Kerry may be the Democrats' biggest disappointment of the season. A Vietnam war hero, substantive senator and accomplished debater, he has been floundering in this campaign, straining even to explain his position on Iraq. What, exactly, is Kerry's message? What is the essence of his campaign?
He went through a period of not attacking Dean as his Granite State lead evaporated. Now he attacks Dean every other hour. Nothing seems to work.
It's possible, of course, that Kerry's new campaign chief, Mary Beth Cahill, drafted from Ted Kennedy's team, can work miracles. Back in 1980, after Ronald Reagan lost Iowa to George Bush the elder, he dumped campaign manager John Sears and two other top aides. Here's what Sears had to say afterward, according to The Washington Post:
"John P. Sears, the spurned Machiavelli of Republican politics, yesterday drew a portrait of Ronald Reagan's campaign as an operation plagued with incompetence, internal rivalries and an indecisive candidate, unprepared on the issues and insulated from the problems on his staff."
Reagan, obviously, recovered well enough to serve two terms in the White House. But Reagan's core message of smaller government and a tougher foreign policy were unmistakable. If Kerry is to right his campaign, it will take more than merely handing the keys to a new driver. And by turning to a Kennedy staffer, Kerry added fuel to the Washington-versus-Boston fire that has roared inside his campaign.
The Hotline takes note of "the Boston factor; the city's press corps (and those Boston Dems who felt slighted by Jim Jordan, who orchestrated the early Kerry success) will have a field day with this; and if Kerry's not careful, the coverage will be obit-like."
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