John Kerry needs to do the ultimate flip-flop: become a Republican father figure for the debate.
I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been lurking. I've seen numerous diary entries with suggestions and hopes for John Kerry's strategy in the upcoming debate. All of these are laced with visions of the debate that we want... not the one we desperately need.
On paper, John Kerry is perfect for this role. He is a champion debater who can rhetorically joust with the best of them. Unfortunately, the upcoming event where John Kerry and George Bush square off will not be a 'debate' in any meaningful sense of the word. This will not be the Harvard Club where a select group of students/academics will judge the participants on rhetorical flare and finally tuned logic. As such, Kerry's debate resume is not worth squat.
We all wish this were not so. We want to see Kerry wipe the floor with George. We want to see him expose the President for the liar and deceiver that he is. With facts. With logic. With well reasoned and articulated thought. Unfortunately, if Kerry does this (and only this), he'll lose the 'debate' and all will be for naught :(
The American people don't need to see George Bush humiliated. The American people don't need to see if John Kerry is rhetorically gifted or if he can articulate a logical rebuttal to a Bush flip-flop smear.
No, in order for John Kerry to win this debate, he'll have to become a Republican father figure. One who will tell the American people that we are in trouble. That George Bush has caused the trouble. That they must trust him, good father, to fix Georgie's fuck-ups. He must be resolute, concise and on message throughout. His mantra need be:
- We are in trouble.
- George Bush is the cause.
- I am the father figure you can trust to fix it.
Over and over.
He can't postulate. He can't suppose or offer explanations. He can't be nuanced or try to rebut Bush. He must not let George get his goat by the constant repetition of the flip-flopper charge. See, the whole point of the flip-flopper charge is to counteract any image that Kerry will be a good father figure. You can't just say, "I'm not a flip-flopper" or offer quotes from the past to logically refute the Presidents charge. You can't just say that Bush is lying about the flip-flopper charge or that he is hypocritical. All too true, but that won't get the job done because it puts Kerry on the defensive when it should be the other way around. If he wants to rebut a flip-flopper charge, he should do so only as a segue into:
- We are in trouble.
- George Bush is the cause.
- I am the father figure you can trust to fix it.
It has to be that clear.
He has to make America want to wake up the next day, gather around the water cooler, and talk about the fact that, "George Bush is the cause of our troubles... and hey, you know, that Kerry guy seems to be the guy to fix it."
If America wakes up the next day and the conversation everyone wants to talk about is George Bush's charge of Kerry as a flip-flopper and whether or not Kerry did a good job rebutting that... well, we lost. That simple.
Now, either Kerry has it in him or he doesn't. Either the prep team understands this fundamental point or they are focused on scoring a blow and providing some red meat for the Dem base. Either Kerry wins or he loses... and, sadly, America loses with him... It is all up to one man. I guess we'll know Friday.