SwiftVets.com

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By E&P Staff

Published: June 02, 2004

NEW YORK Former New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines, on the hot seat again as controversy over the newspaper's Iraq coverage during his tenure continues to swirl, has written a column for The Guardian in London today on John Kerry that concludes that he "has to get better as a candidate." One problem, according to Raines: Kerry is "pompous" and "ponderous."

He also declared that Kerry has an "Addams Family" face--"as if Lurch had gone to Choate."

Where Bill Clinton's most famous campaign message was, "It's the economy stupid," Kerry's seems to be, according to Raines, "It's the war, sort of, and it's the economy, maybe."

Raines believes Kerry can win "in a campaign that's going to become the political equivalent of a street fight" but every time he talks to "a reporter who has covered him, new doubts creep in about his ability to connect with voters.

"I personally find him easier to talk to than Al Gore, but there's no denying that he's ponderous," Raines continued. "And he's pompous in a way that Gore is not. With Gore, you feel that if he could choose, he would have been born poor and cool. Kerry radiates the feeling that he is entitled to his sense of entitlement. Probably that comes from spending too much time with Teddy Kennedy, but it's a problem. The TV camera is an x-ray for picking up attitudinal truths, and Kerry's lantern jaw and Addams Family face somehow reinforce the message that this guy has passed from ponderous to pompous and is so accustomed to privilege that he doesn't have to worry about looking goofy. It's as if Lurch had gone to Choate.

"Recently, a lot of campaign reporters were writing that Kerry is altering his 'populist' message and moving to the centre. If John Kerry was ever a populist, George W Bush is a Rhodes scholar. Here's what Kerry has to face up to and build upon. The difference between him and Bush is that Kerry represents the liberal, charitable wing of the Privilege party and George W represents the conservative, greedy wing of the Privilege party...."

"Surely someone in Kerry's campaign can figure out a way for him to say, 'Here's my plan for getting us out of Iraq and defeating terrorism,' and 'Here's my plan for making sure you're not sick and poor in your old age.' And then make him say it over and over again, no matter what question is asked of him.

"Kerry has to face the fact that even though the incumbent looks like Goofy when he smirks, he's going to win unless Kerry comes up with something to say. To stay 'on message' you have to have one."