Rove: Kerry Has Taste Of Bush Campaign

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 3-17-2004 | Scott Lindlaw

[blam]

Rove: Kerry Has Taste of Bush Campaign

Wednesday March 17, 2004 11:01 PM

By SCOTT LINDLAW

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - White House political chief Karl Rove said Wednesday that President Bush had just begun to demonstrate the kind of targeted, multi-front campaign he plans against Democratic rival John Kerry.

Addressing a small group of conservative activists, Rove assured them that Bush planned a nimble campaign able to counterpunch even before Kerry opens his mouth. The White House adviser pointed with pride to the Bush camp's response Tuesday, when it got word that Kerry planned a national security speech to veterans in West Virginia.

Less than 24 hours after learning of the speech, the Bush campaign produced an ad criticizing Kerry for his Senate votes on military spending. It also dispatched volunteers to hand out pro-Bush material to West Virginians, and started radio ads in the state.

The Bush campaign has material read to go on Kerry based on his votes and speeches, said a Republican who attended the session. Whenever Kerry raises an issue, the Bush-Cheney campaign will be prepared to hand out leaflets, and run ads on TV and radio.

Kerry's vote authorizing force in Iraq, and on an array of military issues, put him ``in a box'' on the Iraq war, minimizing his ability to criticize Bush, Rove told the conservatives in the private meeting. In Rove's judgment, Kerry hurt himself by calling on one-time Democratic rival Howard Dean to voice support for him. Dean was a fierce critic of the Iraq war, but most Americans outside the Beltway back Bush on national security issues, Rove said.

Rove complained that Democrats were criticizing Bush for failing to stem joblessness, when the unemployment rate is roughly the same as it was during President Clinton's 1996 run. Unemployment in February of this year was 5.6 percent; in February 1996, it was 5.5 percent.

He also said the gay marriage issue is beginning to help Bush, because polls are starting to shift in Bush's direction, with more people opposed to same-sex unions. But Rove implored the activists to add their voices to Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to ensure that Bush is not perceived as standing alone on the issue.

And he expressed irritation that some disgruntled Republicans in Congress and elsewhere have increasingly chosen to go to the news media to air their complaints, rather than bringing them directly to the White House.

[Steven W.]

Skeptics take notice, Karl Rove got the hat trick in the DemoncRAT primaries by letting them take down Dean who (alongside the unelectable Kucinich) was the only DemoncRAT who actually believed in all their absurd positions, by letting Joe Lieberman bite the dust (as the only DemoncRAT candidate with any sense of self or integrity) and leaving Hanoi John French Kerry as their ultimate candidate.

[Viking2002]

Rove knows what he's doing. He hasn't even begun to unload the heavy artillery, yet.

[Asclepius]

White House political chief Karl Rove said Wednesday that President Bush had just begun to demonstrate the kind of targeted, multi-front campaign he plans against Democratic rival John Kerry.

Yeah, well, that's cool and all. But John F. Kerry's worst and most effective enemy is John F. Kerry. His own gaffs and contradictions are killing him. He is like Dean in slow motion. Very, very slow.

[raptor29]

"He hasn't even begun to unload the heavy artillery, yet."

Well, I hope so. This election should be a runaway for Bush, given all the factors at play.

[Dead Dog]

Observe, Orient, Decide, Act.

[jackbill]

Actually, sometimes it seems so easy to attack Kerry. The idiot reminds me of one of those carnival dolls, waiting to get hit by a baseball.

Of course, "Big Media" will do its best to protect him, but they will soon learn that the folks ain't going to continue to put up with it.

They have a choice. Protect Kerry or protect their credibility.

[paul51]

And he expressed irritation that some disgruntled Republicans in Congress and elsewhere have increasingly chosen to go to the news media to air their complaints

Some of the so called republicans in congress have been a huge disappointment

[caisson71]

Let's see, The Prick gave up in Nam after 4 months in country, two of which were "in the bush" - but not quite. Let's see how he fares in the prolonged jungle combat of politics. There will be no writing of his own awards here and no Purple Hearts.

[barker]

"He hasn't even begun to unload the heavy artillery, yet."

Think Cheney fired the first heavy shots. Note to Kerry "incoming"

[Viking2002]

True - Cheney is a master at cutting you in two before you even notice the blade.... :-)

[alloysteel]

'Tis probably true, that most of the positions that the Kerry campaign will take on the issues of the day may anticipated, and most of the means of demolishing their reasoning, or justifications, or simply rationalizations, already exists. What the real caution should be directed at, is something like the "blindside" issues, similar to the DUI charges that were trotted out just before election day in 2004. Something that is sort of true, and damaging, and thrown before an answer can be composed and put out there.

For some people, winning isn't everything. It is the ONLY thing. Because losing isn't anything.

Unfortunately, when hollow men win, and they have nothing to propose and no real objective to strive for, the whole structure of society becomes a façade and a sham. Another target ripe for the picking by really ruthless raiders. It took a couple of hundred years to completely pick over the corpse of the Roman Empire. The US could be picked clean in a couple of decades.

[Libertarian444]

Get after 'em, Karl!!!

Remember:

[deport]

Who said Rove had lost his luster .....

[cmsgop]

Great Pic, LOL!

[Miss Marple]

LOL! Some here have been griping and also thought Cheney should be dumped from the ticket. As we now see, the President and Rove hold fire until the time is right.

I especially like having the local Bush supporters show up to hand out information. HA!

[Qwinn]

"He is like Dean in slow motion. Very, very slow."

Nah. He isn't slow (at self-destructing). It's the media that's slow. Kerry made just as many gaffes during the primaries, it's just that the media was focusing on Dean. With the spotlight on him, it took about 3 months for Dean to implode. Kerry's only had the spotlight for, what, a month now? I predict Kerry will actually flame out -faster- than Dean, and he will spontaneously combust sometime over the next 90 days. Note - the media will not recognize this, it will be true in the real world however. If it hadn't been for Dean's actual rejection at the polls, if the primaries were still a couple months away, Dean would -still- be the media darling even after the primal scream.

Qwinn

[raptor29]

I did get to see a good portion of Cheney's speech today on TV, and he was awesome. Tremendous combination of clarity, logic, and humor. Similar to Lieberman, good luck to the next rat VP candidate who gets to debate him this summer. Another beating is in store.

[isthisnickcool]

Nobody expects the Rove inquisition!

[deport]

This is a marathon and more so it seems now than in prior elections.... You don't respond to every inane statement made by your opponent this early in the game. Unless President Bush has changed a lot since his days in Texas regarding campaigning he'll have certain messages he wants to get out and he'll stick to them. That was one compliment Ma Richards made of him after her loss to him and warned the democrats to get used to it.