No Way To Run A Campaign - September Timeline

[adios]

No Way To Run A Campaign - September Timeline (http://large-regular.blogspot.com/2004/09/no-way-to-run-campaign-september.html) No Way To Run A Campaign - September Timeline

Last month I started to feel like I was reading about the Kerry campaign taking a pratfall or causing a self-inflicted wound almost every day. So I did an August Timeline and found my instinct was correct.

The number of miscues by the Kerry campaign was so great (except for on August 12th) that due to space considerations - I have to do a separate post for this September Timeline. So without further ado...

Sept. 1st - After an awful August - a furious Kerry orders a shakeup of his campaign leadership. Meanwhile - the San Francisco Chronicle lauds the GOP as the party of inclusiveness? That can't be welcome news for the Kerry campaign. At the RNC the Democrats get hell from one of their own - Zell Miller:

What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in? I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny. It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city. Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator. And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.
Sept. 2nd - Another luke-warm reception for Kerry by a veteran's group - this time from the American Legion in Tennessee. Kerry also completely breaks with the age-old gentleman's agreement of not campaigning during the opposition's convention to deliver a midnight speech in Springfield, Ohio in response to the Bush acceptance speech. The Kerry speech does not go over well with - well anyone.

Sept. 3rd - The Kerry campaign has to settle for Joe-mentum as all the "momentum" goes to President Bush.
"The Democrats are eviscerated," says Jay H. Leve, Editor of SurveyUSA. "Even in the most solidly Democratic corners of this country, a majority of adults suddenly believe that George W. Bush will win in November."
Time Magazine backs up this survey with a poll of their own that shows Bush leading by 11 points. Kerry's Ace in the hole - Bill Clinton is suddenly unavailable as it becomes necessary for him to have emergency bypass surgery. Meanwhile Ralph Nader gets on the ballot in Michigan despite Kerry's and the DNC's best efforts.

Sept. 4th - The town of Steubenville, Ohio gives Kerry the cold shoulder. Doesn't this campaign have any advance people who can sniff out problems like this? Meanwhile Newsweek also shows Bush with an 11 point lead over Kerry.

Sept. 5th - The Kerry campaign can stonewall the Swiftboat Vets but I'm pretty sure that they'll have to answer the questions from the Inspector General of the Navy regarding false claims. The Kerry campaign posts what they call "lies, mischaracterizations, distortions, and half-truths" from the four days of RNC. (NOTE: the original page on the Kerry website is "disappeared" like Soviet airbrishing of history but Charles at LGF kept a copy - God bless Charles.) Reading through the list leaves you scratching your head thinking WTF? For example - is the Kerry campaign agreeing with this or disputing it? It's hard to tell:
John Kerry Has No Clear, Consistent Vision of Terrorism.

35. Rudy Guliani: President Bush sees world terrorism for the evil that it is. John Kerry has no such clear, precise and consistent vision.
Sept. 6th - Kerry gets advice from Bill "Ace in the hole" Clinton and a further shakeup of campaign staffing seems immenent. In a Pennsylvania campaign stop John Kerry clearly veers into Howard Dean territory stating that he would want to bring the troops in Iraq home within 4 years (his first term). In addition:
Faulting Bush on almost every aspect of his move toward war, Kerry said the United States is carrying the burden in casualties and cost. He called the president's coalition ''the phoniest thing I ever heard.''
To date 131 non-US colalition soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq. I am sure the leaders of England, Australia, Portugal and Italy among others are just thrilled with Kerry's latest slur.

Sept. 7th - Kerry's attempt to appear as a regular guy backfires when it is reported that the shotgun he accepted as a gift is among the guns he cosponsored a bill to ban. Kerry's "wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time" sounds like something Howard Dean would say and something that Kerry would have attacked Dean for saying. The name Steve Pitkin surfaces - keep this in mind for future reference because I think you may be hearing more about him later in the campaign (especially if the Kerry campaign tries something stupid like trying to pass off forged documents about Bush's guard service).

Sept. 8th - Kerry loses the endorsement from both the VFW and the American Legion to President Bush. This is normally not that big a deal but Kerry made his status as a veteran of a foreign war a cornerstone of his campaign. Meanwhile even media outlets who favor Kerry are having trouble figuring out who's in charge of the campaign. Could it be that nobody wants the "credit" for this disaster of a campaign?

Sept. 9th - The much anticipated Washington Post / ABC poll numbers are released and it is pretty much all bad news for the Kerry campaign. Major collateral damage to the Kerry campaign is suffered when FOK-er (Friend of Kerry) Dan Rather uses documents to smear President Bush that are almost immediately widely denounced as forgeries.

Sept. 10th - Speculation that the forged documents are tied to the DNC. CBS not releasing its sources will only further the idea that this is true. Meanwhile - it has been 41 days since John Kerry last allowed himself to be questioned in an interview. Maybe the idea is to never allow the candidate to answer any more questions until election day?

Sept 11th - Kerry uses a solemn day of remembrance to play the race card.

Sept. 12th - The Kerry campaign's collateral damage from the 60 Minutes fraud continues.

Sept. 13th - Zell "I will never trust John Kerry with my family's safety" Miller keeps firing away and damaging the Kerry campaign among NRA Democrats. John Kerry tries to get his message out but nobody is listening because all the attention is on Dan Rather and his dubious documents.

Sept. 14th - Kerry continues to trail in the major swing states. The DNC ties itself to Dan Rather in a big way. Republicans ask "is this the best they got?"

Sept. 15th - Things are so bad for the Kerry campaign that both New Jersey and Illinois are now in play. First Jon Stewart and now Don Imus. At least Kerry is heading in the right direction. At this pace he won't do Tim Russet's show until November 6th (which of course will be too late).

Sept. 16th - Possibly the low point for the Kerry campaign. I must say that the tenor of the campaign is set at the top and with Kerry on the attack, attack, attack with no substance - this particular attack may come to symolize the campaign without dignity. I'm just glad that the Union leadership acted in an adult fashion. The Kerry Campaign suffers collateral damage as MoveOn.org comes out with an ad showing a defeated American soldier in Iraq. The ad is immediately attacked by people like Bob Dole who calls for John Kerry to condemn the ad. Does MoveOn.org really think they are aiding John Kerry's chances with ads like this?

Sept. 17th - CBS's new poll shows Bush ahead by 9 points - but people are now taking anything from CBS with a grain of salt.

Sept. 18th - John Kerry thinks that President Bush is reaching into the Richard Nixon playbook of secret plans to end the war. This time Kerry alleges that Bush will call up even more National Guardsmen after the election. Meanwhile Kerry's sister chips in with her $.02 - telling Australians that siding with the US has only served to make them targets.

Sept. 19th - Football Fans for truth come out against Kerry. The 2004 campaign for President in a nutshell - Dick Cheney visits Green Bay and campaigns with Packer legend Bart Starr meanwhile Kerry campaigns in Green Bay and calls Lambeau Field "Lambert Field." The Kerry campaign drops the ball yet again.

Sept. 20th - Will future historians blame Dan Rather for killing the Kerry Campaign? Will future historians decide that the Kerry Campaign was an active participant in the fraud? Real reporters don't have the opportunity to ask Kerry about any connections because Kerry only does softball shows like The Daily Show and The Late Show with David Letterman.

Sept. 21st - It's gotten so bad that even Michael Moore is basically calling Kerry a loser.

Sept. 22nd - Kerry tries to pass off the idea that if Bush is re-elected then Bush will bring back the draft. Kerry also faces some reality and concedes Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana and the birthplace of Harry Truman - Missouri. The Kerry campaign concedes those states by pulling all their advertising. Wisconsin may be next on the list. Lambert Field indeed!

Sept. 23rd - The Kerry campaign calls Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi a liar and a puppet. People keep waiting for today's version of Joseph Welch to ask him, "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?" Instead we get "Oh who cares!"

Sept. 24th - John Kerry praises the UN and criticizes the US and our allies. Foreign policy and building bridges was supposed to be a Kerry strength. I've been doing a daily timeline of the Kerry campaign and I'm having trouble deciding when it passed from a joke to a disgrace.

Sept. 25th - Public backlash about biased media coverage via RatherGate, polls that show almost no hope for Kerry, disappointment in how the candidate attacked the Prime Minister of Iraq who simply came to this country to say thank you, a feeling that less than 2 months till the election nobody yet knows where the candidate stands on the issues - all these things pervade the Kerry campaign but no one new example stands out. So no link for today.

Sept. 26th - With nothing else working - Kerry blasts Bush for saying Mission Accomplished - the only problem being Bush never said Mission Accomplished. Meanwhile Joe Biden has to do a clean up in aisle Kerry over Kerry's earlier slamming of Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Sept. 27th - As Homer Simpson would say - it's funny because its true - "He [Kerry] probably could spend 90 minutes debating himself. It's been a little difficult to prepare because he keeps changing positions on the war on terror." Meanwhile the Democrats demonstrate the difference between humor and political scare tactics by sending out Ted "The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely" Kennedy

[andyfox]

" Kerry blasts Bush for saying Mission Accomplished - the only problem being Bush never said Mission Accomplished."

Bush said precisely that on June 5, 2003.

"Kerry's earlier slamming of Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi."

Kerry said that Allawi contradicted himself, which he did. There was no slamming.

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
Bush said precisely that on June 5, 2003.

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Bush to troops in Qatar: 'Mission accomplished' (http://www2.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/06/05/qatar.bush/) In context here's what Bush stated:

"Our actions sent along a clear message that our nation is strong and our nation is compassionate," Bush told the troops at the rally. "America sent you on a mission and that mission has been accomplished."

The mission that was accomplished was removing Saddam from power. He wasn't claiming that a democracy had been established in Iraq. You know as well as I do what the timeline is referring to. The Democratic party spin is that Bush landed on the USS Lincoln and declared "Mission Accomplished" with his intent being that all the goals had been accomplished in Iraq. Bush didn't make that claim at all.


[ QUOTE ]
Kerry said that Allawi contradicted himself, which he did. There was no slamming.

[/ QUOTE ]

"The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips," said Joe Lockhart, a senior Kerry adviser.

Allawi Effectiveness Hinges on Credibility (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-na-assess24sep24,1,7081693.story?coll=la-home-headlines)

Neither Kerry or Edwards showed up for Allawi's address to Congress nor met with him personally. Sorry that's a snub and an uneccessary one at that. A snub == a slam. You may knit pick and state that Kerry personally didn't slam him but certainly spokesman for his campaign did. So if we're going to hold to your apparent standard, if Bush campaign spokesman slam Kerry it doesn't count unless Bush personally slams Kerry. I don't care what you say, Kerry was very undiplomatic (witness Biden trying to cover for Kerry after the fact) and could have made his case a lot, lot better.

[andyfox]

C'mon: the White House made the "Mission Accomplished" sign and the boat, which they claimed was too far from shore for Bush to helicopter to it, was not. In fact, it was kept out of port while Bush slept precisely for the photo op. The Bush team is saying he never said "Mission Accomplished" when they deliberately staged him in front to the sign which said it and he said it in Qatar.

The Bush administration did not prepare adequately for post-war Iraq. They ignored the advice of study teams telling them what would happen if they, for example, disbanded the army or allowed looting. Rumsfeld didn't want his people exposed to what he saw as negativity so he refused to allow them to attend CIA post-war planning sessions. This was the "mission accomplished" mentality. Get Hussein on the run and worry about the rest later.

Kerry has made many mistakes in his campaign, which we have discussed here. I have been as hard on him as any here. He is an inept candidate. (So is Edwards BTW.) They were effective in the minor leagues, beating a self-destructive ex-governor of New Hampshire. They are having a hard time adjusting to big-league pitching.

They should have attended Allawi's speech. I don't think a snub is a slam. However, I was unware of Lockhart's statement. It is indeed a slam.

[wacki]

I don't see the big deal with the Mission Accomplished. I mean seriously, if you say Bush can't use Mission accomplished for ousting Saddam, then you have to say ousting Hitler wasn't accomplished either until the end of the Mcarthur plan, and maybe not even then. I can't believe that made the front cover of TIME. It was that fastest and most successful invasion in history. Give the troops a break. After all, they are the ones that wanted it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/29/iraq/main580661.shtml

Let the troops have some fun.


[ QUOTE ]
The Bush team is saying he never said "Mission Accomplished" when they deliberately staged him in front to the sign which said it and he said it in Qatar.

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It's an aircraft carrier!!!! Where else is he going to stand. Nit pick nit pick. Even if they did, who cares!


Geesh. Scrapping the bottom of the barrel, any reason to hate the man. Why don't you pick a legit reason to hate the man, there are plenty!

[andyfox]

I was just reacting to the article that was posted. It said Bush never said it; he did. And the White House arranged the sign and photo op. That part of it is indeed SOP and no big deal.

What is a big deal is the refusal of the administration to face facts post-invasion.

I don't hate the man. I dislike his policies.

[wacki]

Tonight on the interview, he said that they made a mistake with WMD's, aka bad intel. But he said that Iraq still was a threat. Saddam didn't obey 14 different UN resolutions. He couldn't be controlled. It was rediculous. 1 million people are dead and 4 million people ran out of Iraq, which has a total population of 20 million. These are facts, the numbers may vary a little depending on who you talk to, but the smallest death toll I've seen is 1/2 a million with most of them saying 1 million.

He had the capability to make WMD's, with factories ready to go. Should we wait till he became strong before we dealt with him?

I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on this.

[Knockwurst]

The point is that he told Congress and the American people there was one reason for going to war: Saddam had WMD's and was an imminent threat to the U.S. of A. Bush and his surrogates stated that we would be welcomed as liberators and once Saddam was removed we could expect little resistence. "Mission Accomplished" was direct from the White House propaganda office. They were wrong on all counts, and this administration should be held accountable for their grievous mistakes. End of story.

[vulturesrow]

1) Bush and his staff werent the only ones that were convinced that Iraq still had WMD.

2) Many Iraqis have welcomed the US with open arms. Its a shame so many people mindlessly accept the leftist spin on Iraq. There are a lot of good things happening there.

3) As has been pointed out multiple times, the Mission Accomplished thing is being taken of context. Mission Accomlished referred to the end of major combat operations in Iraq, which was absolutely true. In fact this is what opened the door for many of the multinational force to come in. As an added side benefit, it was a morale booster for our troops to know they had accomplished something.

PS The Mission Accomplished banner was the brainchild of Gen. Tommy Franks. That isnt quite the White House Propaganda Office.

[andyfox]

The best (and only, IMO) case for going to war against Hussein was the humanitarian one. Dificult case for us to make, though, inasmuch as he was our guy for a period of time. And it would have been tough to gather public support. There are a lot of tyrants in the world and it's far away. So it was made as an afterthought to the WMD/violation of UN demands arguments.

The WMD argument has zero credibililty with me. He was not a threat to us and was emasculated weapons-wise. The fact that they haven't been found, and that we had to trump up the evidence in front of the UN, plus the fact that he simply wasn't any kind of military force when invaded, despite the fact that he supposedly had WMDs, and despite the fact that he knew for months that the invasion was coming, underscore this. Hussein was no threat to us. We were certainly a much greater threat to him. We invaded and now occupy his country. Should he have therefore preemptively invaded our country?

Lots of countries violate UN resolutions. Israel has; Morocco too. North Korea has threatened to make war on us. The fact of the matter is that lot of Bush administration officials had been calling for war against Hussein for many years, as well as for a reassertion of American military might in strategic areas, particularly Asia. And that, IMO, had more to do with going to war than the Bush administration will admit.

[elwoodblues]

[ QUOTE ]
1) Bush and his staff werent the only ones that were convinced that Iraq still had WMD.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, but they were the ones charged with the task of both collecting and presenting the evidence to Congress and to the citizenry. I love when people say "well, John Kerry thought they had WMDs too." The reason he thought that was he, mistakenly, believed the evidence that the president presented.

[ QUOTE ]
2) Many Iraqis have welcomed the US with open arms. Its a shame so many people mindlessly accept the leftist spin on Iraq. There are a lot of good things happening there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nobody disputes that there are good things happening. We don't/shouldn't go to war just to have good things happen.

[Knockwurst]

[ QUOTE ]
1) Bush and his staff werent the only ones that were convinced that Iraq still had WMD. [ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]

But they were the only ones convinced enough to start a war, which cost this country over a thousand dead, over 100 billion dollars and has left a country of 20 million, which is between Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia tipping towards civil war.

[ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ] 2) Many Iraqis have welcomed the US with open arms. Its a shame so many people mindlessly accept the leftist spin on Iraq. There are a lot of good things happening there. [ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]

While the majority of the Iraqi citizenry initially welcomed us with open arms (though how the majority feel about our continued presence there is open to debate), that fact does not discount the sizable and stubborn insurgency that American forces have not been able to pacify). In fact, even the administration's own intelligence assessments believe that this insurgency could lead the country to civil war. This level of insurgency is something the administration did not prepare for, nor has the administration adequately addressed the problem.

[ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ] 3) As has been pointed out multiple times, the Mission Accomplished thing is being taken of context. Mission Accomlished referred to the end of major combat operations in Iraq, which was absolutely true. In fact this is what opened the door for many of the multinational force to come in. As an added side benefit, it was a morale booster for our troops to know they had accomplished something.

PS The Mission Accomplished banner was the brainchild of Gen. Tommy Franks. That isnt quite the White House Propaganda Office.

[/ QUOTE ]

First of all, don't you think something is really wrong here if there are some 130 American soldiers dead by the end of major combat operations and another 900 dead after major combat operations are over. I'd say some major combat is still going on. It's also interesting that the adminstration can't seem to keep its story straight. First, when it became clear that it was anything but mission accomplished, the administration claimed that mission accomplished referred to "major combat operations" and then it became the operations of the aircraft carrier he had landed on. But then GWB repeated the "mission accomplished" refrain in a speech before soldiers in Qatar

Also, the White House has had some trouble sticking to its storyline reagrding the origins of the sign. First, GWB disavowed any White House involvement and then the White House press secretary had to clarify that the White House actually was responsible for printing the sign, but at the request of unnamed navy crew members aboard the aircraft carrier. Then Tommy Franks like the good GOP shill that he is (let's not forget his stirring speech at the GOP convention), comes forward and now its suddenly his idea.

Link for initial contradiction between Bush and White House press secretary:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/mission.accomplished/

Link for Franks taking the fall:

http://us.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/09/franks.mission.ap/

Link for Bush's speech in Qatar repeating the Mission Accomplised refrain:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/06/05/qatar.bush/