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To: redfish who wrote (34746)	3/15/2004 9:45:42 PM
From: redfish	Respond to of 794268

Kerry's tactics: Rapid 'pre-sponse' startribune.com By Scott Shepard Cox News Service March 16, 2004 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As John Kerry moves forward as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the broad outline of his general election strategy against President Bush is becoming apparent, and it is the most aggressive campaign a Democrat has run in decades. The Kerry tactics surpass even the legendary "war room" approach of the Clinton campaign in 1992, serving up "pre-sponses" to Bush campaign events instead of responses to the president and his Republican allies. And they seem to have caused a sputter in the much-vaunted Bush political machine at an important point in the campaign -- when the president is anxious to define the Massachusetts senator before the senator can define himself, much as the president's father defined his opponent, then Gov.-Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, in the 1988 campaign. "John Kerry is no Michael Dukakis," said Darrell West, a Brown University professor who has closely followed Kerry's 19-year career in the Senate. "He will respond immediately to any Bush attacks to make sure news stories carry the rebuttal. His goal is to make sure negative information does not stick to him. If you can rebut charges right away, it reduces the odds that voters will believe them." In fact, the Kerry campaign does not wait to respond. On Thursday, hours before the Bush campaign began its first television ads attacking Kerry, the senator's "war room" had distributed rebuttal facts by e-mail to hundreds of political reporters, set up a conference call with Kerry surrogates and made Kerry officials available to television news programs. It also responded with TV ads of its own on Friday. Nearly the same thing happened Wednesday, when the president appeared with a group of businesswomen to promote his economic policies, and again on Friday, when he touted his record on promoting international women's rights. Well-chosen Kerry surrogates offered criticism of the president on each occasion. "We're just not going to let Senator Kerry's record be distorted," Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., said during a conference call with reporters to rebut the Bush charge that the senator intends to raise taxes. In most instances last week, the Kerry rebuttal was public record before the Bush charges were aired, a much more aggressive approach than Bill Clinton's of 1992, where the objective was to respond to attacks during the same news cycle rather than a day or two later. By the end of the week, the Kerry campaign moved a portion of its "war room" to the Internet, establishing a rapid response "D-Bunker" Web site intended to debunk Bush charges. Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said the "war room" operation was set up during the Democratic primaries to respond to Bush and the White House, even as the senator pursued his party's nomination. "We were engaged in battle on two different fronts ... making the case to [Democratic] voters ... [and] to make sure that the White House is very certain that we are going to defend Senator Kerry's record while we advance his ideas and cause," Cahill said. Bush camp's response Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman suggested that there is an element of desperation in the Kerry campaign's approach to criticism. "The Kerry campaign, when it feels it has a vulnerability, has a very defensive, kind of reactive approach," Mehlman said. "I think it is clear watching them that they believe, for instance, they are vulnerable on Senator Kerry's long and consistent record to cut defense and to cut intelligence and to weaken some of the key parts of the war on terror. "And I think that, as a result, when you mention any of those issues, there is a disproportionate reaction because they feel vulnerable on that issue." But David Ginsberg, a key figure in the 2000 Gore-Lieberman "war room," which was modeled after Clinton's, said the Kerry campaign has no choice but to be aggressive early in the general election contest because first impressions are as important in politics as in life. "The Kerry campaign is doing an excellent job of hitting back strong and fast," said Ginsberg, who was communications director of the John Edwards presidential campaign before it ended this month. The Clinton "war room" was largely a reaction to Dukakis four years earlier allowing George H.W. Bush to paint him as soft on crime by making a household name out of Willie Horton, a black Massachusetts inmate who raped a woman while on prison furlough. That year, the Bush campaign erased a 17-point poll lead that Dukakis held after his nomination in Atlanta.

To: redfish who wrote (34746)	3/15/2004 9:47:12 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794268

Poll: Few Favor Same-Sex Marriage CBS News, by Staff cbsnews.com Americans continue to oppose the idea of same-sex marriage and would support a constitutional amendment to ban it. Support for the amendment has risen from 55% before to 59% after the San Francisco weddings.

To: redfish who wrote (34746)	3/16/2004 12:03:44 AM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 794268

"There will be howls of protest from republicans for the next eight months due to the dem candidate actually having the audacity to fight back." Kerry made those statements after several months of all 9 candidates & the DNC blatantly attacking the Bush Admin with some of the most vile smears. So what exactly had the Bush Admin done up to that point that would credibly make them, "the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen"? Please cite specific examples that clearly show them as the most crooked & lying group Kerry or anyone has ever seen. There must be numerous examples since a candidate for the office of President made those comments & the next day he reinforced those same words with a vengeance.