Democrats Concerned About Kerry's Message

Some Democrats are concerned about John Kerry's slow development of a coherent message. Reuters reports:

At a time when he could be laying out the grand themes for his November battle with President Bush, the presumptive Democratic nominee has been fighting skirmishes with Republican surrogates over his service in Vietnam, his votes on taxes and national security and his claims of support from foreign leaders.

Critics say Kerry, who sometimes focuses on nuance in a medium that values broad strokes and easy to digest labels, has fumbled early opportunities to define his vision for the future and make the case for his campaign.

"I have no idea what the Kerry message is. He has no positive message at this point," said Democratic consultant Doug Schoen, a former pollster for President Bill Clinton. "I know what his critique is of George Bush, but there has been a virtual absence of a Kerry message."

There is also concern about how easily Kerry gets thrown off message and lets the Republicans get under his skin:

And in the eight weeks since he clinched the nomination, Kerry has often been thrown off his daily message by aggressive Republican attacks on his 20-year voting record as a Massachusetts senator or on his decorated stint in Vietnam and later opposition to the war.

A three-day bus tour of battleground states to talk about jobs earlier this week turned into a running fight over whether he claimed in 1971 to have thrown back his five medals from Vietnam in protest of the war, or just his ribbons.

Last week Kerry was forced to release his military and medical records after Republicans accused him of double-talk on whether they were available for public view and a former commander questioned if he deserved his first of three Purple Hearts.