Kerry pinned down. Needs a Veep.

We are being tag teamed by Bush/Cheney. The lead is flying. We need to fill out the ticket right away.

Is there any reason at all to wait?

Even though I don't think Clark had enough domestic policy experience to be Prez, would be a kick-ass Veep and would certainly pin Cheney's sorry ass to the mat in less than a couple seconds.


:hippie:

Senator Thomas Eagleton was going to be George McGovern's running mate in 1972, until the repugs disclosed that Eagleton had undergone some minor psychiatric treatment. McGovern at first stuck by his running mate, but eventually had to let Eagleton go, costing precious time and resources, not to mention derision by the repugs and the media.

The republicans have to spend a lot of time and money trying to disparage all the potential candidates. Let them keep doing it until the convention, that should cause them to waste a whole bunch of resources.

Cons.

Naming one now gives Bush almost 8 months to hammer the VP candidate.

Name a candidate now and no one will have a reason to tune in except us die hard political junkies. Naming a candidate at the convention would greatly boost interest and ratings. You want people to tune in. Kerry and the Democrats will be blasting Bush with their 'A' material then, without having to pay to advertise, on free TV.

Pros.

Kerry does indeed needs a tag team mate. The VP is historically the attack dog. That would allow Kerry to 'rise above the fray' and stay on a more positive message.

My solution.

The Kerry campaign needs a few surrogate VP and cabinet member types to take the counterattack aggressively to the media. They have to be everywhere. These have to be people that can cut deep yet come off like nice guys (Edwards and Clark are good examples. Tom Daschle and Joe Biden need not apply. They couldn't cut butter with a meat cleaver)

The main point is Kerry needs to sharpen the Democrats message, and pronto. He can't have 12 different messages from 12 different Democrats responding to Bush and Cheney.

The key thing is, will the Democrats let Kerry focus the message?

The "charges" against Clark were pretty thin gruel. More "time to slam" may turn into "more time to learn the truth".

There is enough time left to choose a VP.
The Dems can fight back without an official VP candidate.
Further, it is something that keeps people and the media curious.
Maybe more speculation and reports about potential candidates that would give the public the possibilty to learn more about some Dems.
Free publicity, why waste it.
Once the VP is chosen, free publicity again.
Making the VP candidate official should make the Dem base and the undecided enthusiastic and that event shouldn't be too early.

Last week Dean took his turn, and I will say he fit the description fine, today General Clark took his time and he handled the job well, but not as impressive as Dr.Dean, however they were handling different situations. Sharpton was on Crossfire and he was excellent and funnier than Redd Foxx.. I like the mix of them.

I say let 'em keep at it for a while too. Hit the opposition for every angle with every weapon (Clark, Dean, Edwards, etc. etc.).

fucking party to get out there and cover his ass. this is another problem caused by the early end to the primary season. no more freebe coverage and evidently, the DNC hasn't got it's shit together enough to get people out for pro Kerry face time.

the dems will either hang together or hang separately.

all primary campign candidates need to continue their attacks on bush. an important reason bush sank in the polls was the relentless attacks these people made on bush during the primary season. they need to keep it up.

i would have all of them travel to places where they garner their best support and campaign for kerry.

Here is a link if you want to see it. Download it here, it's only 8.5 mbs:

http://www.us4clark.com/mediaclips.html

it's not my normal manner. sometimes it just gets to me though.

pungent and useful as a directional finder

the nic.

salute.

Clark has been on many shows, Dean on MTP, Sharpton on Crossfire, but it's not enough.

The Dems need to mobilize an ATTACK, not fall back on the defense.

Where are all the Dem Senators, Reps, Govs ?

We need to keep them confused and battling the whole Dem troop, so they don't know where to land the punches.

Did you just expect Bush to roll over and let Kerry win? This is going to be a very nasty race.

This opposition was expected with all the money Bush has.

And nameing a VP will not stop the attacks. Kerry will only get a get some free media attention but it will not last long.

The way I see it is that Bush is pinned down now with Mel Gibson attacking him and Kerry is getting a lot of donations.

Cheney? Please. He has been counterproductive except to the choir and even they are uncomfortable enough to want a change.

There is no need to be timid and nervous every time things aren't going 100% perfect. If you need a god with perfect results de facto you will lose and that is the posture the media tilts to put the Dems in. Reagan tried that pre-emptive pick ploy his first time and lost to Ford.

Kerry can handle it. Everyone keeps wringing their hands like he is some sort of Dukakis and the bad guys untouchable and destined to win. It is just the opposite, though this is still a war in process not a script.

And no, Kerry is not perfect, nor would Jesus Christ give all the right and winning words all the time to please the phony media and varied factions in the nation. He has spine, do we?

... but that's not it. I think that two candidates would be much stronger than Kerry by himself. I don't really see any reason to delay. Good points have been made above about not wanting to present two targets, but I still think the good of having a full ticket outweighs the bad.

When I say Kerry is pinned down, I mean it. I think Kerry is taking fire from all sides. Kerry needs back-up. It's no denigration of Kerry to say that; getting back-up is smart. It's a powerful strategy.

When Kerry is under attack like now, a Democrat of standing and stature besides Kerry is needed to defend him. I am arguing that the standing and stature needed at this time (2004 under Bushian sleazeball rules) might be nothing less than the Dem Vice Presidential slot.

For example, as the VP candidate, Wes Clark (my pick) can defend his "good friend John Kerry," and counter-attack Bush as a flip-flopper (which Bush is). Clark can say good things about Kerry that Kerry can't say about himself.

Why give bushco and company any more amo to play with, keep them guessing. We have plenty of time. Hope Kerry enjoys his vacation, well deserved rest. He looks great in Idaho snowboarding. Can you picture the chimp? I am Ohhh so optimistic at the outcome of this coming election. Even if I'm here in Fl, there is a feeling in the air!!

The sky is not falling, and there's no need to rush the VP selection.

I don't think it is a rush to choose a veep now. I am arguing that it makes good sense, particularly if it is a strong Veep.

Polls show that Kerry has in fact been hit by the flip-flopping BS from the Bush camp, despite the fact that Bush is an incredible flip-flopper, backer-downer, and weasel.

Look at the structure of the defense. Kerry can't defend his record because that looks defensive, and anything he says will be used as an excuse for further attacks. But if Kerry has a partner, the partner can dismiss the criticism.

A partner can say good things about you that you can't say about yourself.

Kerry is pinned down. He really is. His jobs message has been drowned out the last few weeks because the media is looking to make things personal.

It seems fairly obvious that personal jibes can't be defended by the person being "jibed." If someone calls you, for example, Chicken Little ;-), it sounds fairly hollow to say "I am not." The jibe itself moves the reader to think "Well, what would a Chicken Little say?"

Bush is being attacked every day.

Look at post #20.

has anyone else noticed Edwards has been AWOL lately...

checked out his website? Any Edwards supporters know?

if kerry gets a vp now there might be a short rise in polls from the attention, but then the right wing will begin attacking the vp also for months far ahead of the elections and try to define the vp as they are trying with kerry. for now kerry needs to fight on his own. if he can beat the right wing with their attempts to make him out to be weak on defense and other things then his vp choice can be someone not dependent on fulfilling that role. but if the weak on defense argument seems to stick he needs to pick someone based on that.

Yes, it would be nice to have some extra muscle now... but without a Veep everyone can help with equal voice. Clark is already doing his share. Yeah Clark! But ALL the other possible Veep candidates can also help. If Kerry picks one of them...all the others become less significant.

Also, the Bushies don't know who to spend all their capitol attacking. Now they have many possibilities to consider. Remember all the free publicity Clark got when everyone was trying to guess if he would run? Well soon the Media will also start asking and speculating who Kerry will pick for VP and every time a little rumor gets out the media will want to interview them. More free TV!

As soon a Veep is announced...he'll have to spend his time defending himself rather than defending Kerry and getting out Kerry's message. So I say keep the Veep in the Closet for as long as possible.
Just MHO.