QandO

May 06, 2004

Kerry/Dole
Posted by McQ

Gee, I wish I'd have made this point ... John Nichols at The Nation asks:

Will Kerry be the Dole of 2004? That's the question that the Massachusetts senator needs to sort out this month.

As I stated yesterday, I don't think its a matter of "if" he'll be the next Dole. He's already there. The question is, can he do something about that?

Nichols says to do so he has to do something this month:

John Kerry is going to have to decide who he wants to be when he grows up politically. His post-primary campaign has been so dramatically unfocused and ineffectual that -- even as George Bush has taken more serious blows to his credibility than any sitting president since Richard Nixon in the first years of his second term -- Kerry has not been able to open up a lead nationally or in the essential battleground states.

Kerry is making moves to muscle up his Democratic presidential candidacy, with a $25-million let's-make-some-introductions advertising campaign, an effort to sharpen his message and a sped-up vice presidential search. The next month will be critical. If he can open a five- to eight-point lead nationally and establish leads that mirror those of Al Gore's 2000 wins in Democratic-leaning battleground states, his campaign will be sufficiently renewed to make the race. If, on the other hand, he continues to hold even nationally and trail behind Gore's showings in the states that will tip the balance in the Electoral College, there will come a round of questioning -- prior to the Democratic National Convention in July -- about whether the party is making the right choice.

Pretty bad when the left is comparing you to Gore and not in a flattering manner. Nichols also alludes to the "buyers remorse" stories that have been circulating as they concern Kerry, and essentially say, "get over it, he's the one we have whether we like him or not'. The reason?

Kerry will still be the nominee. Modern political parties lack the flexibility to clean up messes, no matter how obvious the need. The was proven in 1996, when the Republican National Convention dutifully nominated Bob Dole, despite the fact that no honest observer thought he had a chance of winning.

It'll be interesting to see if Kerry responds in the manner Nichols hopes.

I'm still betting on the Dole comparision as the best description holding true.

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