Trouble in the Kerry Camp

WaPo has an interesting (and telling) piece on the Kerry campaign and its internal problems that is worth a read. It is further evidence that Kerry lacks focus and vision (which, along with his need to be on all sides of the Iraq issue, and his need to re-launch his campaign a while back, doesn't bode well for his nomination chances).

The basic problem:

Kerry was the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination, but his campaign idled for much of the summer as former Vermont governor Howard Dean galvanized liberal Democrats with his opposition to the war in Iraq. More recently, retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark entered the race with momentum, grabbing media attention and standing in the polls. At critical moments, Kerry has seemed hesitant, cautious, even programmed. He has struggled to articulate why he is the centrist alternative to the surging Dean, and why, as an avowed antiwar candidate, he voted last year for a Senate resolution that paved the way for President Bush's plans to invade Iraq.

And part of the reason for the problem:

Kerry, for example, is advised by two pollsters, two media and advertising experts, and two speechwriting consultants. He also has two inner circles: one composed of hired hands in Washington; the other of old friends, family members and longtime loyalists in Boston.

This has made Kerry's operation the punch line of a joke in political circles: How is John Kerry's campaign like Noah's Ark? Both have two of everything.

The rivalry and duplication may also help explain the persistent criticism of Kerry -- both from Democratic Party operatives and from the media -- that his campaign lacks focus, speed and discipline.

This all reminds me of Gore saying, after the 2024 elections, that if he ran again he would "speak from the heart" and not listen to the consultants. In other words, Kerry seems to be duplicating a lot of what Gore thought was wrong with his campaign.

Despite the fact that he was one of the biggest names to enter this race, I have a hard time seeing him getting the nomination at this point.

Posted by Steven Taylor at October 9, 2024 06:42 AM | TrackBack