Kerry is running a hell of a smart campaign

Smarter than a lot of people here seem to be able to grasp.

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http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=178-04202004

Kerry Beats Bush

WASHINGTON, April 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In a new FEC report to be filed today, the Kerry campaign will report having collected $54.8 million in the first quarter of 2004, beating both President George Bush's totals this quarter and the previous quarterly fundraising record for a presidential candidate - incumbent and non-incumbent - by more than $2 million.

Kerry also broke the record for fundraising in one month, gathering $42.8 million in March after he secured the Democratic nomination. These record-breaking figures were amassed through the largest grassroots effort in history - a groundbreaking 355,000 contributions in the quarter.

...more...

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Bush, Airing Ads, Spent Record $49.6 Mln in March

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=akL6Ncop31VE&refer=us

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush spent a record $49.6 million in March, the most paid out in one month by any presidential campaign, as it spent at least $40 million on media advertisements.

Bush, 57, raised $26.3 million in March, less than the $38 million raised by Democratic rival Massachusetts Senator John Kerry that month, according to Kerry campaign and FEC filings. Bush had $86.6 million in cash at the end of March, down from $110 million at the end of February, the FEC figures show.

The Bush campaign began airing ads nationwide last month portraying the president as a strong leader and Kerry as weak on national security issues and inconsistent in his voting record. Kerry, 60, became the presumptive Democratic nominee after the March 2 primaries when his last main rival, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, dropped out.

Bush raised a record $185.7 million through the end of March after beginning fund-raising in May last year, the FEC figures show. His campaign had a goal of raising $170 million. The average contribution in March was $92, less than the $165 overall average, according to a Bush campaign press release.

...more...

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The headline should read: "Bush Spent Record $49.6 Mln in March to Maintain Statistical Tie with Kerry"

*

Bush is wonderful - AT WASTING MONEY! Billions and billions of dollars!

Just asking.

http://tinyurl.com/2wrry

I've been really impressed, but I think a lot of it has been Bush's implosion with regards to Iraq.

Kerry is going to have to step it up, but I think he has laid some impressive groundwork with his calm demeaner and his gaffe-free speeches.

Nothing has seemed to stick to him.

"I'm rubber, you're glue... shit bounces off me and sticks to you."

Kinda like the AWOL backfire thing, isn't it?

CA is famous for gobbling up your millions and leaving you with squat- ask Michael Huffington, Al Checchi.

Psst! Karl. Take the bait.

Karl: I think it's a shrewd move for you to blanket New York airwaves with pro-Bush propaganda, er, campaign ads. Lotsa money. You can do it!

Stay the course, Kerry! Sit back and enjoy the show the Bush Regime is putting on. Speak as diplomatically as possible, because the mainstream media would like nothing more than to give Georgie some time off by dumping on you. Bide your time, sit on your money, and don't come out swinging when you actually hear the bell!

:headbang:
rocknation

Keep the good new coming! :)

Very good. He knows when to shut up, which is hard for a politician to learn. He knows when to jab, he knows how to grab a headline, and, most of all, he knows how to attack without leaving himself open. Notice how he has done it lately.

When Bush is burying himself (good Train Wreck article, btw) on one issue, Kerry attacks him on another, so Bush can't respond directly to both. When Kerry wants to land a blow on Bush, he disguises it as a defense against Bush. That's how he's gotten Bush's AWOL record into the debate-- he waited until Bush attacked his record, then, rather than simply defending himself, he blasted back a "I don't have to answer you, you AWOL little man" type answer. He didn't get defensive yet he defended himself, and he landed a blow on Bush that Bush couldn't return.

He's very good at the big plan and at the small details of execution. Hope he can keep it up.

That annoying new poll showing Bush "opening a lead" on Kerry was front and center in USA Today, and then there's the despicable questioning of Kerry's war wounds and honors, which is so ludicrous it doesn't even deserve mention but is still getting all kinds of play. The stories in Will's post and others like them should be reported at least as prominently so we could get some of that elusive balanced coverage people always talk about. A crazy idea, I know, but hey, I can dream, right??

And those numbers you cite can easily add up to nothing more than a routine electoral loss this cycle.

Kerry has built-in limitations in personality and style. A smart campaign in this case has much more to do with priorities and message than cash.

Will he:

* Isolate the proper states to emphasize down the stretch, understanding when some are safe or gone?

* Be positive and specific enough to give swing voters a reason to vote FOR him and not merely AGAINST Bush? Relying on the latter is almost certain peril. Kerry's commercials are excellent but no evidence of an impressive campaign slogan or memorable sound bytes.

* Choose an inspiring VP candidate who can help in the above concern?

* Coordinate registration and GOTV brilliance along with the DNC? We may have fallen behind in those areas more than we realize, since 2000. Marshalls in Florida is backward thinking nonsensical crap. We need to creatively foresee the potential areas of opportunity and disaster now, not discover absentee ballot or voter roll, etc., problems next December.

* Successfully articulate his agenda and Bush's failures throughout the fall, minus a fatal gaffe(s)? That 58-27 poll regarding Kerry "raising my taxes" has to be addressed at the root level, early and often. Yesterday I talked to a 7-11 employee who emphatically rejected Kerry because he had a young family to feed and was certain Kerry would subtract from his paycheck. Nothing I said could convince him otherwise.

I am looking to see catchier campaign commercials too. Something that the stupid masses can relate to and understand. Obviously, lies, deaths, and global ruin isn't "catchy enough". like it or not, we need to play the game smarter than what we have been.

Do you make more than $200,000 a year?

Damn **ucking straight Mr. Pitt

All the pissing and moaning around here about Kerry's approach to the campaign has been sickening. If Kerry followed the lead of the whiners around here he'd end up positioning himself just like the good Mr. McGovern did in 1972, and I don't want to put another bumper sticker on my car that says "Don't Blame Me I'm From Massachusetts."

Once was enough.

I'm calling out all the Konstant Kerry Komplainers and we're going to kick tail in Queens Village. Me & GOPisEVIL, like the EARP Brothers in Tombstone!:nuke: :beer: :spank: :shrug:

according to the unquestioned (and inquestionable) authorities (I'm referring to "someone on the Internet"), Kerry can't win unless he

1) Tours W. VA to talk to the people
2) Calls for an immediate pull-out from Iraq
3) Calls Bush* a liar every day
4) Demands that Israel withdraw to the 1967 borders
5) Supports gay marriage, vocally and often
6) Supports Chavez, vocally and often
7) Supports Castro, vocally and often
8) Supports Aristede, vocally and often
9) Denounces the War or Terrorism, vocally and often
10) Embraces Nader, and agrees with him that Dems are a lot like Repukes
11) Talk about ElectionTheft2000, everyday
12) Publicly denounce Joe Lieberman and the DLC


Give it up, Will. All is lost. You're just enabling a pro-PNAC, DLC, Bush*-lite loser.

on edit: It seems I left out some important advice: Kerry must learn how to pronounce the name of the UN's representative in Iraq.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x505920

Kerry is getting better every day.

Releasing his military records and subtly ripping the Chickenhawks at the same time was great. And promoting his environmental record compared to Bu$h's is another good move.

people...

The idea that Kerry is doing great means absolutely nothing this far out....we have never had an election started this far out, so any predictions about outcomes is foolish....from either side...

I am also curious why money means success now, that must be why you emphasized this passage:

Kerry also broke the record for fundraising in one month, gathering $42.8 million in March after he secured the Democratic nomination. These record-breaking figures were amassed through the largest grassroots effort in history - a groundbreaking 355,000 contributions in the quarter.

I remember a time when some folks suggested that money doesn't mean anything....hmmmmmmmmmm

A counter argument to be made is that the grass roots movement created by Dean and Clark are in fact supporting the Dem nominee, even though they are the favorite whippings boys here at DU by some...

I find predictions that Kerry is going to lose, as well as Kerry is going to win, silly from both sides....

The continued reaction by people (whom, it is important to remember, we have absolutely no friggin idea who they are or why they post what they post) who go into attack mode as if anybody in the vast American electorate give a rat's ass what the posters at DU think about things.....

The threads about Kerry's flaws (attacks or legitimate critiques) are as important to threads that support Kerry (through reasoned discussion of policy or electronic masturbation) to me.

Get over it everybody. If people would ignore the Kerry is great/sucks threads, they would fade away in no time. But it seems that every day, the same suspects continue to engage in this act of pissing a circle around DU....

Ratchet down the testosterone folks.....here are the facts:

1) Kerry is the nominee, get over it...
2) Kerry isn't perfect, stop pretending he is...
3) Nothing that is posted on DU that makes a statement about said Kerry is going to have a single affect on the outcome of the election...

Let it go....everybody....let's use our space and time here to work towards organizing activities (fundraising, gotv, registration, etc) designed to help not just John Kerry, but as many Democrats as possible get elected to office...

Ask yourseves why you just can't avoid posting in one of those idiotic threads and what you could be doing instead to help the Dems win in November....

Cause quite frankly, posting in flame wars at DU isn't doing it...

here endith the sermon

If the goal is raising money now, and they're doing it extremely well, then they are successful.

The campaign is smart and organized.

When the goal becomes beating Bush in the debates, I trust that smart people on the campaign will then achieve that goal.

When the goal is getting more votes on election day in enough states to win the electoral college votes required to become president, I suspect that the same smart people who achieved every other goal they set will then achieve that goal.

The problem I have with Kerry's campaign approach is that, despite the statistical tie, Bush has managed to successfully define Kerry in ways that can come back to bite him down the line. The perception that he will raise taxes has taken hold, and the economy is going to be his strong point. Bush still get's the numbers for national security, and I don't see that changing. I would really like Kerry to put more ads out there clarifying his his tax policy and beefing up his military/national security credentials. We can't just sit back and hope the bad news continues for Bush until the fall, the race is too close. We need some significant leads in swing states for me to feel more confident. All Bush needs is a swing in his direction at the last moment and we are toast.

Dean bought commercials in TX MONTHS before the IA primary and they didn't help him raise money in TX, and he wasn't even competing in TX by the time TX rolled around.

He basically gave money away to TX tv stations.

Kerry shouldn't make those mistakes.

Sucks. We need a candidate that carries his own millstone.

Kerry seems very good at timing. He was nowhere one day and the nominee the next. It's frustrating to us, but it's too soon to use the ammunition and to use up all the money. He's going to strike when the time is right.

I think Dean demonstrated that fund raising is NOT a reliable indicator as to how successful a campaign is....

old expression goes. If it comes down to "Money or Message," Message will win every time. Now that Kerry has a war chest which can beat Bush's I hope he will feel secure enough to work on getting a message that can inspire folks to get behind him to win.

I wish he would talk about Democratic "Values" as opposed to Repuglican. There's a big argument that could be made about which party's values are more positive for America's future.

I've heard him give incredible speeches on the Environment. If he had a speechwriter for those speeches he should bring the person back. He's capable of much more than he's doing.

I thought his policy of "low keying" was justified. Even wrote about it here last week. But, the MTP interview just blew that out of the water for me. He's got to carve out where he's different from Bush or we will flounder around while the Repugs continue their attacks and their attack will be the Democrats don't have their own plan, so what's the difference. That Whore Matthews is already putting that spin out there.

If Kerry waits he will be defined by the Media just like Gore. No matter how many medals he has or how brave he was, he's got to show the difference or folks will sit back and not come out to the polls.

Kerry Push, Unlike Gore's, Will Attack on Environment
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/20/politics/campaign/20ENVI.html?fta=y

" In a departure from the way the 2000 presidential campaign unfolded, aides and advisers to Senator John Kerry say they intend to make the environment a central issue in this year's election.

In the 2000 race, Vice President Al Gore, who had dedicated much of his political career to environmental issues, did not make them a priority....

On Monday, the senator's campaign introduced a television commercial deploring what the Kerry organization has described as Mr. Bush's failed stewardship.

"George Bush let corporate polluters rewrite our environmental laws, and he wants to roll back the Clean Air and Water Acts and drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge," the narrator says. A split screen shows a boy drinking from a water fountain while a power plant spews clouds of pollution.

Mr. Kerry himself ends the commercial by saying, "We've got to leave this earth in better shape than we were given it by our parents."...

Kerry Opens New Bush Attack, Focusing on Iraq and Economy
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/politics/campaign/22CAMP.html?8bl

" Senator John Kerry on Wednesday began what aides said would be an increasingly visible and combative challenge to President Bush, starting with a bus trip through the distressed Midwest and a television advertisement attacking Mr. Bush's Iraq record.

The moves, intended to define Mr. Kerry's candidacy, amount to a re-emergence of sorts by a candidate who largely yielded the spotlight to Mr. Bush after effectively winning the Democratic nomination in early March....

Tad Devine, a senior Kerry adviser, put it this way: "If you're the incumbent president of the United States having spent $50 million in six to seven weeks trying to define yourself, and you're in a dead-heat horse race with a challenger who's just beginning to come into focus, I would submit you're in trouble." ...

He let the Republicans scream and holler and then reluctantly revealed to the world that his superiors thought he walked on water.

He's a closer. A finisher. He's the Mariano Rivera of campaigners.