| May 2012 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
Kerry all but stopped campaigning over a month ago. He’s had not one serious question-and-answer session with reporters in all that time. (I would very much like to know how he got TIME magazine to ask him nothing but softball questions in yesterday’s interview. )
How could this have happened?
Yes, this was the result of the Swift Vet’s brilliant exposure of his various false claims regarding Viet Nam. But most candidates wouldn’t have responded as Kerry did, by dropping a necessary part of campaigning, i.e. talking to the press.
I offer the following speculation. We know Kerry can’t make a single statement without contradicting it almost immediately. Could it be that this is a defect not only of his public speaking, but also of his dealings with his own campaign staff? I speculate that just as he tells the American people one thing on Monday and a contradictory thing on Tuesday, he does the same thing with those who work for them. The result: paralysis.
Paralysis by self-contradiction—or, as Kerry likes to call it, “nuance.”
Update 9-25-044. I called this one 12 days ahead of this NY TIMES story. Via Betsy’s Page:
The New York Times has an article about Kerry’s management style. He seems to like asking questions almost endlessly. He can take a long time to make up his mind on decisions, always seeking more advice.
His attention to detail can serve him well on big projects, as it did when he sent aides scurrying across the country to find long-lost fellow Vietnam veterans who could vouch for his war record. But sometimes, his aides say, it is a distraction, as it was in early 2003, when they say he spent four weeks mulling the design of his campaign logo, consulting associates about what font it should use and whether it should include an American flag. (It does.)
His habit of soliciting one more point of view prompted one close adviser to say he had learned to wait until the last minute before weighing in: Mr. Kerry, he said, is apt to be most influenced by the last person who has his ear. His aides rejoiced earlier this year when Mr. Kerry yielded his cellphone to an aide, a move they hoped would limit his seeking out contrary opinions.
