![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Kerry's Mistake
I'm sorry to say that it looks like John Kerry has stumbled again. His campaign has failed to get much attention or to capitalize on recent events; they appear to be pathologically cautious, just as I feared they would be. They're spending most of their time cringing in fear of George W. Bush and his pet media.
But they still can't stop the gaffes. This morning, I cringed to see the headline "Kerry Says US Must 'De-Americanize' Iraq Policy".
NO, NO, NO, JOHN KERRY!
It's a minor mistake, but such a stupid and unnecessary one. 'De-Americanize' is a lousy word to use - any half-way competent orator will tell you that it's short, strong, punchy words and phrases that have an impact with audiences. Kerry has a fatal weakness for over-complex, esoteric language. He carps and thoroughly ponders every side of every question out loud, with a vocabulary that makes it very clear to even the most uneducated red-stater that this is a Yale man. It's Senate-speak, and it will be the end of him.
Look at George W. He went to Yale, but you'd never know it in a million years by listening to him. He talks at a third-grade level, and it's clear that that's because he has a vast contempt for the intelligence of his audience. He's betting that the majority of American voters are basically idiots, and I fear he may be right.
The other problem with the headline is the very idea of de-Americanization. It sounds, well, anti-American, and as such might as well have been written for Kerry by Karl Rove; it's a pure gift to the GOP. BushCo have been working like mad to connect anti-Americanism with the Democrats in the public's mind, and this just helps them cement that association. Kerry wants to de-Americanize? That's because he hates America! Of course nothing could be further from the truth, but it's a truism in politics that when you have to explain something you've said, you've already lost.
Why is John Kerry creating headlines to the GOP's specifications? I guarantee that Bill Clinton would NEVER have been stupid enough to say a phrase like that in front of a reporter! I'm not a huge fan of Bill Clinton's policies, but he had an understanding of the common man that John Kerry would do well to emulate. Of course, "emulate" is a word that Kerry would use; "study" or better yet, "learn" is what Clinton would have said.
But they still can't stop the gaffes. This morning, I cringed to see the headline "Kerry Says US Must 'De-Americanize' Iraq Policy".
NO, NO, NO, JOHN KERRY!
It's a minor mistake, but such a stupid and unnecessary one. 'De-Americanize' is a lousy word to use - any half-way competent orator will tell you that it's short, strong, punchy words and phrases that have an impact with audiences. Kerry has a fatal weakness for over-complex, esoteric language. He carps and thoroughly ponders every side of every question out loud, with a vocabulary that makes it very clear to even the most uneducated red-stater that this is a Yale man. It's Senate-speak, and it will be the end of him.
Look at George W. He went to Yale, but you'd never know it in a million years by listening to him. He talks at a third-grade level, and it's clear that that's because he has a vast contempt for the intelligence of his audience. He's betting that the majority of American voters are basically idiots, and I fear he may be right.
The other problem with the headline is the very idea of de-Americanization. It sounds, well, anti-American, and as such might as well have been written for Kerry by Karl Rove; it's a pure gift to the GOP. BushCo have been working like mad to connect anti-Americanism with the Democrats in the public's mind, and this just helps them cement that association. Kerry wants to de-Americanize? That's because he hates America! Of course nothing could be further from the truth, but it's a truism in politics that when you have to explain something you've said, you've already lost.
Why is John Kerry creating headlines to the GOP's specifications? I guarantee that Bill Clinton would NEVER have been stupid enough to say a phrase like that in front of a reporter! I'm not a huge fan of Bill Clinton's policies, but he had an understanding of the common man that John Kerry would do well to emulate. Of course, "emulate" is a word that Kerry would use; "study" or better yet, "learn" is what Clinton would have said.