John Kerry’s campaign for President has drastically mismanaged
the controversy surrounding his record in Vietnam and may be sowing
the seeds of his own electoral destruction, according to political
and communications experts. We asked several experts to take off
their partisan hats and analyze the Kerry campaign’s response to
the current crisis in which the junior Senator from Massachusetts
finds himself.
“The Kerry campaign has misplayed this issue from day one. Their
incompetence has exposed a glass jaw, a fragile one at that,” David
Carney told The American Spectator. Carney served as White
House Political Director for President George H. W. Bush.
At issue is whether or not the Kerry campaign has made smart
decisions in dealing with the crisis that befell them at the hands
of 250 plus Vietnam Veterans who call themselves the Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth. The Vets have run television ads suspicious of
the integrity of Kerry’s war record and critical of his anti-war
activity upon returning home.
Kerry has attempted to fight back, even running ads targeting
his critics’ veracity and tying them to the Bush campaign. Many
pundits and political professionals believe Kerry has only made the
problem worse by blowing it up in the press.
For example, by the time the Kerry campaign launched its
counterattack against the Vets, the New York Times had run
only three stories on the controversy, all of which can reasonably
be said to have been sympathetic to the Senator. But since August
17th, when the pro-Kerry 527 group MoveOn.org launched an attack
against the Vets, the Times has written ten stories, all
of which detailed the charges against Kerry, even if they hinted
they found those charges unconvincing.
MOREOVER, AMIDST AN ELECTION cycle in which the two major party
candidates for president have spent over $300 million combined thus
far, the Swiftees initial $200,000 media buy seems rather paltry.
But in his public response to the ad, Kerry has turned it — and
his record — into the central narrative of the 2004 campaign. “It
was a total blunder on his part,” political consultant and former
Executive Director of the American Conservative Union Christian
Josi told us.
Meanwhile, Kerry has attempted to display his willingness to
fight back as a symbol of his bravery and strength. “More than 30
years ago I learned an important lesson. When you’re under attack
the best thing to do is turn your boat into the attack,” he said as
he launched his counterattack last week. As wise as such a tactic
may be in warfare, it may not be such a smart move in a political
campaign. It may have instead set Kerry on a course from which he
can never again deviate.
“When you are attacked in a campaign, you need to respond
quickly and forcefully, and then move on,” said Carney, who is now
a national GOP strategist. “Kerry’s response was much too late and
much too ham-handed.”
Josi agreed, saying “he should have dismissed it, stayed on
message, and moved on.”
Even Democrats agree. “The old chestnut is ‘never repeat the
charge.’ Well, Kerry repeats it every morning with yet another
harebrained stunt designed to discredit the Swiftees,” one
experienced Democrat operative, who asked to remain nameless, told
us. “The Kerry campaign is helping to sear questions about their
own candidate’s honesty and service to his country into peoples’
minds.”
ALL THE EXPERTS WE SPOKE to pointed to former President Bill
Clinton’s skill at diverting attention away from his own numerous
scandals. “Clinton always talked about how he was trying to do the
work of the American people and all those scandals were just
Republican-fueled distractions. It worked for Clinton. But Kerry
can’t do that credibly because he never established a compelling
campaign message in the first place, other than ‘I’m not George W.
Bush,’” Carney said.
Eric Dezenhall of Dezenhall Resources, a non-partisan
communications firm based in Washington, D.C. that helps
corporations and celebrities survive public relations nightmares
like this one, insists “the timing was just fine. But they [the
Kerry campaign] can’t respond with all of this ‘play nice’
nonsense. It validates the notion that they’re weak. Americans
intrinsically understand that conflicts are not resolved through
weakness.” And in a political environment boiling with talk of war
and terror threats, who wants a weak president?
Several of the experts we spoke to recognized Kerry’s tactics;
heavy reliance on legal nuances, holier-than-thou sanctimony,
attacks against the accuser. Bill Clinton and his political
operators put these devices to good use against Ken Starr during
the Whitewater-gate investigation. But the comparisons stop there.
“These are the same tactics Clinton used. Only, where are all the
Clinton spinsters?” Carney asked. “The ones that have been on TV
lately are out of practice and come across as lame.”
“I believe that the Swiftees could have been marginalized. Thank
God John Kerry is no Bill Clinton,” Josi added.
By far the biggest criticism most experts have about Kerry’s
handling of his Vietnam record is the degree to which the campaign
trumped it up in the first place. “Kerry’s core ‘brand’ is his
Vietnam war service. He’s anchored his career on this. He made the
decision to make Vietnam his centerpiece issue long ago,” Dezenhall
noted.
“Kerry played the hero card so often he left himself open to
these attacks,” added Carney.
Even one Democratic operative close to the Kerry campaign, who
spoke to us on the condition of anonymity, expressed frustration
that Kerry’s signature issue has been tarnished. “We have spent
months portraying this image. War hero, war hero, war hero. That’s
all we’ve talked about. Now, whenever we bring it up, we’ll always
be asked about the Swiftees,” the operative stated.
BUT DEZENHALL WARNS REPUBLICANS not to plan their family vacations
to the national capital around a second Bush inaugural just yet.
“Don’t forget that August is always scandal season. John Kennedy
once said that no president survives his first August. By engaging
this issue right now, there’s a good chance it will be out of the
way before the real campaign starts,” he said.
We’ll have to wait and see. But on Tuesday, the Kerry campaign
quietly conceded the Senator’s first Purple Heart may have resulted
from an “unintentional, self-inflicted wound” just as his critics
have charged. This, after being forced to admit that he hadn’t been
in Cambodia during the Christmas of 1968 as he previously
insisted.
Could we be a mere two layers deep into a very, very stinky
onion?
