The one big thing Kerry is doing right

I found this at Atrios. Kerry is doing the local media thing very well. He's attracting huge crowds and they aren't just the hand-picked and vetted crowds the coward * uses. Kerry's crowds are huge and diverse and they make for an interesting event for the local media to cover.

No doubt Kerry needs to tighten up the people he sends into the cable news universe. However, as political junkies we are unduly attuned to this faux world of babbling talking heads. We have daily threads about it. It's comical the extent to which we agonize over every bit of spin.

But the truth is Kerry is getting *great* local coverage wherever he goes. His events are huge and exciting and he gives a great speech. It's very impressive - we've all noted the awesome size of these crowds.

"The Arizona Daily Sun characterized John Kerry's Sunday night rally in Heritage Square as 'practically the second coming' and devoted its entire Monday front page to the blessed event.

Stories examined the opinions of undecided voters in the crowd, Teresa Heinz Kerry's speech, Indian issues and, for balance, protesters supporting President Bush.

You can't buy that kind of publicity. And that, in large measure, was the point of the Democratic presidential nominee's 4,971-mile trip from Boston to Oregon by bus and train, which ended on Friday.

A recent study by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University found that, on a cost-per-vote basis, it's more effective to send a presidential candidate into smaller media markets than to buy advertising in major television markets. While millions of eyeballs see 30-second spots, local visits are better at moving voters, the research found."

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9395057.htm

should read it and bookmark it and read it again

edit to add: Hiya rumguy LongTimeNoSee :hi:

thanks...

:hi:

Kerry defending himself against smears than on the economic message he has maintained so far. His campaign is playing it just right in these swing states where the economy outweighs all other concerns. Bush's message (turning the corner), on the other hand, has been obscured by his and his campaign's botched smear jobs.

This is his tour of introduction - for him to get up on stage and talk about the smear boat liars would be a miscalculation.

However, his people that venture into the inane world of cable news do need to be better prepared and more aggresive.

Good coverage by locals may make up for the unrelenting negative
crap from cable news. Hopefully enough to make the difference in
the fall.

to show up so he's in the same city with Kerry on
the same day.

I couldn't watch the Oregon channels because they
seemed wall-to-wall Bush.

Here in Seattle they covered both the Kerry speeches and the * speeches. The Kerry crowd looked larger and he was outside under some big beautiful trees talking to a fantastic and exuberant crowd. It made for good TV.

Bush was inside somewhere preachin' solely to the converted. I've already forgotten where he was cuz the images weren't that striking.

While Kerry may be doing well "locally" on the ground, he is getting his clock cleaned nationwide on the air!

http://www.democrats.us/beta/forum/view_topic.php?id=1462&forum_id=12&jump_to=6554

The Misunderestimation of John Kerry
Beware of this man. He's won every race that he was supposed to lose.

by Charles P. Pierce | Esquire Jun 01 '04

in the doom and gloom Kerry is going down posts here. I think allot of the people who post that stuff are just extremely anxious and the second guessing is just a way to blow off steam. I don't really see the point of it, there is nothing any of us can do about how Kerry runs his campaign, and we are not in charge of the media, either.

Besides, polls indicate that Kerry is pulling ahead slightly, and undecideds usually break for the challenger, so we are on stable footing. Why do something risky when you are already winning?

I try to focus on staying positive and on things I can control. I can DO something about voter turnout on Nov 2, so I have been busy organizing voter registration drive. This is a first for me and I really enjoy it. Next phase is contacting the folks we have registered and actually getting them to the polls on Nov 2.

I think this idea that has been floating around DU for the past several days to organize a DU media watchdog group is excellent. So many well informed, talented writers here, they could do some serious damage. That might give the doom and gloomers something positive to do for awhile.

that he will be able to continue this..Go to all freakin' 50 states, too. Fly over to HAwaii!

battleground states. If I recall correctly Nixon was the only candiate to visit all 50 states, but it kept him out of the battleground states sometimes and could have been a small factor in his defeat. I do think it would be meaningful if he did it though, it would show that he cares about all people even in states he doesnt have a shot of winning. So I like your idea but the history nerd in me tells me it may not work but then again Kennedy didnt beat Nixon by that much.