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Originally Posted by Kadath
"The difference, to me, is that it is only in recent days that Kerry has finally decided on his positions. This race has been going on for how long? The examples of Bush's flip-flops noted in this article mostly occurred before this race even started to heat up."
Most of the 'flip flops' found in Bush lists occurred during his candidacy or early Presidency. That's where Kerry is now -- in his candidacy. Doesn't that make the two exactly the same in this regard?
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I don't think so because the undecided voters have been picking their candidate over the last month or two and will continue to do it up until election day. Without a base of understanding for Kerry's positions and a real familiarity with him, people will naturally tend toward the "known" person. Whether they fully agree or disagree with Bush they have a pretty good read on where he stands on a lot of things. Kerry hasn't created that kind of perception. Many of us on the board here have a pretty good idea of his beliefs but we follow politics much more closely than the average person.
I'm not saying the difference is in what they do just when they do it and the importance of the timing. You can't have a large mass of people unclear on what you stand for this close to election. The 9+ field of candidates for the nomination already had people confused and gave the air of disorganization. Whichever candidate was to win that ugly race for the nomination they had to come out with clear stands. Dean was probably best prepared for that since he was relatively consistent in his beliefs. Those beliefs had to be reinforced throughout the race not just towards the end of it.