Wishing for a less cloudy forecast-
John Kerry Needs to Clear Up This dischord in the pact of things,
This endless war 'twixt truth and truth,
That singly held, yet give the lie
To him who seeks to hold them both...
- Boethius
Re: AP: Dean nod mixed bag for Kerry
By Nedra Pickler
The same brutal honesty that Howard Dean brought to the political forefront is recommended, by some political advisors, to be publically shunned by John Kerry. I'm all for honesty. Until we can all be brutally honest about matters, liars and media-manipulators will continue to prevail in these horse races. A Dean-shunning by Kerry would be a vote for Bush, in my estimation. Kerry needs more political clarity. He's being pegged as a waffler on key issues...and let's face it, to the non-trained political ear, he comes off sounding like one. I may not love his message, but GOP Campaign Chairman Ed Gillsepie's not lying when he drags out his political ammo. All the GOP has to do is show the clip of Kerry
saying he voted for the $87 billion for the troops before he voted against it....or display
Kerry's statement upon voting "YES" to the Iraq resolution in October 2002. I have a trained political ear. Even
I failed to glean a clear message or direction from that statement.
President Bush may be an overly simplistic simpleton in some eyes, but we must remember that most Americans want their messages as simple and clear as they can get them. I trust John Kerry supports our troops and I know he voted "No" on the $87 billion because he was demanding accountability from the Bush administration. However, all many Americans will see is that silly statement he made about "
for-before-against". There are often two or more rationally acceptable sides to our stories...
even relativity is a two-faced Janus...but humans tend to need to be reassured with straightforward consistency when the message is pitched over their home-plate.
--Howard Dean is clear and straight. He's been excoriated for it in the media..even by the likes of Democrats like Bruce Reed of the DLC. What a shame upon the DLC. The AFSCME boss called Dean "
nuts".
--Bush is clear and misleading...and he's been rewarded and honeymooned by the same media that destroyed Dean's candidacy...and will destroy Kerry's if he's not smart. Stop shunning the honesty of Dean. Dean has stuck by the Democrats and has greatly furthered their case against Bush. In my opinion, they'd be lost in the woods without him.
This isn't "Dean-lost" sour grapes. I'd really love to see straight and clarifiying messages from Kerry.
He needs to change or face a loss in November.
This is not a Kerry-bash. This is tough love.
By the way, I think Howard Dean would be a tremendous representational asset to the spirit of the American people by serving as John Kerry's Vice President. He's the eidetic 21st-Century Paine or Jefferson, never losing sight of the fact that America is only as good as each individual in whom our Creator gifted those
certain unalienable Rights.
They're coming at you firecely, Senator. Kerry. There has never been a more important time to embrace and incorporate the honesty of those who are your political friends.
See:
Weekly Standard: Kerry's Uncommon Touch
Besides the flip-flops, John Kerry has another big problem: how his life in the Senate has prepared him for connecting with ordinary Americans