As much as I’ve always liked John Kerry, in the back of my mind, throughout the campaign, I’ve worried just a little bit about how the GOP machine would attack him in the general election — and whether the charges would stick.
The last time the Dems nominated a Dem from Massachusetts, it wasn’t pretty. Dukakis became synonymous with words like “weak” and “tepid.” And with Kerry’s rise to the top of the Dem presidential candidate field, Bush’s supporters have been using Dukakis’ name almost as much as Kerry’s.
I’m confident, however, that Kerry will not repeat the mistakes of ’88. Dukakis never fought back against Bush Sr.’s attacks, confident that the electorate would see through such nonsense. The public, however, heard the attacks, never heard a response, and thought the worst of the Dem candidate. It was a landslide.
The New York Times had an interesting article today which gave a hint of the kind of general election match-up we’ll see if Kerry wins the Dem nomination. Rest assured, it won’t be ’88 all over again.
For one thing, Kerry’s military record as a war hero will help to inoculate him from some of the generic criticisms. As Barney Frank told the Times, “It is hard to demonize as an irresponsible leftist a man who has locked up criminals and shot communists.” Good point.
And secondly, an unnamed Kerry campaign staffer suggested that Kerry was prepared to play just as dirty as the GOP.
“This is not the Dukakis campaign,” the adviser said. “We’re not going to take it. And if they’re going to come at us with stuff, whatever that stuff may be, if it goes to a place where the ’88 campaign did, then everything is on the table. Everything.”
That final “everything” sure does sound ominous, doesn’t it?