Have 2 decorated war hero's on the same ticket ever ran against an AWOL...

...drug addicted alcoholic and his draft dodging vice president for the White House during a time of war? Because I think that may be what is going to happen before it is all over. Wonder how Rove would approach a Kerry/Clark ticket? It sure won't be nothing about their lack of patriotism.

Don

n/t

nt.

Keep in mind there will be absolutely no connection between Bush's attacks on whomever he runs against and reality. Bush slanders, and that is his only campaign tactic. No issues, no honesty, just bumper stickers and slander.

I've heard them already calling Kerry a traitor, using the word treason, describing how he "betrayed his brothers in arms" when he returned home and spoke against the war. Don't forget, they turned McCain's record against him, claiming he had broken as a POW, that he was still insane.

Karl Rove is of the Hitler school of politicing. Take an opponent's strength, make it his weakness. Our candidate's real strengths and weaknesses, ideas and ideals, etc, won't matter in the next year. Only what Bush can make up about them, and whether they can figure out how to respond without sounding defensive. We need to focus on the smartest, toughest candidate, not the best or most pure. (I'm not sure who that would be, but that needs to be our concern.)

Limbaugh (who I heard by accident for less than 30 seconds the other day) is already calling Kerry a treasonous hippie who chases rich widows for their wealth. And Limbaugh is not doing anything he isn't told to do. He tests the lies out, and if they work, the others will pick them up, until finally the PR department of the Republican Party (ie, the mainstream media) will report it as fact.

Have they been saying anything about him directly? The only comment I heard recently was that Clark is "a loose cannon", whatever that means. Nothing other than that. They seem to be disregarding him completely which is probably part of the plan but I don't see much they could attack him with. He'd never let them get away with it anyway.

There is still the issue of whether he stepped down or was fired by Clinton, and Bush would do what he could to spread that story the way he wanted. Also, Clark gets accused of being too ambitious, and they might claim that Clark compromised his troops for political reasons, or something.

One problem bush does have to avoid is if the big lie ever gets too big, and against someone that no one believes it about, then Bush becomes Joe Isuzu, and all of his lies start unravelling. Clark has a star power that could defend him a bit, and he also has a demeanor that would shrivel Bush if they ever go face to face.

That's why Bush attacks under the table. Remember, he never made the accusations against Gore, or McCain, or any of the others. His people did, and they did it through Internet rumors (those pro-Bush spams are not just random, you know), through pamphlets and fliars distributed through clubs and organizations not linked to Bush. When Ron Kirk ran for senator here in Texas, he had a slight edge in the polls, but the two days before the election someone started a phone campaign in East Texas (the part of Texas most like the deep south) that Kirk planned to legalize gay marriages and support other gay rights issues. He lost badly in that district, where the polls showed people were voting for other democrats, but not for Kirk. No one could really trace those calls back to anyone important, but they were expensive, and had a professional reader doing them, so they obviously were well funded.

Through those channels, Clark will be trashed, and what comes up might not have any connection to reality. The accusations against McCain didn't.

Rove has to defend the Bush lies. There is a track record for people to reflect on now.

It didn't work against Clinton, because no matter how badly they painted Clinton, voters trusted HW less.

And there is no track record for people to reflect on if the media don't report most of it, and people decide to vote out of fear.

Kerry and Clark need certain things in a vp, and military/foriegn policy experience is not one of the main things

Kerry needs someone who can help him to carry Florida, he needs Bob Graham.

Clark either needs someone who can get him an edge on Bush in Florida(Graham), take a longshot at the other southeast republican leaning states like VA, NC, GA, TN (with Edwards). But Kerry isn't going to leave the senate to vp for Clark

And Kerry's liberal voting record will be used to scare off the anti-Bush fiscal conservative vote. The Iraq war will be prevented from being an effective campaign issue by Kerry's vote for it.

A Kerry/Clark ticket will be no problemo for Rove.