Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Kerry Mistake

Phil asked us to indicate three mistakes our candidate has made. Here is one of mine with regards to Kerry:
1) Abandoning John Edwards' "two Americas" stump speech which was popular in the Democratic primaries. Yet another report released today (link above) describes the plight of the "working poor" and working-class Americans. I think this is one of the strongest issues for Democrats, and could have resonance with at least two groups of voters Kerry needs to win: the base of the Dem. Party (blacks, women, unions) and with many independents who are experiencing any kind of economic hardship whether it's economic insecurity, lack of health care (or rising costs), etc. The "two Americas" theme nicely ties several issues together (they can even include the Iraq mess in this..."one America is forced to fight unnecessary wars through a backdoor draft, while the other America gets to opt out and send our kids into harms way"). This is where the Bush team has been much smarter than Kerry-Edwards: sounding the right themes and raising the issues which will mobilize their base. The Kerry campaign could learn a few lessons.

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