I find it very hard to believe that this so called breaking story

has any validity to it. After what we saw the repugs do to President Clinton, any Democrat that runs for President must be squeeky clean in this area. Kerry may not be my first choice for our candidate, but I do not believe he is dumb enough to believe he could run for president with any kind of adulterous affair in his closet. None of us are surprised to see the repugs stoop to this level. Anytime things don't go their way, the try to make a SEX case. Its their pattern, over and over. Surely Kerry would know better than to try it, therefore, unless Kerry himself admits to this, I will consider it bogus bullshit designed to detract from the Democratic frontrunner and scare the country into believing we are going to have to go through this again. Kerry is making a statement regarding this issue tomorrow. I have faith it will be a complete denial.

[ShaneGR]

11. Media's Answer: So you're admitting you had an affair while married?

They'd tear him up.

[spooky3]

14. Kerry: "Let me repeat what I just said to you...

You are asking questions that are none of your business."

[JackRiddler]

16. exactly!

Shame THEM!

How many of them never had an affair?!

What proportion of married Americans never had an affair?

Enough already!

[Dr Fate]

15. He needs to tell the media to "grow up"...

...and stop distracting people from important issues...

[Tinoire]

18. Fess up and REAL quick but

He's already waited too long. I was hoping he would have done it this afternoon but he didn't. Not good, not good at all.

Teresa is probably heaving (and do I mean heaving) an entire battery of Calphalon at his head right now- not because he cheated but because he embarrassed her and the other woman's pictures are up on the internet for everyone to compare the two, for everyman to oggle and reflect.

Bad, bad. Should have kept his zipper super-glued- especially when he knoew he was going to run for President and would be appealing to the center. DLC wisdom at it again.

[Moderator]

19. locked

please continue here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=324022

thanks