Posted on 11/04/2004 10:48:53 PM PST by Former Military Chick
So how does a president with a national job approval rating below 50 percent, an economy that lost more than a million jobs over his four years in office, a war that has cost more than a thousand American lives and counting, and a national mood that is downright sour still secure more than enough votes to win re-election?
The answer? Credibility. The president had it. John Kerry did not.
The components of the Bush victory and Kerry defeat all boil down to a single candidate attribute that the president had in abundance but was AWOL from the Kerry campaign: "says what he means and means what he says." In every state and national survey we conducted in 2004, no desired presidential attribute ever scored higher, and nowhere was Mr. Bush stronger and Mr. Kerry weaker. In every focus group I moderated, voters would plead for candidates who spoke from the heart and not from some speechwriter's notes.
And nowhere does the image of straight talk matter more than on national security. John Kerry had had two full years to articulate a concise position on Iraq and a clear alternative strategy that offered a successful and more immediate resolution to the war. He couldn't do it.
Even during the three presidential debates, the senator gave answers that left uncommitted voters in my focus groups both confused and mystified. His critique of the current administration's failures clearly did political damage, but the electorate could not define exactly what he would do differently. What Mr. Kerry did not realize was that referencing "a plan" roughly two dozen times over 90 minutes is different than actually having one.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I haven't read the article yet but he was on John McEnroe's TV show the other night and said he voted for Bush when asked. The audience booed for the most part.
Good article.
I'm not thoroughly convinced that Karl Rove is all that great, but I always liked Karen Hughes.
Newsweek is supposed to spill the beans about the real Kerry campaign. From the excerpts I have read it is too bad they didn't print all of this before the election! The MSM did not do it's job, and they know it.
Good read
Good article, thanks for posting it.
He would have gotten a bigger audience if he showed up at the local McDonald's.
bttt
Frank Luntz on Hannity and other shows the night of was all about how the RATS were ahead and winning. He made me and others sick talking about Ohio.
He is no Republican. He is a bandwagon self-promoter who deserves to be run out of TV on a rail. If it wasn't obvious I can't stand the huckster, let me point out that there is no question who the left goes to when they want someone to discuss Republican poll numbers--Mr. Negative, Frank Luntz, chief GOP rat-puffer.
He has endured some ribbing as of late. The DU went after him at MSNBC because he was not an unbiased jounalist and wanted him removed and for a while I did not see his name on MSNBC schedule, he returned on election day and through the night.
He is fair and honest.
I hate that we can only post part of the article, but, it is worth the read.
You are most welcome, pass it along.
"Some will claim that Mr. Bush won on Tuesday because he waged a campaign of fear. The exact opposite was the case. Americans turned to him precisely because they saw him as the antidote to that fear."
Amen.
While we will have to agree to disagree. He has stood on principle and he is a republican.
It's the team. And that 'dumb' guy in the oval office picked 'em. Amazingly dumb of him *sarcasm*
A 3.5 + million win in popular vote, gains in the house and senate, the elimination of Dashole? I am impressed with Rove and Hughes.
Blessings, Bobo
"True, the swift boat veterans never fully convinced voters that Mr. Kerry "betrayed" his country in wartime, but they did raise nagging and unresolved doubts about Mr. Kerry's character and judgment at the very moment that voters had begun to make up their minds. "
Labor day is when minds start to get made up. And the vets knew when to hit.
Also,Luntz accuratly says that you just can't be a party that says 'No'. This will help when the SS battle approaches soon. Bush gives a couple PC's on it like today and the Dems will have to worry about 2006 loses.
Reading this article should remind everyone of the vicious personal attacks leveled against the President for the last 18 months and the unrelenting criticism of the last four years. Undermining the President's credibility during a time of war, undermines the war effort itself. The endless condemnation of the President by the voices of hatred from liberal-land, probably cost Bush at least 5% in the final outcome of the election results. Bottomline. The President deserves a metal for having the thickest skin of any politico around today.
I think Kerry lost when he told everyone that certain leaders in the world would prefer him to Bush and then in the debate his remark about the "global test".
Of course thats just a couple of samples. The cumulative effect was devastating to his campaign.
Bush is the anti-Clinton....nuff said.
The MSM are killing the Democrats. Kerry has always been an empty suit. The MSM should have exposed him during his VVAW days, but their love of his cause meant they turned a blind eye to his lies. They have propped him up ever since. Democrat politicians are not vetted by the MSM, leaving the Democrats candidates that are seriously flawed and easily exposed.
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