Just posted this interesting open letter from Walter Cronkite on
Political Wire:
Lessons from 1988
After watching Sen. John Kerry try to avoid being characterized as a "liberal" by the Bush campaign, Walter Cronkite gives the candidate some unsolicited advice:
"What are you ashamed of? Are you afflicted with the Dukakis syndrome - that loss of nerve that has allowed conservatives both to define and to demonize liberalism for the past decade and more? ... By ducking the issue, Dukakis opened the way for the far right to make 'L' for liberal a scarlet letter with which to brand all who oppose them. In the course of that 1988 exchange, Bush offered a telling observation, saying, in effect, that liberals don't like being called liberal. You seem to have reaffirmed that analysis."
"If 1988 taught us anything, it is that a candidate who lacks the courage of his convictions cannot hope to convince the nation that he should be given its leadership... You have to do that yourself. Take my advice and lay it all out, before it's too late."