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The Weblog at The View from the Core - Wed. 04/28/04 06:50:18 AM
   
   

From Howard Kurtz to John Kerry: Helpful Advice

It's the Personality, Stupid.

A fierce new attack has been launched against John Kerry.
It has nothing to do with taxes, defense spending or gay marriage.
The charge is that Kerry leaves people cold.
Let's take a look at how this charge gained traction — to the point that several pieces have been written about the so-called likability factor (or lack-of-likability factor) in recent days.

First, there's obviously a few grains of truth here. Kerry can seem stiff and tends to orate when he speaks, often in convoluted Senate-speak. The man looks dour, like he's perpetually worried about global warming or something. In some of these articles, friends are quoted as saying that he's really a funny and terrific guy in private — the same sort of testimonials that were offered by pals of Al Gore.
Second, Republican flacks are peddling this line — Kerry is grating, he doesn't wear well, he looks French, he's not as natural as Bush, and besides, the senator and his wife are too rich to relate to ordinary folks. (That's the reason for the focus on Kerry's wealth — ironically, from people supporting the son of a president and grandson of a senator who summers in Kennebunkport).
Finally, though, I believe it has to do with the press. Reporters are writing these stories because they're not particularly fond of Kerry or, at a minimum, agree with the critique that he's an awkward pol. Kerry never had a particularly great relationship with much of the Boston press corps, and the same is proving true with the national media.
All this is more important than it may seem at first blush. Most people are not going to vote for a potential president unless they're comfortable with that person coming into their living rooms for the next four years. I happen to think this was an underrated factor in the Bush-Gore race.
It's surprising that, instead of dueling with Tim Russert, Kerry's handlers don't have him chatting up Barbara Walters or Oprah or posing with his family for People. Kerry himself says that folks don't know much about him. The effort to fill in the blanks involves more than just position papers and reminding people that he served in Vietnam. There's also the warmth factor.
This, at bottom, is what the Kerry medals flap is about. Not whether he tossed his ribbons but other soldiers' medals in a protest 33 years ago, but whether he is so calculating that he did it deliberately and isn't owning up to that. Kerry's notably testy interview with Charlie Gibson on "Good Morning America," replayed for much of the day, probably didn't help him....

I don't read Kurtz often enough to know if he has given helpful advice to the Bush campaign. Somehow, I rather think not.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 04/28/04 06:50:18 AM
Categorized as Media.

   

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