If the foreign leaders flap has taught us anything, it's that the R's are way more organized that the D's.
They had a coordinated message, mulitple goons ready to go on the record with the talking points at the drop of a hat, and an aggressive glee that only the truly psychotic know.
John Kerry has gotten his ass kicked the last week because of it.
This excellent performance by Richard Holbrooke (get the day pass, it's worth 30 seconds) reminded me that Kerry needs his own gang. So far, he's been relying on his campaign folks to do most of the back and forth. But people don't know campaign staffers. We need public officials, we need Democrats fighting this fight and showing that a vote for John Kerry isn't just a vote for one guy, it's a vote for a party that has its shit together.
Screw shadow cabinets (which if nothing else I believe are illegal to formally name). Kerry needs a posse of Democratic toughs roaming the cable circuit and giving beat-downs on a daily basis.
Some terms of the fight: Bush is wrong, Bush is out of touch, Bush is failing. If you're talking about WMD, Spain, Iraq or the weather, these are your themes. Every time Bush flip-flops (and he does it frequently), it needs to be brought up. Even if the conversation is about baseball.
Who should be on this squad? I'm sure I don't have all the names, but here are a few cadres the campaign should have ready to put out, organized by issues.
Foreign affairs/war:
Wesley Clark
Holbrooke (really, get the day pass. it's so worth reading)
Madeline Albright
Former Chief of Staff John S. (it goes on for quite a while, but I won't get it right)
Dick Durbin (the leading Dem on the Senate Intel committee and a tough, smart liberal)
I don't include Howard Dean here because everytime he tries to say something good about Kerry's foreign policy, the interviewer comes back with "But you just spent a year criticizing his vote." Dean will be much more effective as a speech giver on foreign affairs.
Domestic affairs:
Dean
Carol Mosely Braun
Nancy Pelosi
Charles Rangell (sp?)
Barney Frank
John Edwards
Finally, the Big Dog needs to get in the game. Clinton needs to do Larry King for the whole hour. He needs to do 60 Minutes. He needs to remind people what a Democratic president looks like, what a Democratic foreign policy looked like, what a Democratic economy looked like.
And he needs to explain why he made catching al Qaeda a top priority in the closing years of his administration. Lead the reporter to this:
"If it was such a top priority, why was al Qaeda able to attack us so effectively on Sept. 11?"
"We had a plan completed in Dec. 2000 that would have crippled the al Qaeda leadership. I deferred to the incoming administration, trusting that they would act in the best interests of Americans. We gave them the plan. All they need to do was say go."
"Why didn't they?"
"You'll have to ask them."
I'm sure I've left out people. By all means, add your own favorite junkyard dog. And your favorite lines of attack. If we get enough, I'm going to build a list and send it to everyone in the Kerry campaign and the DNC whose email I can find.