By The Prowler on 3.5.04 @ 12:06AM
He imitates him. Plus: Kerry deficits. Also: Scratched from the Oscars.
PINNED DONKEY
Presumed Democratic presidential nominee John
Kerry makes his distaste for President Bush very apparent,
from the way he utters "the guy's" name to the series of inaccurate
statements he has made about the administration. But that doesn't
seem to hold Kerry back from imitating the man he'd like to
unseat.
For example, when Kerry does wear an American flag pin on his
suit jacket (there have been times when he eschewed it for
political reasons), he wears the one given him by President Bush
after September 11th. The President gave all of the U.S. Senators
and Congressmen lapel pins as a show of solidarity.
According to a former Kerry staffer, the candidate early in the
campaign told staffers that he sometimes felt wearing the lapel pin
was divisive. "He wouldn't always wear it," says the former
staffer. "My guess is that now he'll be wearing it all the
time."
As well, Kerry has taken to playing orange bowling on his press
plane in order to give journalists photo ops on the road. This was
a game Bush was known to play last election cycle. Recently, in a
knock-off of the Clinton campaign, Kerry has taken to throwing a
football around on airport tarmacs.
"They are desperate to make him look less flat and boring," says
the former staffer, who jumped to a rival campaign before the Iowa
caucuses. "Those gimmicks this early just have a whiff of
desperation."
FUZZY MONEY
More than $5 million in debt from the primary season, the Kerry
camp is looking for a quick infusion of cash to get back up into
the black. One plan is raising eyebrows and merits watching.
According to a DNC fundraiser, the Kerry campaign is looking
into the possibility of opening a joint account with the DNC, which
would allow donors to write checks in excess of the maximum $2,000
donation for a single political campaign.
"They could write a check for $3,500. Kerry would get $2,000 and
we'd get the other $1,500," says the fundraiser.
Imagine the headache of paperwork, financial tracking and
reporting, particularly for donors who have already maxed out their
donations to the Kerry campaign. "Exactly," says the fundraiser.
"Any penalties imposed by the FEC would be minor if we win the
White House."
LONG FACED
In rehearsals last Friday and Saturday for last Sunday's Academy
Awards show, jokewriters had included an item about Seabiscuit
being a winner and then, using the imagery of a horse's face, to
poke fun at Sen. John Kerry. In the end, even
though host Billy Crystal belittled President
Bush, the Kerry humor was scratched.
topics:
NATO
