How does Kerry survive next 4 month's of GOP negative "Defining ads?"

[papau]

I see that even George Soros has come down from "certain" Bush will be defeated, to answering such questions by refering to the easy ride the Media may well give Bush, and noting that in the last 3 weeks the Bush media machine has smoothly geared up for 6 months of full combat starting tomorrow and indeed looks impressive.

If Soros is taken back with the bias of US Media, and the power Bush has to control it, and the money -which is part of the control - that Bush plans to spend, I'm afraid this will not be easy.

I think Kerry can win, should win - but the latest estimate of $300 million for media for Bush/GOP in next 6 months from friends and interest groups - in addition to what portion of the $100 million his campaign has and will spend - is a number that makes one pause.

Add in free media bias - GOP/right wing control of left leaning reporters if you like - or dislike of non-Elvis candicates if you like - and John Kerry has a job ahead of him that will not be easy.

[KC21304]

1. I don't think Soros has backed down at all. Booknotes with

Brian Lamb was not the place for Soros to be campaigning and promising a Democratic win.

Out the door in '04.

[papau]

4. Booknotes was my source - and I hope you are correct.

I may have needed a mood pill at the time I was watching - saw it too negatively


at least I hope so.

[mopaul]

2. by throwing it RIGHT BACK in their faces

that's always been my main complaint, the democratic pols who seem to me to be shapeless and too reasonable in the face of constant attacks.
not to name names, but there seem to be very few guys on our side, other than maybe dean and kerry, who INSTANTLY respond to the robotic snarling hateful attacks.

one of the republinazis most powerful tools has always been mudslinging and attacks. as witness with my man Bill.

i think kerry is pretty good at deflecting the attacks by pointing out how hypocritical they are, instead of waiting a few days to respond. like when bush says democrats can't handle foreign policy bla bla bla, kerry says we can, etc.

but absolutely, they will attack him visciously

[lancdem]

3. I don't think anyone believes it will be easy

It's never easy to beat an incumbent president, no matter how incompetent he is. People don't remember that in 1980, the race between Reagan and Carter was very close until a few days before the election, when it suddenly broke in a big way for Reagan. We are in for a long, difficult battle, but one we CAN win.

[Joanne98]

5. fighting back

and raising money NOW. Sticking flyers under windshields if we have to. Bush* is a criminal. Something needs to start using that word.

[jean]

6. Soros does not swagger. I have faith in our side - we can get this done

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

7. if cnn assigns candy crowley to kerry's campaign

he should kick her off the bus immediately. he should say she is
too negative and cite her coverage of al gore. kerry will be running against the media as much as he is against shrub and should start kicking some media ass.

[displacedtexan]

12. Candy-ass Crowley was at JK DC HQ last night.

Lots of lip biting, back alley screaming, and sideways glances among JK staffers.

Candy is up to no good!

[woofless]

14. Did you see the person behind Crowley

holding up a sign CNN in a circle w/slash through it and the text: CNN IS BAD NEWS. LMAO!

[LoneStarLiberal]

8. Things In Our Favor

With or without Soros' financial backing it was never going to be easy.

That being said, I think that there are a number of things working in our favor right now:

1) People en mass are beginning to understand the difference between an economic recovery and having a job that provides them with a living wage;

2) Bush's image as a moral leader and claim to be a compassionate conservative to moderates is facing several crucial tests right now, all of which I do not think he will pass: Indictments in the Office of the Vice President over the Plame investigation, appearing forthright and honest with the 9/11 Invetigation, the many questions and no answers about his National Guard service, and the debacle of the Hate Amendment;

3) Kerry has already shown that he's not the second coming of Michael Dukakis. Thankfully there's such a plethora of dirt out there on Bush that any attempt to draw personal comparisons between the two from the Republican side is going to leave them wide-open to getting their tailed whipped on the return;

4) While most of the media are going to lay off going after Bush, I do believe the worm has turned with respect to the "oh we can't possibly say anything bad about the President" theme that's dominated the last two and a half years. The administration has screwed the media too many times for them to still be 100% in their pockets.

It's uphill, but I think there are positive signs that the slope might not be as steep as we've previously thought.

[Bandit]

9. Support Moveon.org and all like organizations

We need to put our money where our mouth is. If no other time in history you ever made a political donation this is the time. It is your patriotic duty. The US is being ruled by thugs and criminals. We are so very close to Fascism it is scary. Support your candidates and support groups like Moveon.org. That is the only thing that will save America. This is the most important election of my lifetime and I was alive during Truman's time in office. Even five dollars will make a difference. A pack of cigarettes for you smokers or a rented movie or a big mac. Come on people this is historic. If you can give to other candidates do so. We need Congress as well. We need to do a clean sweep and rid America of the thugs and criminals in the Republican Party.

[goddess40]

19. Support Moveon

This is Goddess40's mom. I just gave $100 to Moveon.org. We have to give money to counteract the Bush millions.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

21. Agree. We must all support Moveon.org! They are our best....

hope for defeated the "Great Satan".

[Bandit]

22. Hello Goddess40's mom

Welcome to DU :thumbsup: Look forward to you registering and joining in the debate. Thank you for your donation to help save Democracy in America. :toast: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[humble truth]

29. And get others to support as well

This election is too important not to do everything you can. As Bandit said, this is the most important election of my lifetime. I will go door-to-door, I will beg all my family and friends to donate. Anything I can.

[11 Bravo]

10. The same way he survived AK-47 and RPG fire

in his swift boat. HE WILL SHOOT BACK! John Kerry is not the stereotypical "liberal weenie" (if such an individual even exists); he is a warrior. When BUSHCO starts flinging their shit, they better be prepared to duck, because it will be coming right back at them, HARD!

[Beetwasher]

11. Some of the Attacks Have Already Been Neutralized

After the Drudge/Intern fiasco and the Doctored photographs, Kerry might very well be immune to this type of smear and the mainstream press now won't touch these stories unless they barge in on him in a hotel room with a hooker and have a dozen irrefutable pics of the incident.
The ONLY thing they have now is trying to tar Kerry as a Mass. Liberal and a waffler. Those labels are so old and stale and overused it's just not going to work this time around. People are way to pissed off and will be like "Yeah, whatever, we've heard this crap before. Where's my job and the WMD's the AWOL chimp keeps promising?"

[dennis4868]

13. Kerry....

is already being (Al) Gored by the media and the repubs (aren't they the same). The media is picking up the Bush line that Kerry flip flops on the issues and is weak on defense. Of course the media does not tell you that Bush flip flops on issues every 10 minutes. Sometimes Bush is even worse.....he will support and sign a bill and only later decide he does not like the bill and not fund the bill/programs (i.e., Leave No Child Left Behind). The media is only concerned with Kerry's flip flopping on the issues and is giving Bush a free pass on his flip flops (Global Warming, UN Resolution, gay marriage, etc....). This is what is called being (Al) Gored. The media attacks you and gives your opponent a free pass on the very same things you are being attacked on.

Kerry has to fight Bush and his money machine, the media and the Supreme Court. I do not see how Kerry can overcome this.

[woofless]

15. Just watch.

He will do so by defining Bush and telling the American people the truth.

[NewJeffCT]

27. I hope you're right

But, it will be very hard for Kerry to get his message out through the filter of the Right Wing controlled media.

[rucky]

16. Time to start coughing up some dough for the Kerry campaign

n/t

[BillZBubb]

17. Please Kerry, don't play defense!

Kerry should not wait for the Repug/corporate media slime machine to tar him. He should continue to go after Bush day after day. He should have one issue per week that he hammers right up until election day. Have party leaders make substantial claims against Bush, and the press will have to cover it. Bush will have to respond to it.

Sure, respond quickly to the Repug attacks, but don't dwell on them. They will say is he weak on defense and will have a list of military bills he voted against. Naturally, Kerry will have reasons he voted no on all of them, but he cannot get bogged down trying to explain difficult concepts. The public won't follow. He needs to find a short, direct, and simple response.

[maggrwaggr]

18. Offense! Put Bush on the ropes and keep him there!

Play hard, play dirty, don't relent, do NOT be a nice guy, just pound this motherfucker into the ground relentlessly and don't let him get up.

[sable302]

20. dangerous

America likes to cheer for the guy who is against the ropes. I refer you to all the 'Rocky' movies as example. A bush against all odds could be a dangerous opponent in November.

I say we should take criticism in stride, and not attack on every point. Be positive. It's all part of the process. Let America see Bush as the preemptive attacking pit bull bastard that he is. (It may help us make the case that Bush is reckless in war both Iraq and AWOL). The campaign will naturaly try to be all about Bush, to be sure, and it will need a big dose of Kerry in order for us to win, but Kerry may have to take a few punches first.

[maggrwaggr]

28. you make good point. But the strategy should be to never let him up

Yes, the way it should work is:

Kerry remains above the fray, positive.

Everybody else beats the shit out of Bush.

That's how the repugs have done it for years and it's very effective.

[Cat Atomic]

30. I disagree. This country does not like underdogs.

This country likes a winner. Look what happened to Kerry's numbers after Dean had a little blood in the water. Look at how many of us shouted "USA! USA!" when we heard that "Shock and Awe" has started against Iraq.

We like to say we like underdogs, but we don't. I think most Americans would rather watch the weak get crushed, personally.

[maggrwaggr]

31. Look what people on this board were doing to Dean as late as yesterday

People love to kick a guy when he's down and shout "LOSER!"

It's disgusting.

[tjwash]

23. What he needs to do...

...is challenge the chimp to a REAL debate. A real, live on TV, unscripted, unmoderated debate. Not like those crap Bush v. Gore debates were.

The candidates will not be given the questions in advance so that *'s team of spin men can craft a response for him. No moderator to save the monkeys ass when it starts getting spanked. And none of this crap of ignoring any of the real questions of WMD's, the economy, hateful warmongering, failing miserably on the war on terror, and shredding the constitution into little pieces.

If * refuses, Kerry should spend every minute calling him on it, so every one knows that * is once again running away and hiding, just like he did while "in" the National Guard, and while the 9-11 attacks were going on.

In short Kerry should tell * "bring it on"...

[Nashyra]

24. I think he needs to come out swinging

There needs to be a commercial with snippets of Kery, Clark and other high profile Dems in Vietnam with the year under as a caption and then say the Dems know all about National Security and Why War should be a last resort and then pictures of the chickenhawks, *,Cheney,Delay cheerleading or doing whatever with the same year under their pictures with a great big "they don't that's why they lied to go to Iraq. They could use it with additional pictures of Ken Lay and big contribiutors and label them "The Real WMD's" They can show pictures of our troops in Iraq with explosions in the background side by side of large corporated donor parties or list of amounts donated to the RNC and asked "whose rights are they really protecting" They can show regular families saying goodbye to their loved ones going overseas to "protect America" and show various members of the *'s families, ie: Jebbie, his thief wife, his druggie daughter, his thief brother Neil and ask "What is his family doing to protect America"? Just some ideas.

[sable302]

25. but then, we'll be forced to endure

the Republicans counter by naming him

"Dirty Kerry" or something like it.

They probably already have the "Dirty Kerry" Campaign blitz all laid out.

[Lindsey]

26. I agree about the media...Kerry MUST AND I MEAN MUST

have a neutral person covering him.

[AgadorSparticus]

32. one word: grassroots...

the media may spin, spin, spin, but we can all do our part by telling everyone the TRUTH about bush and keep repeating it. that way they get counter exposure from the conservative media. TV is not the only way to reach and impact people.

we may not have billions and own all the media outlets, but hell, we can do better. we FAR outnumber them and we have mouths that work. if everyone we know tells 3 people everyday, well, you can imagine the numbers already....

I plan on wearing bush lies-->vote kerry T-shirts everywhere I go. It's advertisement and it's a way of reaching out to the public in a cheap way. but it requires us all to do our part.
i'm donating like hell to both the DNC and moveon.org this summer. I just have to scrape some money together first.

[Valkyrie55]

33. Money can often sway voters

In this case I don't think it will be as important. The electorate is so polarized that it seems unlikely that more than a tiny percentage of people will change their vote between now and November no matter how many ads either * or Kerry put out. As for me I'll vote for Kerry even if they uncover a video of him shooting heroin while decked out in white robes at a KKK rally. Nuff said.

[stepnw1f]

34. All Kerry Has to DO...

is rebut every stab with one of Bush's...... drumroll...... "mishaps."

Sort of tie it all in to reality and the picture that Bush lies about, all the time.

[Sugarbleus]

35. I discussed this very thing with hubby today. We have to

send in the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to help Kerry buy ads. Other than that, I hope he has a huge Ace up his sleeve because I think it will be a hard fight otherwise.

I got an email from Clinton and Kerry, today, asking for funds.

[BurtcoKain]

36. KERRY needs our help, people!!

Kerry really needs our support to throttle the cash-cow Bush!

If you can't donate money to Kerry's campaign because four years of Bush has left you penniless, get on the net and campaign. Use your voice---tell all your friends why John Kerry MUST be the nation's next president. We CANNOT let the ultimate "Ugly American" run the country for another four years! Don't be apathetic toward the world's future.

We must act quickly to respond these Bush distortions.
Donate here:
https://contribute.johnkerry.com

Bone up on Kerry's views on the issues at his site: www.johnkerry.com

go...go...go...go

[LeahMira]

37. Infuriating!

the latest estimate of $300 million for media for Bush/GOP in next 6 months from friends and interest groups

Sort of puts a lie to the claim that if you give tax cuts to the wealthy they're going to spend the money creating jobs, doesn't it?

[Kamika]

38. If they show too many of them they will become a parody of themselves

I'm not worried at all to be honest..


Showing constant ads about how bad Kerry is might just backfire

[methinks2]

39. purchase National ads

in both tv and magazines. I live in Central Florida and the news media here is very controlled. Over 2000 marchers on a non-holiday weekday in Tallahasse and a local tv stations coverage of this event was that a few hunderd marched but that they're not quite sure why! I couldn't make it to the Kerry townhall meeting in downtown yesterday. Local coverage was almost non-existent. The mayor of Orlando didn't even bother to show up. Think about that. This man could be the next president of the US and the local mayor can't take time out of his schedule to travel approx. 3 blocks over to the event!!!! WTF!


If people are going to even know Kerry in on the map in a positive way we need to hear it from national not local venues!!!

Kerry could win Florida if he picks someone from Florida for his running mate. But even then the coverage would need to be national to be seen and heard.

[snippy]

40. By defining Bush as the incessant and compulsive liar that he is.

Allegations made by someone who is incapable of telling the truth will be laughed at. A huge amount of money and time should be spent ridiculing Bush for his incessant and compulsive lying.

[damnyankee2601]

41. Simple

By buying all of MoveOn's Bush in 30 Seconds "defining" ads and running them nonstop. Heck, MoveOn would probably GIVE them to him if he asked.