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Why John Kerry Is Now Toast Written by John Armor Monday, August 30, 2004
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=9336

The Radio Talk Show Amendment, or Why John Kerry Is Now Toast

It was a bittersweet pleasure to go on the air for two hours on Friday with my friend Jerry Agar, who broadcasts on WPTF's afternoon drivetime from Raleigh and is heard on most of North Carolina and parts of states north and south of there. This was my last guest spot with him, since he is moving to KMBZ in Kansas City, a larger market that wants a quick, intelligent voice from the conservative side of the spectrum.

We spent 45 minutes of our time talking about the Swift Boat Controversy involving John Kerry. The phones lit up, and so did the computer screen with e-mail messages. Both the calls and the e-mail represented all sides of the issue. On a quality talk show, the host (and guest) can have strong opinions, but those who disagree will still call and write, confident they will get a fair hearing.

There’s a whole lot of common sense and plain unvarnished reality among the listeners to any intelligent, articulate radio talk show. That leads me to suggest an amendment to the Constitution to improve the quality of future presidential candidates. Of course we want candidates who are honest, intelligent, and dedicated--regardless of their politics or party. But there just isn’t a way to test for such things.

Here’s a test that could serve as a surrogate. Pass a constitutional amendment that no one could run for president until he or she had done 30 hours on major talk shows located anywhere except inside the Washington Beltway. No matter whether the host is liberal or conservative, all talk shows of any popularity have a sub-base of contrarian listeners and participants.

In the town meeting events held by presidential candidates, producers usually screen participants to avoid difficult questions from cantankerous people. But talk shows (unless the producer/editor on the phones is both stupid and dishonest) will have a range of callers. And the Good Lord knows that the subjects raised will vary all over the lot. When I began in talk radio in 1968 with Chuck Boyles on WBAL in Baltimore, the strangest type of calls on odd subjects were referred to as ''cat-up-a-tree calls.'' Anyway, a presidential candidate who faced 30 hours of calls from ordinary citizens would have to display grace, intelligence, knowledge, and a measure of courage. Those aren’t exactly bad characteristics for anyone who would be president.

And if John Kerry had ever dealt with an electronic roomful of ordinary Americans like that, he might not have made the fatal planning error that has doomed his run for office this year. The callers to Jerry Agar’s Show last Friday would have given Kerry better advice than he gave himself, or than he got from his high-priced consultants.

Most, but not all, of the veterans who contacted Jerry’s show last Friday were harshly opposed to John Kerry for what he did in Vietnam, but especially for what he said once he returned home. Equally important were calls from people who never served in the military, and were heavily anti-war. One man said that he was ''in the demonstrations during the 1968 Democratic Convention.'' I remember those beatings and gassings from watching them on television. From self-validating details, I believe that gentleman was where he said he was, and did what he said he did.

The fascinating aspect is that the anti-war caller and one of the veterans actually agreed on this point--both would have supported Kerry if he had returned from Vietnam and attacked just the political leaders who were conducting the Vietnam War. Neither of those gentlemen are supporting John Kerry for president now, precisely because of his attacks on the individual American servicemen when he returned.

There are two dispositive factors about the issues in any election. The first is obvious: how many people agree with your (you, the candidate’s) position on an issue, as opposed to how many disagree. But in an era where voter turnout will again be slightly more than half, the other factor can be more important. That factor is intensity. How strong are the feelings of your supporters, compared to the strengths of the opposition?

Stronger supporters of a candidate, or of the issues of a candidate, are more likely to turn out and vote, more likely to give money or time, more likely to encourage others to vote the same way, etc. The passion and dedication of the veterans who believe John Kerry is unfit to command are far ahead of the passion and dedication of the fewer veterans who believe Kerry is fit to be president. That single difference, in my opinion, means that John Kerry’s campaign is now dead, and by his own hand.

Here’s why: There are about eight million veterans of the Vietnam era, about half having served in country. In addition, there are about 16 million veterans of other eras, living today. These 24 million men, and some women, live in every city, town, and hamlet. They work in every business, organization, and civic association. They are members of almost every family in the United States. Among these veterans, support for George Bush was just 4% more than for John Kerry, before the Swift Boat Vets for Truth began their advertising campaign. Today, the Bush margin among veterans has grown to about 24%, or almost 2-1 over Kerry (62-3.

I spent Saturday visiting with Randy Wootton, a lifelong friend who has a marketing firm in Atlanta. We talked about what Kerry did wrong in the planning of his campaign--the Vietnam ploy. We discussed the most powerful form of communication for or against any product, service, or candidate. In the trade it’s called ''viral communications.'' Us ordinary folks refer to that as ''word of mouth.'' If ordinary people start telling their friends and neighbors to ''go see this movie'' or ''go vote for this candidate,'' then that movie or that candidate will soon be in high cotton. But viral communications also can work negatively. A movie, candidate, whatever, which is bad-mouthed person to person cannot be salvaged by advertising and pronouncements at the national and public level. That is Kerry’s position right now.

And it gets worse. When A tells B about a movie, one person’s opinion has no greater value than another’s. But what happens when the subject is the military service of a candidate for president? If A is a military veteran, giving his opinion to B who is not a veteran, THAT word of mouth will be even more effective than usual.

As a friend of mine said in an e-mail last Wednesday, this is now a ''water cooler election.'' George Bush, as the incumbent president, is a known commodity. The last equation in this election is whether John Kerry is seen as fit, or unfit, to replace Bush, among those voters who already think that a change might be in order. At the grassroots level, the word is spreading like wildfire (at a 2 to 1 rate) among independent and undecided voters that Kerry is unfit.

What if Senator Kerry had called a press conference three years ago to announce that he had ''made some mistakes'' in his service in Vietnam and later in his testimony before Senator Fullbright’s Committee on returning home? What if Kerry had given examples of those mistakes at that conference? The press would have largely ignored that conference, because after all, ''Who still cares about Vietnam?'' Kerry, who knew then that he intended to run for president in 2004, could have turned this entire subject into ''old news.''

But apparently Kerry had already decided, along with his high-powered, top-dollar, experienced advisors, that he was going to feature his Vietnam experience. Rather than set it aside and deal with more recent subjects, Kerry decided to hang his campaign hat on his four months and 12 days on Swift Boats in Vietnam. His representatives forced that subject into the speeches of most people at the Democratic Convention. Kerry himself slammed the point home from his opening salute to the final paragraphs of his speech accepting the nomination. When John Kerry sat down after that speech, his campaign was already doomed to defeat.

When the Captain of the Titanic ordered 21 knots in the North Atlantic where icebergs had been reported, his ship was doomed. When General Lee ordered Pickett’s charge into the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg, his cause was doomed. If you prefer examples that involve the death of ambitions, rather than human beings, try these: When the Coca-Cola Company introduced ''New Coke,'' the effort was doomed before the first ads ran. Or when Gary Hart told the press, ''You can follow me,'' his campaign was doomed.

In every instance, the questions the person in charge failed to ask and answer were these: What’s the worst that can happen to me and my cause? And, how can I avoid that fate? Kerry failed to ask and answer those questions. And now his candidacy is doomed by an insolvable, self-created problem.

It isn’t necessary to wait until the end of the Republican Convention to make this year’s predictions. Bush will have a 5% lead after the convention. That will increase to 10% by November 2, and the Electoral College results will be a landslide for Bush. At the same time, the Republicans will gain two seats in the Senate, and 11 seats in the House.

Outside Washington, Republicans will gain one governorship, 121 seats in the various state legislatures, and a substantial number of other state and local offices. Lastly, all these specific predictions are minimums. Any results that don’t match my predictions should be greater than my numbers. If not, label me wrong again. And you won’t have to phone me up; I’ll call the fouls on myself.

About the Writer: John Armor is a First Amendment lawyer and writer who lives in the Blue Ridge section of North Carolina. John receives e-mail at CongressmanBillybob@earthlink.net.

[cjg]

I enjoyed your column and agree that it must be difficult to manage,
but people are always interesting and different than we expect.

I must say I love your thoughts on the polls to come, Yeah!
_________________
Swiftvets rock!

[Frogg]

Nice article! I hope the author has a good political instint...
and the election results pan out!

[Lily]

This is an excellent article, thanks for posting it.

[beansoup]

[Hueygunner]

...Kerry won't be awarded a Purple Heart for shooting himself in the foot in this presidential election campaign.

[RocketFett]

My GOD that's an excellent piece of text! Had to write him an e-mail too because it was so good! Definitely one of the top ten pieces of text I've read on here. I sure hope and pray he's 100% accurate. Or rather, that he's dead wrong and it's an even bigger landslide AGAINST kerry than what even this great article predicts!

[JN173]