THE
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
Sunday, March
14, 2004
Key
for Kerry is to look, act presidential
By
Robert Weiner
Now that
John Kerry has locked up the nomination, largely sealed by Ohio's Super Tuesday
victory over John Edwards, the general election campaign may become the longest
political media event in history. However, many media are candidly saying that
they will downplay their coverage of Kerry (and thereby the Democrats).
"We'll
next cover him in the fall," says one radio network producer, less than half
joking. The campaign may be the most covered in history, but Kerry could be
perceived as having an irrelevant "political" agenda while George W. Bush
conducts meaningful presidential actions. DNC officials are justifiably worried
about their side being "blanked while Bush plays president."
The
fascinating contest of the nomination is over, from the initial 10 major
candidates down to essentially one. The roller-coaster dynamic of the
front-runner of the week (Lieberman, Kerry, Clark, Dean, Edwards) has come to a
close. The pundits' changing edicts - from "Dean is nowhere" to "Dean has it,"
from "Kerry is a dead man walking" to Dean's implosion concurrent with Kerry's
resurrection and rebirth as the charismatic and knowledgeable candidate he once
was and became again - are over.
If Kerry
wants to continue having relevance and holding the media's (and the nation's)
interest, he can challenge Bush with more than the necessary process of picking
a vice presidential mate. He can also do more than the necessary responses to
the predictable fast flow of presidential actions and statements. He will have
to do more than a speech each week or so timed to issuing a position paper: the
media give only minimal space to positions. He must take bold, dramatic actions
- something he is now qualified to do as the presumptive nominee - that
dramatize his positions.
Kerry
makes a point of the need to rebuild our alliances and restore credibility in
the international community. He should go abroad and meet with Russian President
Putin, French President Chirac, German Chancellor Schroeder, British Prime
Minister Blair, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi, and Chinese Premier Wen, among
others. No, he would not be conducting foreign policy; he would just be offering
his friendship to key world leaders. It's no different from congressional
delegations that meet with foreign leaders all the time. And after each meeting,
Sen. Kerry can simply say that he looks forward to renewing America's positive
relationship with that nation's government and people. (What he should not do is
repeat his recent mistake of asserting that foreign leaders want him to win the
election. Keep partisan politics out of it.)
Likewise,
at home Sen. Kerry should now meet, individually, with the leaders of every
issue, especially the voices alienated by Bush's policies - from fiscal
conservatives upset by the massive Bush deficit to unemployed laborers to
factory managers whose jobs have been outsourced. He can meet with seniors
fearful of both Alan Greesnspan's proposed Social Security cuts and George W.
Bush's voluntarizing benefits. He can also meet with seniors denied prescription
drugs from abroad. He can talk with community leaders and citizens in newly
unregulated environmental problem areas. He should be meeting with people on the
edge of everything important to America - visibly, with full open press
following any private discussions - labor, business, education, religion, law
enforcement, health care, energy, women's groups, state and local governments
forced to raise taxes because of the Bush federal tax cuts - and build a
consultative process while issuing the positions that generate new directions
for the nation.
In other
words, Kerry needs to act and be presidential. He must think hard, and build a
timeline for March through September if he wants to maintain the base of
Americans' desire for change that he has emphasized. The polls that show him
ahead of Bush will wither quickly if Bush solely controls the agenda. In the
primaries, Democrats brought the public a compelling alternative of national
priorities, with which a majority of Americans agree. While Democrats in the
past have been in similar poll-leading positions - Dukakis was 17 percentage
points ahead of Bush I, for example - some, like Dukakis, have lost. Others,
like Carter and Clinton, have won.
John
Kerry has a real opportunity - but only if he maintains an agenda that keeps
Americans' and the media's interest high.
Weiner
is a Democratic public affairs and issues strategist who served for six years in
the Clinton White House and 20 years on Capitol Hill as a senior aide to five
leading congressional Democrats. Weiner received a bachelor's degree from
Oberlin College in 1969.