Conventional wisdom is now that the Swift Boat Veterans ads and book (I think the book is particularly important here) have gained more traction than anticipated and have seriously wounded Kerry. The ever-popular political pros are complaining.
Among Democrats, high and low, there is considerable grumbling about how and why all this was, in the words of one Kerry consultant, “allowed to get this far”.
Maybe the answer is simpler and more devastating than questions of alacrity. The accusations couldn’t be stopped because they are… for the most part… true. Or at least they have not been contradicted, except by casting personal aspersions on the Swifties. That doesn’t work. And Kerry’s Cambodia lie was so blatant, it made everything else look bad — just as similar prevarications do in court. And this was followed up by the Winter Soldier ad — Kerry speaking in his own words. Hard to contradict or spin that. No, Kerry’s in trouble. Maybe he can dig himself out of it… the press will want to… if only to make this a horse race… but it may be a race with a lame horse.
Now… off to the blogger breakfast.
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