John Kerry's Misery Index is a BAD Idea!

This has got to be one of the worst campaign mistakes since Dukakis drove in a tank.

How on earth does the Kerry campaign think that telling people how miserable they are will help get him elected????

Of course you want to point out all the failures of this presidency (and there are soooooo many) but not at the expense of the American people!!!

We know how lousy things are we don't need to be preached at. This is the difference between Bill Clinton and John Kerry. Bill Clinton always seemed like he was talking TO , John Kerry seems like he is talking DOWN AT YOU!

This is absolutely the wrong road to take in this election. This campaign has got to start getting it's act together. Kerry has got to start taking it to bu$h - not the American people!!!!!!!!!

If the GOP is having a laugh at our candidate's missteps he must be howling at this one.

The public does not want to be told how miserable they are, and they certainly don't want a candidate telling them how miserable they are.

Big, bad misstep . . .

Check out the Flash animation -
“President” Bush Takes a Vacation . . .
http://www.arts-america.com/vacation.htm
Did our fearless “leader” fall asleep at the wheel of terrorism?

...I can make up my own mind, without being told what to think by NewsMax and Faux, and I am POSITIVELY more miserable today than I was in say, 1999.

...people will forget it and they can go on if it really is that unpopular of a message. I don't know that it's so bad, that's what the "Faux" people say, but what do they know?

Yes it is. So lay off.

Reminds me of '80 when Reagan was elected because his ads projected a sunny disposition.

growth rate - a rate that Reagan after blowing 1.7 Trillion on tax cuts for the rich was barely able to exceed over 8 years with his average compound rate of 3.37% growth.

But the media sold morning in America and ignores Iran-Contra treason.

First you bring down the opponent, then you build up yourself. We're in phase one right now.

n/t

why are you so upset about it that you have to use such HUGE letters? Don't think it's that big of a deal and not necessarily a bad thing. I know I'm miserable and so are a LOT of others - we've all been lied to.

nation what a stupid, awful terrible thing it is...because they are afraid people will absorb and think. That's why they always tell the Dems that the people just simply will not buy into "class warfare"---they sure as hell will and that's what the repukes are afraid of. The more they yell, the more you know they are frightened of people listening.

What's the stock market doing?

What's the NASDAQ doing?

What's the Misery index?

It serves to point out in a very simple term the actual and fairly (okay he set the terms) complete picture of how W's policies and choices DIRECTLY affect them. Perhaps they will start to look into these factors. or maybe not........

Yes I can see the news organizations ridiculing this. It is either gold or fool's gold.

although my profession are actually to blame for the phrase. The economists' misery index (from the 1980's) was the sum of inflation plus unemployment.

But it is smart to point up some other stax besides unemployment. The stagnation of wages is a scandal -- and a contrast to the Clinton administration.

but "misery" is a strong term that my Government nor a candidate will
make me feel!

Guilt by association is the point. Misery and Kerry will be linked in the minds of the voters. This has nothing to do with "the sky is falling" mentality. Word association can backfire in a big way. I heard the talking heads today talking about Kerry's Misery Index. And it seemed like they were talking about how the public feels about Kerry as if it was the public's perception of Kerry. Kerry's Misery Index is at 84. Wow - people hate Kerry that much??? That's what they'll believe. It backfired on Jiminy Peanut!!

Just say NO to the misery index!! Guilty by association!!!

Harbingers of doom do not inspire. The American people should be inspired to vote for Senator Kerry. When you tell someone they are miserable you do not inspire. Point out all the bush mistakes and offer and positive alternative. Make people excited about the camapign, don't make them feel even more gloomy than they already do!!

Don't fall back to the dog puppet camapign!

LEAD WITH INSPIRATION NOT MISERY!!!

The other thing that REALLY bothers me about this misguided "Misery Index" is that is only reinforces Kerry's Blue Blood, cold, over complicated, detailed and boring image. Trotting out charts and statistics does not inspire anyone and certainly won't inspire any undecided voter to vote for him . . .

Calling it the Misery Index is a bad idea... a better idea would have been to call it the Bush Tax Index. (Stealing from Howard Dean.. and, no, I was never a Dean supporter, or anybody else supporter, for that matter) - use it to point out that while their federal income tax was cut a small amount, their property taxes, health care costs, college tuitition & gas tax have gone up a lot more than you got in a tax cut. And, then point out to them, "Do you feel safer financially than you did 4 years ago?" With rampant outsourcing and wage contraction, very few working & middle class people are better off...

IMO, Kerry is running a GREAT campaign...making lots of progress...and covering all the right issues....

seems some continue to criticize Kerry's campaign, even as he WINS all the primaries, and is in GREAT shape to take the White House and move OUR country in a NEW DIRECTION.....

if you are so terribly horrified at what Kerry does, why not roll up YOUR sleeves and get to work to change Kerry's campaign????....

instead of complaining and whining....here...get working to change the campaign and add your ideas (in big letters to impact everyone with the hugeness of your ideas).....

http://www.JohnKerry.com

The key word here is "Dem". America sees our politics as a 2 party system rather than 'each man for his own merit'. When one fails, they scuttle to the other side. And that's what's happened here.

Kerry is a centrist. I've seen centrists act before, that's not the direction we need to be heading IMO. (That doesn't mean I won't vote for Kerry, it just means that the way we ought to be going will be delayed for a while longer.)

Many people like Kerry, unlike nader i trust him to run this country.

www.pollingreport.com

It worked very effectively for Reagan when he ran against Carter.

though, as always, it's best for subordinates and allies to sling the negative mud, leaving the candidate himself to exude only positive optimism about the future.

keep the misery index, keep railing on bush, but line up other democrats to do the dirty work.

The point is that the campaign is implementing bad decisions without thinking them through. It's like putting Kerry on his Harley and having him drive out onto the Tonight Show stage only to be upstaged and shredded by a dog puppet . . . The misery index will associate misery and Kerry in one sentance, just like the dog puppet would do.

Attack bush on his many failures, don't attack the American people by telling them how miserable they are.

was defined as inflation plus unemployment.
Better for Kerry to define it as *bush misery index.
Old timers remember the original.

Record Deterioration in the Middle-Class Misery Index
Among the Largest Increases in Health, Tuition, and Gasoline Prices in Decades

April 12, 2004

For Immediate Release


The loss of 2.6 million private-sector jobs under President Bush is a serious challenge for the American economy. Less noted but perhaps even more important is the fact that middle-class families are increasingly being squeezed by the rising cost of health care, college tuition and gasoline – at the same time that wages and incomes are stagnating and personal bankruptcies are at record levels. This report describes and analyzes a new measure of the pressures faced by American families – the Middle-class Misery Index. The Middle-class Misery Index combines seven different indicators: median family income, college tuition, health costs, gasoline cost, bankruptcies, the homeownership rate, and private-sector job growth. The data used to compute the Middle-class Misery Index are available from 1976 through 2003.

KEY FINDINGS

1. The Middle-class Misery Index Worsened 13 Points In the Last Three Years – the Largest Three-year Fall on Record and the Worst Record of Any President Ever. Six of the seven indicators included in the Middle-class Misery Index deteriorated between 2000 and 2003 – resulting in a 13 point deterioration in the Middle-class Misery Index. The four largest contributors to the declines in the Middle-class Misery Index from 2000 to 2003 – in order – were rising college tuition, falling private-sector jobs, rising health premiums, and declining family incomes

2. Incomes Have Declined $1,462 Under President Bush. Under President Bush the typical family has seen its income decline by $1,462 based on the most recent data showing the change from 2000 to 2002.

3. 2003 Witnessed Record or Near-record Jumps in the Cost of Healthcare, College Tuition and Gasoline. The following are the inflation-adjusted increases for some of the major components of the Middle-class Misery Index from 2002 to 2003:

and more at this link
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0412.html

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here like on other less-civilized boards....

since you feel so strongly about Kerry's campaign...you could make a very positive move and sign up to help us TODAY....

then, you could make your ideas work better....put some action behind your speech...I'm certain that after you work for a few months at Kerry's campaign, most people will just love you and listen to your ideas...YOU can make a difference....

here's where you get started to volunteer for KERRY
http://www.JohnKerry.com

I like what you're doing - we should all recommend 'newbies' sign up for the Kerry Campaign instead of throwing a fit. :hi:

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:evilgrin:

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The misery index bottomed out just befire Clinton was elected in 1992!

Need some glasses?

It wen on a dissying, steady climb until doofus and his dick took over in 2000!

Sometimes it's better to not open your mouth and proove yourself ignorant.

Nice try.

Sorry. Just a bit over the top.

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It really shows just how convoluted this Misery Index really is!! Can you imagine Martin Luther King Jr. or John F. Kennedy pulling out a chart and trying to explain it to the American people???

Makes a nice contrast to the Shrub falling off his Segway.

yes that really cost him votes didn't it? :eyes:

Some people will never be satisfied. I just hope Kerry continue to prove the naysayers wrong. You guys have been doing a pretty good job of opposite predictions so far.

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:tinfoilhat:

presidency that the people NEVER vote for the challenger but rather they vote AGAINST the incumbent if the incumbent is removed. First the people need to positively loathe Bush or they will never listen to a thing Kerry has to say. Thus, rule one is to destroy Bush...and quite frankly, we did that in the primaries but have been somewhat lacking since then. We need the attack and more and more destruction before we can present some "new dawn for America" to the public. Like it or not, that's they way it happens in politics.

John Kerry ‘s "Middleclass Misery Index" -which combines indicators for median family income, college tuition, health costs, gasoline cost, bankruptcies, the homeownership rate, and private-sector job growth – shows that the last few Democratic presidents have reduced middleclass misery (Carter improved index by 6, Clinton by 23), while GOP Presidents have made the middleclass more miserable (Reagan made the situation worse by 5 on the index, Bush41 made it worse by 12, and our current Bush43 has made it worse by 13).

Kerry notes that median inflation adjusted Incomes have declined by $1,462 under Bush – (median rather than average since the huge increase for the rich is not a middleclass increase – and CNN/Money verified that Kerry’s number reflected the 0.6 gain to $42,409 between 2000 and 2002, or 3.3% decline after inflation, that occurred in the Median income recorded in the Census Department's data). And Bush tries to spin this as OK because health costs have gone up, so health aid to poor and aged - entitlement programs - have increased! Perhaps we should add to the income of the rich the welfare contracts to their corporations given by the Bush folks? Can we discuss spending money in the pocket?

When the last year’s near-record jumps in the cost of healthcare premiums (11%), college tuition (13%), and gas (15%) are combined with Bush middle class income decrease, we see that Bush in 3 years has broken all previous GOP records for hurting the middle class.

As Bush tries to sell up is down, saying Kerry’s tax cut for the folks earning less than $200,000 and tax increase for those above $200,000 is really a massive tax increase, and saying Kerry’s greater fiscal discipline will be bad for the future of our kids despite such lower deficits meaning a lower birth tax (per capita debt), Kerry actually will trying to help the middle class by middle class tax cuts for health and education, creating 10 million new jobs, promoting universal access to college, providing affordable health insurance for all Americans, and creating energy independence through conservation.

are not even paying attention right now.
Shorter messages are needed until September.

you are correct I think that the discussion is just a warning shot for the media - real discussion begins in September.

I'd like to see it.

While the idea, on paper, tends to look favorable, it's the presentation that matters.

And from what I've seen of Kerry's own ads in the past, he's as persuasive as Dukakis and as full of energy as Gore was during his campaign... :-(

Kerry's got it good right now ONLY because * and his cabinet are a gaggle of dunderheads.

We need a more positive message. Kerry needs to outline his plan and say why it is better than Bush's plan, and what he would have done that would have been better than what Bush has done. He's been doing this to some extent but not enough IMO.

I think Kerry's doing just fine. No need for him to jump in and start scrapping with shrub - at least not now. He's hanging back, occasionally throwing something out there, but essentially, he's letting shrub hang himself.

Make sure rich people don't pay taxes, invade random countries, and stamp out pesky alternative energy sources.

I do not want to feel miserable or be told to feel so!
With only 15-20% undecideds in the polls, why bring folks down
when repugs are pumping people up? Save this stuff for later!
Hell! We have 7 months to go still!

edit: added last sentence.

campaign and help him to WIN....if you are working hard in a campaign, then your brilliant idea's will have a lot more impact, and be much more likely to be implemented....

so, start working NOW....help Kerry win !

here's where you get involved, roll up your sleeves and put your ideas to work
http://www.JohnKerry.com

I am still trying to get excited about the election.
Sad but true!

campaign....roll up your sleeves and make a difference....

it's one thing to complain here on DU...but if you really want Kerry to win then you must get up and HELP !

here's where you get started in helping Kerry win
http://www.JohnKerry.com

I hope Kerry backs away from it quickly.

I got news for ya. No matter what Kerry does, Faux will try to denigrate it.

but "middleclass misery index" is some nice alliteration, takes some of the blunt edge off of "misery". just MHO.

Plays like a "whine." Too negative.

Kerry needs to watch this sort of thing. His speeches are too low energy and his face too sad to embark on such a whinely message.
Kerry needs to attack Bush with his miserable record.

Bush is running optimism ads - Reagan got through 8 years on this kind of stuff. He flatters the American people with his faith in them. People love that.

It's GEORGE W BUSH'S MISERY INDEX.

Wages down $1000+!!!

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How hard is it to say..

George Bush is a dangerous man..

Our economy cannot afford his blunders
Oue soldiers cannot afford his blunders
Our environment cannot afford his blunbers
Our elderly cannot afford his blunders..

He's just a dangerous Blunderer

But then I tend to be (much) more intellectual than the average American.

And he isn't going around telling you that you are miserable. He's saying that the middle-class as a whole is worse off. I think this does a nice job of showing just that.

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"You say things are bad. How bad?" Kerry needs a comprehensive way to put the multiple failures on the same page and put them into perspective. This is as good a way as any.

I suspect that YOU have swallowed too much CNNFAUXMSNBC spin about this being a mistake and now you're regurgitating it here.

Nice try, but calling it a big, bad mistake is almost hysterical. Reminding people that so many indicators do not point to such a rosy outlook as the White House is portraying is not a mistake, it is fact.

Nice spin though.

Every talking head and political pundit is now referring to this as "Kerry's Misery Index" and it sounds terrible. Even CNN has a headline "Kerry Campaign: Give Me Your Miserable".

Of course we should attack bush on all his failed policies - as a matter of fact I think all his policies are failed policies, but this is definitely not the way to go about it. People will associate misery with Kerry just like they associate flip-flop and waffle with Kerry. We don't need another negative term applied to Kerry . . .

Hopefully this will all fade away . . .

He should burry it before too much damage is done.

Misery Index resonates, things just seem to be getting more expensive, gasoline is going to reach $2.00 a gallon soon, I can feel it.

I know of lot of people who are looking for work, but if the unemployment numbers stay low, then expect interest rates to go up. Either way you got misery. No one that I know of thinks that the economy is healthly.

Your remark about Dukasis in the tank was totally off the mark. That's what you look like when you drive a tank, to criticize him for that is an insult to anyone who ever pulled this duty. A lot of people mistakenly thought that he was given a helmet too large and made fun of him for that. The truth is these helmets are one size fits all, with a adjustable inner headband.

You don't inspire people to vote for you by telling them how miserable they are!!!

Great leaders inspire!

Kerry's index is a lot more real.

If the media has a brain then this should stop some very stupid Rove planted economy is great stories.

But you can not run on discussions of misery unless you focus on how you are HAPPY DAYS AGAIN compared to evil misery person!

:-)

People are just as if not more likely to vote AGAINST someone than to vote FOR someone.

In this case there is a lot to vote against.

The days of the tame and polite liberals are over. Get over it.