Free Advice For Kerry, 1: Emphasize abortion
Senator Kerry
Here is some free advice. Your campaign is in free fall, and you're losing ground in the key battleground states. The lead that you have held over the president has turned into a huge lead in his favor. Ever the optimist, I believe that few campaigns are unwinnable. That statement begs the question: "What will it take to win?"
I have some free advice for you, with more to come.
Talk about abortion. Pro-life voters who feel strongly about the issue are not voting for you. Most Americans favor abortion rights with some restrictions. You want America to fire the president and hire you. It's time to start drawing a contrast. You must argue the following:
Here is some free advice. Your campaign is in free fall, and you're losing ground in the key battleground states. The lead that you have held over the president has turned into a huge lead in his favor. Ever the optimist, I believe that few campaigns are unwinnable. That statement begs the question: "What will it take to win?"
I have some free advice for you, with more to come.
Talk about abortion. Pro-life voters who feel strongly about the issue are not voting for you. Most Americans favor abortion rights with some restrictions. You want America to fire the president and hire you. It's time to start drawing a contrast. You must argue the following:
- If Bush wins re-election, Roe v. Wade will be overturned. George W. Bush has said that his favorite Justices are Scalia and Thomas. Both of them would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
- No Supreme Court Justice is under the age of 65. Justices Stevens, O'Connor, and Chief Justice Rehnquist will almost definitely retire within four years.
- The Constitutional right to abortion is two votes away from being overturned.
If John Kerry wins, Roe is upheld. If George W. Bush wins, it will be overturned. That is how clear you have to make it. You are almost tied with Bush among women. As you well know, a Democratic candidate for president must win by a huge margin among women in order to succeed.
Stark, clear contrast, in areas where the public is behind you. You have less than two months.
posted by Chris at 8:08 PM
2 Comments:
Does Kerry need to emphasize something that is patently obvious to anyone who is paying ANY attention? Why are women supporting Bush by a margin of 49-42? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/17/opinion/polls/main644205.shtml Is it because they don't know that the candidates have different views on abortion? Or could it be that the abortion issue is far less important than the war on terror? Could it be that even were Kerry to emphasize abortion, he would still be unable to win votes because he is so incredibly liberal? When people have to choose (and I'm talking moderate/undecideds here) between having a fatter paycheck and between some amorphous right to abortion, that most personally wish was RARE, I'm betting they choose the more concrete of the two.
Land
Thanks for your post. While the candidates could not be farther apart on the issue of abortion, and while this is common knowledge to everyone, there are two points I want to make.
Senator Kerry is losing the campaign because he is not emphasizing the issues where the public (especially the undecided/independent bloc) agrees with him. His attempts to compete with the President on national security have been totally unsuccessful. The national security issue is probably the main cause of Bush's success among women. To reopen that gap, Kerry needs to change the tune. It's not a question of making people aware of the differences, it's a question of what is on their minds when they enter the voting booth.
I believe that social issues in general tend to better motivate voters. It's issues like abortion that force voters like me to ignore Bush's appalling economic decisions (entitlement spending, tariffs, the farm bill). Similarly, if abortion is on the minds of women come November 2nd, economic issues become peripheral.
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