My Aisling

Can Kerry Survive?

You can easily find a dozen articles detailing Kerry's inability to walk and chew gum at the same time on a national level, but I always like to return to one of his hometown newspapers, the Boston Herald for a few recent examples.

But, wait, there is no need to visit the particulars. It is a continuing theme of complete and abject ineptness.

The results in the electorate are not surprising - no one is supporting him. Go to the third entry - Kerry Runs, Dems Shrug.

"Among Kerry supporters polled, 41% say they're backing him for essentially negative reasons ("Not Bush" 38%, "Electable/can beat Bush" 3%). Only 43% give positive reasons ("Positions on the issues" 22%, "Character/values" 7%, "Iraq" 7%, "Intelligent" 3%, "Strong leader" 3%, "Veteran/military service" 1%). Eleven percent give the neutral reason that they're backing him because he's a Democrat.

"By contrast, among Bush supporters only 7% say they're backing him because he's "Not Kerry" and another 7% because he's a Republican. Fully 81% have positive reasons for supporting the president ("Doing good job as president" 28%, "Character/values" 19%, "Positions on the issues" 14%, "Strong leader" 11%, "Iraq/Saddam" 8%, "Tax cuts" 1%)."

43% of Kerry backers are supporting the man; 81% for W. Just not a winning comparison for Bullwinkle.

When I wonder aloud if Kerry can survive, I do not mean whether he can win in November. I think his ineptness is fodder for a Howard Baker moment. And if Kerry is taken out of the race, the only person that could step in and handle a national campaign would be Hillary.

Watching Kerry flounder makes that possibility not that unlikely.