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Ärende: Kerry
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/20040912/ts_latimes/d
ivideindemocratscamp

Divide in Democrat's camp

Sun Sep 12, 7:55 AM ET  Add Top Stories - Los Angeles Times to My Yahoo! 
 

By Matea Gold and Mark Z. Barabak Times Staff Writers 

NEW YORK — Even as he fights to regain momentum in the presidential 
race, Sen. John F. Kerry (news, bio, voting record) faces a debate among 
advisors over the tone and content of his message, according to insiders 
and other Democrats familiar with the campaign's discussions. 


One continued disagreement is over how sharply the Democratic 
presidential nominee — as opposed to campaign surrogates — should attack 
President Bush (news - web sites). Also in dispute is how much change 
would be too much for Kerry to advocate in these anxious times. 


In one compromise, Kerry has taken to using words "new direction" rather 
than "change." 


Although Kerry strategists agree the Massachusetts senator needs to be 
more aggressive, they remain divided over how best to communicate his 
critique of Bush. That lack of consensus, some Democrats say, has 
exacerbated Kerry's inconsistency on the campaign trail, undermining his 
ability to drive home his central arguments that Bush has neglected 
middle-class Americans and made the country less safe through his 
policies in Iraq (news - web sites). 


While opinion polls have shown Bush politically vulnerable on the 
economy and the war, the surveys also have found that Kerry is an 
unknown quantity to many voters who have little sense of where he would 
take the country as president. 


The Kerry campaign is "far from where it needs to be," said Ed Sarpolus, 
an independent pollster in Michigan, a state both sides are targeting. 
"The Bush campaign set out with a message, and that's what they're 
sticking with. Kerry has to be more forceful, more dominant, more 
consistent." 


The unevenness was evident last week. Even as Kerry sharpened his 
criticisms of Bush's domestic policies, he stepped on his own message, 
by offering new permutations of his views on Iraq. He also appeared 
ambivalent about how hard to hit the president. 


Advisors to Kerry dismiss suggestions their internal debates have 
hamstrung the campaign, calling them "routine discussions." They 
maintain that the "fundamentals" of the White House race remain in their 
favor, arguing that Bush's lukewarm approval ratings and the nation's 
slow economic recovery create an environment in which Kerry can quickly 
gain ground. 


"Ultimately, the American people will see John Kerry (news - web sites) 
as someone as who cares very deeply about the issues that they care 
about," said senior advisor Tad Devine. 


Republicans — though far more confident after their party's national 
convention that led to Bush's surge in the polls — say the contest is 
far from over. 


But those close to Kerry's campaign acknowledge that both its internal 
operations and the candidate are not as focused and disciplined as 
Bush's reelection team, which hammers relentlessly at its message that 
the Democrat flip-flops, lacks principles and is weak on national 
security issues. 


"Kerry has gotten more aggressive. But the attack is never the same 
twice — it changes event by event," said one party strategist, who spoke 
on condition of anonymity. "The point is they're still having meetings 
to discuss this. The Bush people have known for six months how they're 
going to do it, and they've done it every day since then." 


For his part, Kerry has a tendency to swing at whatever is thrown his 
way. That is why the arrival of veteran political operative John Sasso, 
who began traveling at Kerry's side last week, was greeted with relief 
by aides. They hope Sasso can keep the senator "on message," as one put 
it. 


Insiders say the candidate himself was furious with advisors who 
counseled him in early August to ignore television ads that accused him 
of engineering his Vietnam War injuries for political gain. Eventually, 
he fired back, but not before the broadsides on his military credentials 
helped erode his standing in polls. 


Kerry's frustration drove him in recent weeks to recruit several 
veterans from President Clinton (news - web sites)'s administration, 
including former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart and political 
director Doug Sosnik, in the hopes of making the campaign more nimble 
and assertive. 


James Carville and Paul Begala, who helped engineer Clinton's 1992 
victory, also have stepped up their informal consultations with the 
campaign, even as they continue their role as CNN political 
commentators. 


Some Democrats professed delight at the arrival of the Clinton crew. 

   



"They bring seasoning, they bring great creativity and the experience of 
rapid response" to GOP attacks, said Art Torres, chairman of the 
California Democratic Party. 

But others expressed concern that yet another set of advisors would 
further bog Kerry down in internal debates and turf warfare. 

"These are talented people he's brought on," said one Democratic 
strategist, a veteran of presidential campaigns who spoke on condition 
of anonymity and did not wish to be identified criticizing the 
candidate. "But unless their jobs are clearly demarcated, that can be a 
problem." 

Democratic insiders say it remains unclear who is ultimately responsible 
for the campaign's daily message, which is crucial to helping Kerry 
project a consistent vision. 

One camp, dominated by Devine and his business partner, Bob Shrum, has 
argued that Kerry must shy away from hard-edged attacks and an 
aggressive message of change because that could turn off swing voters, 
according to people familiar with the internal debate. 

On the other side, some of the former Clinton aides, along with Kerry's 
cadre of longtime Boston-based advisors, are pushing for a more 
pugnacious approach. In particular, many of the candidate's oldest 
friends want him to recast references to his service in Vietnam and his 
antiwar activities as evidence of his character. 

The candidate's advisors dispute reports of any debilitating divide. 

"In every campaign I've been in, it is routine for people to have 
different debates and discussions about how they're going to proceed," 
Devine said. But the lack of agreement has been apparent as Kerry works 
to reverse the gains that Bush has made since the GOP convention in New 
York. 

At a rally held just minutes after Bush finished his acceptance speech 
at the convention, Kerry delivered fiery remarks in which he reminded an 
audience in Springfield, Ohio, of Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web 
sites)'s five deferments from military service. 

Many Democratic leaders applauded his tough new tone. 

Two days later, Kerry told supporters in Akron, Ohio, that "we're going 
to take the wood" to the Republicans. But he hastened to add: "And we're 
going to do it nicely. Because America deserves a real conversation 
about the choices that affect your lives." 

During a Labor Day stop in a working class neighborhood in Canonsburg, 
Pa., Kerry overshadowed his sharp new critique of Bush's domestic agenda 
with his harshest assessment yet of the war in Iraq. "It's the wrong 
war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time," he said. 

With that, Kerry sparked a series of high-voltage exchanges with Bush's 
campaign that dominated much of the week, drowning out his intended 
focus on economic issues. 

Behind the scenes, the candidate appears immersed in the effort to 
regain his footing. During flights on his campaign plane, he can be seen 
standing in the staff section with his sleeves rolled up, animatedly 
talking with aides and revising his speeches up to the last minute. 

Those close to him say he's in high spirits, frequently joking with top 
advisors about his reputation for being "a good closer." 

That was clearly on his mind on a recent evening as he offered a pep 
talk to the Mansfield Senior High School Tygers. The northwestern Ohio 
football team had lost its first game of the season, and was heading to 
the field for their next contest. 

Standing in the golden September light, Kerry told the players that 
sports could teach them a lot about life. "You know the old saying, 
'When the going gets tough, the tough get going'? This is when you find 
yourself. You just go out there tonight and pull that little extra 
something out of here," he said, clutching his fist to his heart. 

To win, however, he's going to have to put up more of a fight than the 
Tygers did that night. After Kerry's pep talk, the team was clobbered by 
Sandusky High School, 34 to 7.


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