AWOL Kerry

The post below by Joe Trippi about Kerry's campaign strategy is possibly the most important one on the DeanBlog this week. After making a careful analysis of what Kerry hasn't done as well as what he has done, I've concluded that Kerry's campaign tactics reveal his true agenda. Note that Kerry is focusing his critique on Dean from the draft dodging angle. But at the same time, he gives Bush a complete pass for the AWOL saga during Bush's stint in the Texas Air National Guard.

Kerry in many ways is the only one who has the credentials to raise that issue against Bush, and do so in the context of questioning Bush's leadership. Doing so would actually give Kerry some credibility as he tries to paint himself as simultaneously for and against war on Iraq. His stature as a veteran would completely shield him from any counterattack by the Bush team, which has a vested interest in giving the AWOL issue as little publicity as possible. This is the kind of issue that even if the Mighty Wurlitzer mobilized against, woud still do Bush damage.

Rather than dare to attack Bush on the merits of a well-documented dereliction of duty, Kerry focuses on Dean's fitness for office, on a charge that is tranparently thin and involves deliberate lying.

This makes Kerry unfit for office, in my opinion. He shouldn't let his potent amunition against Bush languish while gunning for Dean. If he were to attack Bush on teh AWOL issue, he would initiate a rising tide that would float all the Democratic boats. The only boat he cares about is his own - and that makes me wonder just how committed he is to changing the country, as oppposed to merely changing the regime.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Gay Saudi Arabia

Five Things Dean Supporters Can Do Right Now to Fight Terrorism