Text 3850, 126 rader
Skriven 2004-10-21 11:28:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Kerry
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Excellent.  This will alienate the voters even more.  He might as well back
the moving vans up to the Whitehouse now.

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041021/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_day_afte
r_strategy_12

Kerry Looks to Avoid Gore Recount Errors

Thu Oct 21,12:54 AM ET

By RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), bracing for a potential fight
over election results, will not hesitate to declare victory Nov. 2 and defend
it, advisers say. He also will be prepared to name a national security team
before knowing whether he's secured the presidency.


In short, the Democratic presidential candidate has a simple strategy for Nov.
3 and beyond: Do not repeat Al Gore (news - web sites)'s mistakes.


The Democratic vice president prematurely conceded the 2000 race to George W.
Bush in a telephone call, then had to retract his concession after aides said
Florida wasn't lost. He never declared victory, an omission Kerry's advisers
many of whom worked for Gore  now believe created a sense of inevitability in
voters' minds about Bush's presidency.


Gore didn't plan for the legal showdown, though few could have predicted it
before Election Day. And he watched as Bush seized political advantage during
the 36-day recount by publicly discussing a transition to the White House.


Not this time, promise Kerry's advisers. If there is doubt about the results,
they will fight without delay.


"The first thing we will do is make sure everybody has an opportunity to vote
and every vote is counted," said Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. "We will
be ready to hit the ground running and begin a fresh start in this country,
given that so many critical issues are before us."


The prospects for another contested election loom with every poll showing the
race neck and neck.


Six so-called "SWAT teams" of lawyers and political operatives will be situated
around the country with fueled-up jets awaiting Kerry's orders to speed to a
battleground state. The teams have been told to be ready to fly on the evening
of the election to begin mounting legal and political fights. Every
battleground state will have a SWAT team within an hour of its borders.


The Kerry campaign has recount office space in every battleground state, with
plans so detailed they include the number of staplers and coffee machines
needed to mount legal challenges.


"Right now, we have 10,000 lawyers out in the battleground states on Election
Day, and that number is growing by the day," said Michael Whouley, a Kerry
confidant who is running election operations at the Democratic National
Committee (news - web sites).


While the lawyers litigate, political operatives will try to shape public
perception. Their goal would be to persuade voters that Kerry has the best
claim to the presidency and that Republicans are trying to steal it.


Democrats are already laying the public relations groundwork by pointing to
every possible voting irregularity before the Nov. 2 election and accusing
Republicans of wrongdoing.


On Election Day, Whouley will head the so-called "boiler room," probably in
Washington, that tracks vote counts and ensures Kerry doesn't concede too soon.
Whouley was the aide who, after noticing Florida was too close to call in 2000,
called Gore's team in Tennessee and told them to put the brakes on the
concession speech.


Campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill will be with Kerry in Boston, where they will
field Whouley's calls.


Jim Johnson, who headed Kerry's vice presidential search team, former Labor
Secretary Alexis Herman and longtime Kerry aide David McKean lead the team
planning Kerry's transition to the White House.


Aides say the transition process is behind schedule, but Kerry will be ready to
name a national security team shortly after the election. They say he has
candidates in mind, but is reluctant to discuss the transition while
campaigning.


The advisers spoke on condition of anonymity because Kerry wants the focus to
be on his campaign for now.





Former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, the top
Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, are among those frequently
mentioned as possible members of Kerry's Cabinet.

The plan to quickly name a national security team is partly practical (at a
time of war, continuity is necessary) and political, aides said, because if
there is another recount Kerry will want to show he's ready to take power.

Amid the tumult of the 2000 recount, Bush sought to make his presidency appear
inevitable time by leaking word of his national security team and bringing news
cameras into his transition meetings. Gore and his staff were more reluctant to
talk about the appointment process.

Kerry's advisers say Bush would have a natural political advantage in a
re-count in this election because he is the president, with a national security
team in place and a public relations spotlight that comes with the White House.

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