Kerry orders reshuffle of campaign team
By Alec Russell
(Filed: 02/09/2004)
Senator John Kerry has ordered an overhaul of his campaign staff, appointing two former Bill Clinton aides to key jobs as he seeks to recover from a lacklustre August that has seen him cede ground to President George W Bush.
Mr Kerry's aides play down talk of a crisis. But his strategists are worried that he has been damaged by attacks on his Vietnam War record and are all too aware he needs to come out with all guns blazing tomorrow when he returns to the campaign trail.
In an attempt to regain momentum and counter the expected boost to Mr Bush's image from the Republican Convention his campaign will tomorrow launch a $45 million (£25 million) advertising campaign in 10 of the most contested states.
This is more than half of the $75 million Mr Kerry is allowed by law to spend in the countdown to the Nov 2 election, reflecting the need to counter hard-hitting television advertisements against him by Vietnam veterans.
Mr Kerry has moved to shore up his media team, which is widely perceived to have flunked its first big test in responding to the anti-Kerry veterans who have accused the candidate of embellishing his record in Vietnam.
Joe Lockhart, a former White House press secretary under Mr Clinton, is to take over communications strategy, and Joel Johnston, another Clinton veteran, is to take over the campaign's rapid response operations.
Mr Clinton perfected the art of rapid rebuttals and Mr Kerry will be hoping the old tricks of the infamous Clinton "war-room" can help him to switch the debate to Mr Bush's vulnerabilities.
As some Democrats worry that it was a mistake to emphasise Mr Kerry's Vietnam War record, a Democratic polling memorandum has conceded "there is no doubt the 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' ads have had an impact on the race".
Yesterday, Mr Kerry delivered his most trenchant criticism to date of Mr Bush's record in Iraq, telling veterans that he would have done "almost everything differently", but he did not address the row over the veterans' attack advertisements.
His supporters point to a comforting parallel for his reshuffle and his outlay of money. Last autumn, when his campaign for the nomination seemed doomed, he reshuffled his top staff and took out a $6 million mortgage on his house to finance his campaign. He never looked back.
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