THE KERRY COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
Kerry, responding to Bush's charge that he has changed position on Iraq, told supporters he's been "consistent" and suggested Bush lacks "maturity."
"The Bush folks are trying to say that we've changed positions, this and that," Kerry told a rally at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. "I have been consistent all along, ladies and gentlemen. I thought the United States needed to stand up to Saddam Hussein. I voted to stand up to Saddam Hussein."
Bush and Kerry have parried in recent days over the president's decision to go to war against Iraq and the 2002 vote in Congress, supported by Kerry, to authorize military force against Hussein. Bush is on a five-day campaign trip through eight states, and Kerry is on a 15-day trip through 18 states.
"I know what we need to do now to get the troops home,'' Kerry said. "I know what we need to do to deal with Iraq. We need to do what we should have done in the beginning. We need the statesmanship. We need the patience. We need the maturity. We need the leadership."
INCOHERENT CRITICISM FROM STANNY TURNER
From the Washington Post: "Retired Adm. Stansfield Turner, a former CIA director who supports Kerry, charged today that [naming Porter Goss to head the agency] was aimed at helping Bush "win votes in Florida" in the November election."
Sure, pal. I'm sure a lot of swing voters were sitting on the beaches down there in the Sunshine State, saying to themselves, "I just don't know who to vote for in November. If the President were to name a CIA director from my home state, well, that would be different, and my mind would be made up."
Is there any criticism of Bush that any Kerry supporter could make that would spur reporters on the campaign beat to say, "you know, that's just too stupid to include in my story"?
DID A KERRY STAFFER REALLY SAY THIS?
The American Spectator's Prowler reports something interesting:
According to a Kerry campaign source, senior campaign advisers tasked two Washington-based campaign staffers to vet the recently published Unfit for Command.
"The purpose was to compare what that book had with what we had on file from Senator Kerry," says the campaign source, who said that the research project developed more than 75 instances where Kerry's recollections, previous remarks, or writings conflicted with the book's reporting.
"We took some of the most glaring examples, like the Christmas in Cambodia story, and presented them to senior staff, and we assume that those things were put in front of Senator Kerry," says the source. "We haven't heard a word about it. All we were told is that it was being taken care of."
The campaign source said that the book was not considered a "serious" problem for the campaign, because, "the media wouldn't have the nerve to come at us with this kind of stuff," says the source. "The senior staff believes the media is committed to seeing us win this thing, and that the convention inoculated us from these kinds of stories. The senior guys really think we don't have a problem here."
Did a Kerry staffer really say to the American Spectator, "the senior staff believes the media is committed to seeing us win this thing"? I suppose this guy (or gal) could be disgruntled adviser, irritated that the "senior guys" aren't listening to his warnings about the book. And I don't want to question the Prowler's reporting. But if this quote is accurate, it conveys a portrait of stunning arrogance and cockiness within the Kerry camp.
On the other hand, if this really is the thinking at the highest level of the Kerry camp, it might explain why they let him dress up in the bunny suit, why the convention speech was so long, why they're not answering the question about Cambodia, and a couple of other gaffes and odd decisions.
UPDATE: I ran this past my guy at the Kerry campaign, who's been honest and reliable with me in the past, and he says this didn't happen. His words: "This smooth talking 'source' is clearly a fiction. Seems more like a conservative's paranoid conspiratorial central casting image of what Democrats must talk like about our Freudian bargain with the media."
Draw your own conclusions.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: A couple readers point out that my Kerry campaign guy probably meant "Faustian bargain" as opposed to Freudian bargain. But then again, maybe it's a Freudian slip. Who knows just what's going on in that bargain?
THIS POOR WOMAN
I realize most Kerry Spot readers, including the most important one named Mom, cannot stand Teresa Heinz Kerry. But I hear stories like this, or her comment about how she roots for the Pittsburgh Steelers while in Cleveland (garnering boos from Browns fans), and I just feel bad for her. This poor woman does not belong anywhere near the campaign trail.
CNN:
Think it's been a long trip for Teresa? On a slow pass through Arizona last night, Teresa took the microphone and said, "Hello, Nevada!" Kerry leaned into his fatigued wife quickly and said, "Arizona." "Oh, Arizona!" she replied. "We're in Arizona. We're still in Arizona. and we are going to Nevada. If you've been in as many places as we've been in in the past 12, 13 days, even if you have a map, the hours make you mix them all up."
Of course, that same link mentions a report that Teresa's charities may have helped Fidel Castro's dissident-crushing regime install Internet connections. Great. I get Starpower blinking out on me once a month, but a failed pitcher who stomps on political opponents can apparently get tech support from Big Ketchup, Inc.
Attention Teresa. Rule #1 know where you are. Ruke #2 if you are in an area that does not support a team you think they might, shut up. Your husband should have learned this in Michigan.
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