Virginia Postrel had the same sort of questions I did about John Kerry’s midnight rally last night,
But it wasn’t addressed to me, and it seems to have done quite well, at least among the punditocracy. John Kerry made Bush look even better with his petulant and rambling midnight address. What was he thinking? Doesn’t Kerry have advisers to tell him not to give poorly prepared speeches that project desperation?
Kerry looked horrible — like if he stopped talking he would doze off (and who can blame him — it was midnight after all). Moreover, he seemed to be talking on fast forward as if he wanted to get everything out and get back to his hotel room (and, again, who can blame him).
He came across as a B-list Howard Dean.
Kerry’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t seem to have the ability to acknowledge his shortcomings and turn them around to his advantage. Reagan and Clinton were masters at that, and Bush II is also to a lesser extent. But Kerry comes across more like Bush II or Dole in his inability to respond to attacks exploiting his weaknesses.
The fact that Kerry’s campaign didn’t have any sort of coherent prepared response to the Swift Boat Veterans accusations or the flip-flop characterization means those accusations have sowed far more doubt about Kerry than they need have done.