By no means am I claiming to be able to read the minds of the Kerry/Edwards campaign, but, I'm sure that we've all noticed one of their main strategies: The Excuse President makes a mistake or does something ridiculous, they point it out. The Excuse President says something stupid or obviously untrue, they tear it to shreds.
Though "proactive" is rightfully relegated to the graveyard for 90's buzzwords, and though using their own words and actions against them is vital, I think that Kerry also needs to bring some new discussions to the table. Likewise, there's a feeling that many Kerry-leaning undecideds could be pushed over the hump with just a little something special.
So, I think it's time to address a legitimate fear, only without fearmongering--in my opinion, this wouldn't just help the campaign, it'd also help safeguard America's future.
Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy if Kerry just made more comments about the danger of a potential draft. However, in my perfect world, one of the new ideas of their campaign would be to pass an Anti-Draft Amendment. They'd have to be careful in how they phrased their arguments for it (partially to make it appealing, and partially to avoid comparisons with that certain other amendment that's trying to outlaw something that's already illegal), but I think this is the sort of thing that could really give the media something to chew on, and keep Bush on the defensive.
Truth be told, I'd love to see them bring up the mere possibility of an amendment--even our rigged media would chase that ball for a few newscycles. And I'd be willing to bet that a plurality would support it, so we'd see Kerry-winning polls about it. I think Kerry should frame it in the spirit of the Bill of Rights...protecting the people from the government. A failsafe so that the people will never suffer for a leader's questionable decision to go to war. Obviously making allusions to The Excuse President's actions, but not overtly.
In the middle of a positive speech, I'd like to see Kerry talk about how America is known for being both optimistic and realistic: "This aspect of the election isn't about us, it's about our children and grandchildren--it's about putting a restraint on the government, to ensure that future generations of Americans won't be taken advantage of. It's about putting the people first. I have great hopes for this nation, and if elected, I'll do everything to see that they come to pass, but there are some chances that America simply can't afford to take."
I think this would help us even more with the youth vote, in addition to moderate parents/grandparents. And while I don't realistically expect the campaign to pick this up and run with it (a la the glorious "Let me tell you what you own, Mr. President" meme), I think that it can't hurt to talk about it. Maybe it'll inspire the campaign to at least talk about the draft issue.