Focus group results in Ohio testify to the obstacles facing Kerry.
"I just can't stand George Bush," said [Amy Locy,] the deputy clerk of council of nearby Munroe Falls. Locy is angry, in particular, about the president's handling of the war in Iraq.
"Coming into his presidency, he had an agenda that included Saddam Hussein," Locy said. "And 9/11 gave him the opportunity to slip [Hussein's] name in: 'Osama bin Laden,' 'Saddam Hussein,' it's all that same type of Taliban feeling. . . . If Osama bin Laden is responsible for 9/11, then take care of it. He is not in Iraq, so what are we doing there?"
Score one for Democratic nominee John F. Kerry?
Not quite. Locy, 39, is still undecided in the presidential race. Sure, Bush has given her plenty to vote against. But so far, Locy said, Kerry hasn't given her enough to vote for.
This is the problem facing Kerry. Althought discontent among independents and some moderate Republicans runs high, many feel, as Locy does, that "Kerry hasn't done anything to close the deal," or, as Ed Beegle, a retired UPS driver says, "he never commits to anything."
I write this as a hard-core ABB who is now a firm Kerry supporter. In other words, not to simply snark at the Kerry operation, but to invite brainstorming on how he might close the deal. According to the Boston Globe's story, even GOP waverers are hesitant to switch.
