Posted on 04/09/2006 11:37:16 AM PDT by SkyPilot
Was it his campaign's slow response to the swift boat advertisements or the remark that he voted for Iraq war money before he voted against it that John Kerry regrets most from his failed bid for the White House?
Neither, according to Kerry's reflection Sunday on what he considered his biggest mistake when trying to wrest the presidency from George W. Bush in 2004.
"I think the biggest mistake was probably not going outside the federal financing so we could have controlled our own message," the Massachusetts senator said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The Kerry campaign opted to accept federal money _ and federal spending limits and other rules _ after he won the Democratic nomination. The nominating convention in Boston occurred more than a month before the GOP renominated Bush, forcing Kerry to begin spending under federal rules much earlier than Bush.
"We had a 13-week general election, they had an eight-week general election. We had the same pot of money. We had to harbor our resources in a different way and we didn't have the same freedom," Kerry said.
"I think the most important thing would have been to spend more money, if we could have, on the advertising and responding to some of the attacks," he said.
As for other missteps, Kerry said: "I made some mistakes. I know what they are, and I take responsibility for them."
Some political observers believe the Kerry campaign should have acted more quickly in countering an anti-Kerry group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, that attacked his Vietnam War record.
The Bush campaign criticized Kerry relentlessly for his remark about voting for and then against an $87 billion bill for the military and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. The GOP used Kerry's own words to support the contention that he flip-flopped on issues.
As for a run in 2008, Kerry said Sunday he would make a decision by the end of the year.
___
There was no "slow response" to the Swiftboat Vets and POWs for Truth. The Kerry campaign went after them with everything they had. The problem for Kerry and the Democrats was that truth was not on their side.
Furthermore, the MSM tried to assist the Kerry campaign by ignoring the Swiftboat vets early on (the only media to cover their initial press conference in May 2004 was C-SPAN2). But that didn't work either, because their ads were too effective (and they cost $200,000 to make - pocket change compared to what the Democrats were spending).
Poor Kerry. He is a haunted man. He cannot accept he is a loser.
He looks almost lifelike in that photo.
I look at Kerry and wonder how anyone could vote for him. Then I look at some of the things I ignore to vote for the people I do, and about all I can do is shake my head.
Not enough to spend? The man had Moveon.org spilling its spew throughout the whole campaign.
If he couldn't make it on that, it just wasn't making.
In other words, "I SHOULD'VE WHORED FOR SOROS!"
Really? I thought he looked like a wax figure. Well, actually, I thought he WAS a wax figure, so maybe my perception is slanted that way.
Kerry's biggest mistakes:
* a plan that consisted of having a plan
* John - whatshisname? - oh yeah, Andrews
* Mrs. Kerry
* looking like Lurch
* 20 years in the Senate without doing anything
* coming from same state as Kennedy, Dukakis, and Bawney Fwank
* being a general idiot
Nah. It is a wax figure.
This guy is like the jelly of the month club - it just keeps coming, but you don't want it.
And don't forget Kerry's (well, Tereeeza's) private Gulfstream V jet "The Flying Squirrel."
"As for a run in 2008, Kerry said Sunday he would make a decision by the end of the year."
Mr. Kerry, why don’t you save us both a lot of time, the time you waste running and the time I spend doing everything within my power to stop you from getting elected.
Wait a minute. Wasn't there an enormous controversy in the days after the election when it was discovered that he had not spent 10 million or so dollars that he had available? What sense does this make in that context?
What a huge head - must be where his ego lives!
Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten how ballistic DU went over THAT revelation!
Some political observers believe the Kerry campaign should have acted more quickly in countering an anti-Kerry group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, that attacked his Vietnam War record.
substitute attacked and put in exposed
substitute anti-kerry group and put in combat war veterans
now that sounds more like it
Hey, just because he was completely blindsided by John O'Neil (whom he knew about since 1974), and just because he proved completely unable to effectively neutralize the Swift Boat Vets, that's no reason to think he wouldn't have made a damn fine President, whose international charm offensive would have easily defeated al Qaeda.
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