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« The Kerry Doctrine--Such as it is | Main | Libertarian Purity » March 06, 2004Kerry's ThemeCalpundit has three themes for the Kerry campaign to beat President Bush. While his choices will probably play well with Democrats, I think Kevin's personal beliefs have drawn him to themes that are less likely to resonate with the general electorate (though that could easily be my own personal biases coming into play as well). So how can Kerry win? For my money, by moving to President Bush's right on the war. While I think the President has done a number of things right in the war, his domestic agenda beyond tax cuts has been somewhere between poor and lousy. But Kerry's past suggests that he would extremely bad on the war, so I'm reluctant to pull the trigger for him for fear he'll drop the ball on the war. But if he can shift to President Bush's right on the war and demonstrate (as best one can in a political campaign) that he has a good plan for going after radical Islamists and winning the war, then I could easily find myself choosing him. I suspect I'm not alone in this; a quick look around the blogosphere shows us many people who are going to vote on the war this November, and they believe President Bush is superior to Kerry in this one crucial aspect. If Kerry could undermine that belief, I think he'd have a real shot at winning this November. I doubt he'll do it, though. Posted at March 6, 2004 05:08 PM
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» Is George W. Bush Losing the War on Terror? from Priorities & Frivolities Tracked on March 7, 2004 12:55 AM CommentsDear Mr. Oldmsted: Yes, if Mr. Kerry moved to GWB's right on the WoT, I'd definitely vote for him. But my experience in life has been that people tend to keep doing things that have worked for them in the past and Mr. Kerry has definitely not been a hawk. My biggest concern about Mr. Kerry is that you simply can't tell anything about him by what he says. He seems to have taken every rhetorical position on pretty much every subject. His voting record seems to give a pretty consistent message, however, and it doesn't suggest he'll suddenly metamorphize into a hawk. My biggest concern about the neocon plan for the WoT is that I just don't believe that we have the time for it to work. So I, too, believe a move "to the right" would be desireable. Posted by: Dave Schuler at March 7, 2004 10:10 AM I've done it again. My fingers simply won't type your name correctly. I apologize profusely. I'll just stop trying. Posted by: Dave Schuler at March 7, 2004 10:12 AM Dave, Just call me Andrew, or Andy. I promise not to get offended. ;) I share your concerns with Kerry's past and the question of whether or not to believe what he says. But if he were to move to Bush's right, he would also drag Bush to the right, and move discussion of the war from its current plane (who's doing it wrong) to how to do it right. Posted by: Andrew at March 7, 2004 10:44 AM If Kerry tried to move significantly to his right on the war he'd lose more voters on the left than he would gain in the center. Knowing Kerry, he's already made this calculation. He will use weasel words to try to have it both ways but, basically, he will still listen and react more to the left's view on the war. Posted by: wes at March 8, 2004 03:00 PM "If Kerry tried to move significantly to his right on the war he'd lose more voters on the left than he would gain in the center." I very very very much doubt that's true. And I think Kerry will prove it (win or lose). Posted by: Gary Farber at March 9, 2004 05:23 PM I have to concur with Gary on this one. While Nader will get a few votes, I think the ABB sentiment is strong enough that Kerry will get a great deal of leeway from his base if he's smart enough to tack right in the general election. Posted by: Andrew at March 9, 2004 05:43 PM |
