Huffington, Trippi Launch Petition on Net

SAN FRANCISCO - Call them the latest political odd couple: Arianna Huffington, the chic, wealthy, Republican-turned-populist pundit, and Joe Trippi, the rumpled, tobacco-chewing, Internet-savvy steward of Howard Dean (news - web sites)'s upstart presidential campaign.


AP Photo



Together, they have launched an Internet petition calling on Democratic candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) to inspire more voters by bringing "hope and soul" back to political discourse.


"Instead of adopting the familiar — and failed — Republican-lite swing voter strategy, you can reach out to and inspire the 50 percent of eligible voters who have given up on voting," reads the petition on Huffington's Web site. "If you do, you will win not in a toss-up but a landslide."


Trippi, the force behind many of Dean's blistering attacks on Kerry during the Democratic primary, said the petition drive wasn't intended to be a critique of Kerry but a plea for him to do a better job of engaging voters in his campaign against President Bush (news - web sites).


"I think too many people run campaigns that say, 'Look at me, I'm amazing.' Kerry needs to say to people, 'Look at you, you're amazing,'" Trippi said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040514/ap_on_el_pr/political_odd_couple&cid=694&ncid=1963&sid=96378798

Kerry was NEVER Republican lite. That was PRIMARY CAMPAIGN MYTHOLOGY thunked up by Trippi.

In the IMMORTAL words (paraphrased)from the movie "American President" -- these are SERIOUS times and they require SERIOUS solutions ... most of us are NOT all things to ALL people -- get over it. You might rally with SLOGANS, but you govern with SUBSTANCE!

We need intelligence, integrity, industriousness, independence, inquisitiveness ... and, yes, also inspiration ... but, on balance,
we are NOT going to re-select a pep rally cheerleader that talks the good talk but never walks the walk!

Now if it were two people who won elections, that would be different. But apparently their methods and strategies aren't winning ones. So why would anyone listen, if they want to win?

In any case, I heard on TV someone state that the Kerry campaign strategy at this juncture is to lie low, or be steady and measured, since there is so long to go before the election. Then he'll hit heavy and hard closer to the election. I'm guessing that he'll come out swinging after he names a V.P.

I'm disappointed in that strategy, since I think he should be presidential and comment more on the horrific goings on right now, but then I'm not a political strategist. Kerry won a tough nomination, so I'm just trusting that he and his staff know what they're doing.