In the latest polls, John Kerry is trailing George W. Bush.Why?
George W. Bush gets lousy marks on the economy, jobs, the war in Iraq, education, health insurance, and almost every other issue. By huge margins, Americans believe that George W. Bush has no idea what he's doing and no plan for what to do next. Middle America has come to understand that we have a President without a clue.
Yet he leads in the polls.
Two years ago, the Democrats were practically tripping over each other trying to present themselves as Republicans. The strategy failed miserably. After that election, George W. Bush and the Republicans seemed destined to rule America for a long, long time.
Then along came former Vermont governor Howard Dean. Governor Dean realized that America didn't want two Republican parties. He realized that a Democratic party that espoused the policies of economic responsibility, social decency and international cooperation, as opposed to the Republican policies of economic irresponsibility, social intolerance and international indifference, could win.
And it worked. Howard Dean not only shot to the top of the polls in the Democratic race, he revitalized the party.
Then John Kerry, whose candidacy for President seemed mired in quicksand, realized that he could win by co-opting Howard Dean's platform. Furthermore, Senator Kerry realized that it was a platform he believed in all along but hadn't properly expressed. So he changed his entire campaign and won the nomination. Not only won the nomination, but was leading George W. Bush in the polls.
Since then, John Kerry has gotten away from the message that catapulted him to the front of the race. He has seemingly forgotten how to be Howard Dean. And that is why George W. Bush, despite lousy economic numbers and a quagmire in Iraq, is once again leading in the polls.
If John Kerry wants to win this race, he needs to go back to the strategy that worked. His top campaign advisors need to remember what worked. They need to let Kerry be Dean.
Copyright 2004, Dan Jacoby
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