QandO

September 02, 2004

Last Night at the convention
Posted by McQ

What happened last night? Democrats let Republicans define John Kerry's record in the Senate.

It was the natural next step. And while Democrats are most likely angry about what the Republicans said, its been a topic they've avoided like the plague, to include the the time they could have defined his Senate record at the Democrat convention. As John Kass in the Chicago Trib points out:

Democrats were angered by what was said about their man, John Kerry, at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.

The Republicans dissected Kerry's record in the Senate and stressed a theme that is working for the GOP: Kerry has proved over the years that he can give a fancy speech, but he's an equivocator, a finger-in-the-wind pol who lacks the stuff of leadership.

Naturally, Democrats were upset about comments made on get-tough Wednesday. But they shouldn't be upset about what the Republicans said. It should have been expected.

It's what Kerry didn't say about Kerry on Wednesday in a speech to the American Legion Convention in Nashville that should bother them.

And that's precisely the point. First rule of politics, never let your opponent define you. That's precisely the rule Kerry has broken for this entire campaign. In a 5000+ word speech at the Democrat convention, Kerry spent about 70 of them addressing his work in the Senate. He left it laying there on the table for the Republicans. Not smart.

So when Kerry's record among independent and swing voters ends up being the Republican version, Democrats have no one to blame but themselves.

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