Oh, If Only . . .

[selenite0]

In an alternate universe Kerry gives an interview:

EAST HAMPTON, NY (IP) -- Democratic Presidential nomineee John Kerry laughs when told that most voters don't realize that he served in Vietnam, winning three purple hearts, a bronze star, and a silver star.

"Why should they? That's several wars ago," Kerry laughs. "Old stuff. I'd much rather people be talking about my detailed plan to rebuild Iraq, using an oil trust mechanism that would give the Iraqi people a stake in reconstruction. That's why I focused on that in my acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention. What was I going to do, rehash events from 35 years ago?"

Now that's a candidate who'd be trying to get my vote. Might succeed, too.

Comments

(frozen)

[(Anonymous)]

And if he promised to be anti-abortion and put all non-christians in prison he'd REALLY get elected! What great advice... NOT!

[(Anonymous)]

http://www.johnkerry.com/plan/ has a book you can download that does explain his plan.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nymphette_/]

What I wouldn't give for a carbon copy of the real JFK these days...

*sighs wistfully*

[abovenyquist.livejournal.com]

Kerry invited the flap over his medals, whether he deserved them or not, etc. when he decided to make the fact that he served in Vietnam in the 70s a centerpiece of his campaign. If he hadn't made such a big deal about it, you probably wouldn't have this whole Swift Boats for Truth business. I'd much rather have a Democratic (or Republican, or whoever) who was focused on what's happening now than what he did 35 years ago. The trumpeting of the three purple hearts is such a cynical public relations move - it's sort of like the perscription drug benefits nonsense of the last election. I can't fault the either the Kerry or Bush camps for making cynical public relations moves though, since they've often been effective on a vast majority of the electorate.

It's analogous to the questions about whether Bush was AWOL or not in the early 70s, or whether he used his daddy's influence to make sure he didn't get into the line off fire like Kerry did. I don't care either way; if Bush went AWOL, that's something he did 35 years ago as a young man, and everyone makes mistakes, especially when they're young. I'm far more interested in whether a person learned from their mistakes, and what kind of person that makes them now. If everyone would just agree that either (a) both served admirably, or (b) both didn't, the dialogues would start getting more productive.

One aspect of the current administration that troubles me the most their inability to learn for their mistakes and make course corrections accordingly, or even consider the possibility that they might make mistakes; they seem to have a Papal Infaillibility complex.

Sadly, the overall incompetence and lack of focus of the Kerry campaign, and Kerry's own inability to define himself and his positions in a coherent fashion for more than three days at a time, has largely made me resigned to the reality that we'll have four more years of Dick Cheney as President the United States.

The money trail busting

[abovenyquist.livejournal.com]

That was interesting:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0409.sirota.html

I hadn't heard that before until I read the article.

DEAR KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISORS: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? WHY AREN'T YOU MAKING _THAT_ A CENTERPIECE OF YOUR CAMPAIGN? You need every bit of ammo you can get to prop up your boring lackluster candidate.

DEAR DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY VOTERS: Uhm... John Kerry? When you could have had a true statesman like Joe Lieberman (admittedly, who lost because he ran as Bush light)? Or even Howard Dean, who while certifiably insane, was at least interesting, and you at least knew where he stood? Or Dick Gepthardt, who while boring as plain toast at least had a decent track record? DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY VOTERS PLEASE TELL ME. What were you thinking?

DEAR REPUBLICATION PRIMARY VOTERS: Uhm... George Bush? Had his daddy's name, yes, but you could have had John McCain, a _true_ American hero, a _true_ man of principle? How could you by that BS that Kingmaker Rove put out? REPUBLICATION PRIMARY VOTERS IN 2002: Please tell me, how could you vote for that arrogant smirking moron over John McCain?

Re: The money trail busting

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Yep, I agree with you on every point on that one.

And the last, man, brings back memories. I'm fanatical about NOT belonging to any party, but California primaries let anybody vote, but only COUNT the votes from registered party members. Annoying. So I actually went and registered as a Republican just so I could vote in the primary for McCain over Bush.

And then they screwed up my registration, so it showed a different party. Sigh. I voted anyway, but damn, I was mad.

Re: The money trail busting

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I'd heard an offhand mention of that, but hadn't realized there was any more to it than him sitting on the committee hearings. It's a good accomplishment. Shame they're trying to totally suppress all evidence he's done anything since returning from 'Nam.

From what I saw when he was (briefly) my senator, I think Kerry has a real talent for projecting what Dem primary voters want to see. This time they wanted someone who'd beat Bush, and he presented the liberal's image of what a moderate wants to vote for. Not quite the same as the moderate's image of what a moderate wants to vote for. I'm still boggled, though. Edwards could have destroyed him if he'd pulled out a tenth of what's being tossed around now. So could Dean I think.

I'd still rather vote for McCain (again). Or Lieberman. Or Kerrey (note spelling). Not an option this year, though.

Re: The money trail busting

[abovenyquist.livejournal.com]

> Edwards could have destroyed him if he'd pulled out a tenth of what's being tossed around now.

Unfortunately Edwards didn't have Karl Rove working for him. If he did, Kerry would have been toast, and there'd be no question Edwards would (a) be the Democratic candidate for President, and (b) actually win the presidency.

Of course, to hire Karl Rove, you have to be willing to sacrifice your soul - but you will probably win. The man must have read The Prince at least 50 times, probably in the original Italian.

Dean should have just (a) hired someone who would tell him when he should stop talking and (b) follow that person's advice.