Quote:
Originally posted by mml
Kerry's campaign does not have a great deal of money and is conserving funds to do a big build up before the convention. He is being attacked pretty effectively by both Bush and Cheney and he simply does not have the resources to fight back right now. He need a V.P. to help with fighting back and spreading his agenda as well as assisting with fund-raising. Unfortuately Kerry is known to sit back a bit during elections, but he has always ended strong.
|
What we're seeing in this thread is a lot of short-sighted analysis. We're looking at the election from a point, and not with knowledge of the past and anticipation of the future. Kerry is not actually at a funding disadvantage right now. The Bush campaign just spent about $50 million on an ad blitz, and has rather little to show for it. Money is important, but not the key. Just ask Karl Rove, or any Democrat for that matter.
So that's one thing to keep in mind, that Bush just spent a shitload of money. Another thing to remember is that Kerry has raised considerable amounts of money, and that even during the primary, the aggregate donations to Democratic candidates matched up favorably to the money raised by Bush. So, don't go with the conventional wisdom that Kerry will be grossly outspent: it's just not true.
Second, in much the same way that Republicans like to defend Bush's low re-elect numbers a few months back by saying his campaign hasn't started, I would contend that Kerry hasn't really gotten into full swing with his campaign either. There are tactical and strategic reasons for this. First, tactically, Kerry has little reason to try to compete with generally negative Iraq news for converage. Second, he seems to be using a broader strategy of starting his campaign later in the season. This is a gamble, but one that might pay off. The idea is that people won't really pay that much attention now anyway, and an intense 60-90 day campaign near the election date will be much more effective. Also, it will help to negate spending by Bush before the Kerry campaign really gets going.
Why Kerry? While I sympathize with the difficult situation our President is in, I think it requires more than tough talk. Bush has failed to follow up his good intentions with smart policies that work. I think that's the biggest reason I can give for Kerry. Kerry brings experience and honesty to the job. Bush and Rove are too concerned with reelection and building a Republican dynasty in Washington.