Bob Shrum...
...designated fall guy...
The Washington Post does a hit piece on Bob Shrum, basically blaming the struggles inside the Kerry campaign on his long history of running losing campaigns. I don't know why Democrats keep going back to losers. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. Well, by this measure, that makes the Democratic Party absolutely certifiable.
But the problem runs a lot deeper here, and it looks like the Democrats have settled on a scapegoat. I feel badly for Bob Shrum here. In 2000, he was saddled with Al Gore and this time around he's got John Kerry. I'm not sure there have ever been a pair of worse candidates on the national stage. Both are completely lacking in personal warmth, have problems with the truth, and both built their entire lives around an eventual run for the presidency.
The problem here isn't Bob Shrum: it's the candidate. Just like in 2000, the candidate is the source of the problem. The campaign in 2000 had Gore up before the debates, but he couldn't avoid being his arrogant and condescending self in front of a national audience and it cost him the election. This time too: it's John Kerry's shifting positions on virtually every issue that are costing him the election - not the campaign.
Every time Kerry opens his mouth in an unscripted moment, he plants his foot squarely in it. The same goes for his benefactor - I mean, wife. He rambles. He prevaricates. He changes positions. When your campaign has to hire a person whose entire job (Joe Sasso) is to tell you to shut up, you have hoof-in-mouth disease and it's nobody's fault but your own.
I'd look for Bob Shrum to be thrown overboard relatively soon. They may have already made the decision and set a date - hence the article. Or maybe they're waiting to see if the polls start turning around, and if they don't the Kerry people will make a sacrificial lamb out of him. Time will tell, but if I were Bob Shrum I'd start looking for a box to put his personal belongings into....
The Washington Post does a hit piece on Bob Shrum, basically blaming the struggles inside the Kerry campaign on his long history of running losing campaigns. I don't know why Democrats keep going back to losers. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. Well, by this measure, that makes the Democratic Party absolutely certifiable.
But the problem runs a lot deeper here, and it looks like the Democrats have settled on a scapegoat. I feel badly for Bob Shrum here. In 2000, he was saddled with Al Gore and this time around he's got John Kerry. I'm not sure there have ever been a pair of worse candidates on the national stage. Both are completely lacking in personal warmth, have problems with the truth, and both built their entire lives around an eventual run for the presidency.
The problem here isn't Bob Shrum: it's the candidate. Just like in 2000, the candidate is the source of the problem. The campaign in 2000 had Gore up before the debates, but he couldn't avoid being his arrogant and condescending self in front of a national audience and it cost him the election. This time too: it's John Kerry's shifting positions on virtually every issue that are costing him the election - not the campaign.
Every time Kerry opens his mouth in an unscripted moment, he plants his foot squarely in it. The same goes for his benefactor - I mean, wife. He rambles. He prevaricates. He changes positions. When your campaign has to hire a person whose entire job (Joe Sasso) is to tell you to shut up, you have hoof-in-mouth disease and it's nobody's fault but your own.
I'd look for Bob Shrum to be thrown overboard relatively soon. They may have already made the decision and set a date - hence the article. Or maybe they're waiting to see if the polls start turning around, and if they don't the Kerry people will make a sacrificial lamb out of him. Time will tell, but if I were Bob Shrum I'd start looking for a box to put his personal belongings into....
posted by Jim | 6:11 PM
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