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WPCNR OBSERVER. By John F. Bailey. July 6, 2004: Is John Kerry running for President? You would never know it from his non-existent campaign so far. Given an administration to run against which has made gaffe after gaffe the last three months since Kerry has wrapped up the Democrat nomination, Kerry has yet to launch a coherent campaign strategy to exploit the numerous weaknesses in the George W. Bush reelection prospects. If he does not start acting like Presidential material soon, he is going to pull a Thomas Dewey. In a media world just waiting to whip his every word out to defeat the Bush Administration, Kerry is saying little, criticising a lot, but offering nothing.
In light of watching 1776, the movie on July 4, and noting the risk, the statesmanship, and passionate argument our founding fathers put forth in the discussion and dangerous decision to write and declare the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Kerry and our present politicians do not pass the founding father test.
When I looked at the calendar this morning, I noted it was July 6, 2004, and we have yet to have from John Kerry the following basic campaign statements, which he owes the American people and the Americand have a right to know that he is thinking about these issues. Hopefully he is thinking about them. But we do not know if he is because he has not said anything publicly.
1.) How his administration would handle the Iraq situation in which America is presently embroiled, and an exit strategy. (It could be as simple as the great Nixon ploy, “I have a plan to end the war, but I can’t tell you. It’s secret.”)
2.) How his administration would respond to the global terror threat and a future 9/11 incident, how he would be proactive in fighting the ongoing Muslim extremist terrorist threat.
3.) How his administration would stop the outflow of American jobs, the main source of rising unemployment.
4.) What his administration would do specifically to decrease our dependence on imported energy sources, explore energy for the future, repare the energy grid.
5.) How his administration would organize homeland security, including immigration analysis, illegal immigrant policy, investigation of potential terrorist infiltrators, coordination of American security agency cooperative efforts. What would his Administration policy be toward suspected terrorists and organizations supporting terrorism?
6.) How his administration would regain the trust and respect of the rest of the world, (assuming that trust and respect is worthwhile to regain and has benefits), without compromising American security interests.
Just as a rider galloping by on a fast horse, those are the six key issues that the Bush Administration is grappling with and is vulnerable, thats a lot of errors in one inning for one administration to overcome. But, unless Kerry starts not only attacking but suggesting, he is going to lose.
However, Mr. Kerry has not defined any policies regarding these matters. Other than saying the Bush adminstration handled Iraq from a partisan (“Get Saddam at all costs”) point of view, and accusing the Bush Adminstration of lying about WMD and using “faulty” intelligence, Kerry has said very little concrete about what he would do differently when it is his watch.
When Mr. Kerry is elected President, I can guarantee you he will have a major terrorist incident with which to contend. What would he do? Attack back, talk, what?
How would he prepare and reorganize the military, (shown to be very well-trained but stretched thin by the Iraq, Afghanistan deployments) But, Mr. K, how would you get us out? Would you stay? He seems at this time to be following the Bush policy, just content to muddle through. But what we he do?
Other than alluding to raising taxes to help the economy, (an interesting concept that never wins), Kerry has been sketchy about the job drain to abroad, corporate malfeasance and regulation. Kerry who is related to one of the world’s largest corporations has said very little about economic stimulus, corporate regulation, and deregulation, let alone environmental rollbacks that have characterized the Bush Administration. What would he do?
Homeland Security is obviously a topic of hot debate. From the Constitution-busting Patriot Act to the stepped-up surveillance of Americans and visitors to America, as well as the Byzantine relationships of the national security agencies, this is a field that Kerry has to focus on and provide some articulation. It is a golden field for campaign rhetoric. Well, we have heard nothing from him on what he would do.
The Kerry Campaign has squandered the heady giddiness of April when he triumphantly snatched the nomination. Now, he is trying to pick up a fumbled, busted play and run with it. It’s not working.
His advisors have failed utterly for two months in pounding out a set of benefits to a Kerry Administration. Few administrations have been more vulnerable to charges, and more attackable on management strategies. The Vice Presidential Choice is not important. Kerry’s message is. And we are not getting one, other than Bush is bad, and we’re good.
But, how are you going to be bettery, Mr. K?
Some suggestions:
If I were John Kerry, I would declare a wholesale reorganization of the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, DEA and appoint one overall security chief reporting to the National Security Council. I would call for devotion of security funds dedicated to the most-threatened cities, eliminating the Bush pork barrel approach to homeland security fund distribution.
If I were John Kerry, I would declare a National Business Renaissance Initiative (NBRI) of business leaders (borrowing from FDR) charged with creating a program to keep jobs within America and transfer jobs back from overseas, while increasing the tax base, not taxes.
If I were John Kerry, I would promise to form an American Independent Energy Initiative to bring together energy titans to formulate what needs to be done to repare America’s energy infrastructure, organize its energy resources, and explore alternatives, with a one-year timetable.
If I were John Kerry, I would reorganize the Immigration agencies to track immigrants better, legal and illegal, offer benefits to citizenship, and deportation for citizens here illegally, flatout. That would attract a lot of conservative voters.
If I were John Kerry, I would call for a Middle East Conference on Iraq, in the first month of my presidency to access the internal situation, among Muslim, European, nations to discuss whatever. It might not achieve anything, but it sounds good, and it is something the Bush Administration has not called for. And it sounds good.
These off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts deep in the night show precisely why Kerry is not going to win anything if he does not start working at articulating new ideas and solutions instead of “Monday morning quarterbacking.”
To waste 90 days of serious image-creating time by not making one major policy statement or speech shows that the Kerry campaign is in total dissarray. They are amateurs. They could walk away with the presidency with just a semblance of leadership and creativity. You cannot be afraid to advance new ideas and identify issues that the present administration has ignored.
Kerry by not campaigning, offering bromides and snide anti-Bushisms, is risking slipping into a scary image of a Thomas Dewey, who was cresting at the polls against Harry Truman in 1948, absolutely a shoo-in to win, but who failed to campaign and lost to Truman. Dewey campaigned not to lose. You have to have a vision for the country.
Kerry has to start his campaign, but he has been dead in the water for 90 days. The national media has been exposing Mr. Bush’s weak flanks relentlessly. But, unfortunately, Mr. Kerry has not trumpeted any thought-provoking bromides that would serve as policy remedies should he win in November.
Just an example of what I mean: In response to the American prison misconduct, Kerry could have called for beefing up the military budget, offering more military benefits, organizing a Military Detained Combatants Division to assure the American military was better prepared for this in the future, and a Security Issues Conference to examine prisoner’s rights. In the hidious beheadings, Kerry could have strongly condemned the atrocities, promising to not rest in his administration until the organizations were brought to justice, (rhetoric, of course, but it sounds good).
Kerry does not have a clue how to run a campaign, and he had better learn soon. Playing Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, is not going to do it this time. Because when you show a lack of alternatives in your campaign, the voter begins to think that the President you have, is better than the President you don’t know on the part of the electorate, could cost the election, even when you seem to have everything going for you.
However, you have to stake out some ground that is yours, and that the other guy does not have. You have to give voters reasons to vote for you.
For that matter, the Bush Administration has to make an effort to defend what they have done in Iraq and a promise to do better, and how they will do better.
