Mark Morford: 'What's wrong with John Kerry?'

[Clinton Crusader]

This is what alot of undecideds are feeling

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/09/24/notes092404.DTL

Mark Morford: 'What's wrong with John Kerry?'
Date: Friday, September 24
Topic: Election 2004


Is it the hair? The lack of charisma? Or do we just wish he was more angry and ruthless?

By Mark Morford, San Francisco Chronicle

He is not Bill Clinton.

Just gotta say it again, right off, because it is, quite possibly, still the most difficult fact for most moderates and Demos to accept, even now: Kerry is not Clinton. Kerry is not JFK. Kerry is not quite even Al Gore. We have to accept it. Let's go from there.

It bears repeating because, as tens of millions (billions, even) across the planet realize, Bush is so obviously ripe, so obviously dripping with glaring misprision, so deeply rife with flaw and bumble and moronism, and his policies are so full of gaping holes and his ethics are so full of hostile lies and his wars are so lacking in WMDs and "nukuler" plants and any sort of justification, well, you'd think any decent opponent worth his sound bite would have a veritable cakewalk stomping Dubya's little cowboy brain into powdery AWOL Texas cow-pie smithereens.

But so far, it ain't happening. The BushCo spin machine is lethal and malicious and formidable indeed, for one thing. The Repubs are phenomenally well funded and absolutely heartless, and it cannot be understated how effective your campaign can be when you have zero ethics about attacking your opponent and zero moral compass and zero accountability and when you have Karl Rove for an underhanded heat-seeking attack-dog missile of bile and innuendo and slander and smear.

But for two, it has to be acknowledged: Kerry ain't exactly a firestorm of magnetism and inspiration. He is, unfortunately, more than a little staid, pedestrian, beige. On Letterman, on "The Daily Show," on Leno, he was finely honed and well groomed and grinning and likable enough, a true die-hard patrician politician almost completely devoid of modern-day TV-ready sparkle and zing. He's just so ... solid. And book learned. And experienced. And deeply intelligent. American translation: yawn.
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:kick:

[The Chronicler]

1. What's wrong with America?

nm

[AspenRose]

3. *ding* *ding* *ding*

There it is....the dumbing down of America, that's it.

At least this part is right:

"The BushCo spin machine is lethal and malicious and formidable indeed, for one thing. The Repubs are phenomenally well funded and absolutely heartless, and it cannot be understated how effective your campaign can be when you have zero ethics about attacking your opponent and zero moral compass and zero accountability and when you have Karl Rove for an underhanded heat-seeking attack-dog missile of bile and innuendo and slander and smear..."

[cheshire]

2. Hey Mark; Opinions are like...... I know some feel that way but most don't

[Sir Derek]

4. Kerry's biggest problem is he is trying to have an

intelligent conversation about real issues. As a result, he often needs to resort to more than one sentence. Naturally, this throws the media and the babbling apologists for the Republican Party into confusion. What Kerry needs to do is wrap up the complexity of war and economics into 3 or 4 simple metaphors and then maybe the Media, and others, will understand him.

For example, perhaps he should refer to his Iraq policy as being on the Freedom Train to Heaven, or the war on terrorism as, being in the fast lane to Justice.

[treading_water]

5. Jeebus, people.

We're electing a freakin' president for crying out loud. We should want them to be intellectual and experienced. Look what moronic and "likeable" got us? Economy down the toilet and an unwanted war.

Someone around here has a sig pic that says "Yeehaw isn't a foreign policy".

Exactly.

[sangh0]

6. The Goring of John Kerry

It's just so terrible that Kerry is incapable of creating a "cult of personality" around himself. After all, every "great leader" (ex. Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Bush*) has been able to do that.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Morford is right.

Kerry needs to stop tiptoeing and start kicking some ass. He needs to renounce his IWR vote and support of the occupation of Iraq and come up with a realistic plan to get us out.

He's still trying to have it both ways, and it ain't working.

[kaitykaity]

8. It helps that Bush gets $BILLIONS in free advertising

from the whores in the corporate media.

What, did this guy go to "writing" school with celebetrix
Whoreen Dowd? Geez.

[LaPera]

9. As ALWAYS an excellent insightful column by Mark Morford!