Politics: The New Kerry Scandal has no Legs

by phil on Friday Feb 13, 2004 1:44 AM
News

The Drudge Report reveals the possibility of a covered-up sex-scandal with an intern for Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry

My prediction on the lifespan of this scandal appears below...

First, this is important for voters in considering Kerry's electibility. Bush won in some part because people were tired of Clinton's philandering days. Bush, by comparison, was the man of faith. That you could trust him was Bush's selling point. Kerry already has some of the negative traits of Clinton in giving the "appearance" of a playboy, so it won't be hard for Bush to play this up come election time.

However, will this story have legs before the Democratic National Convention? My assumption is that it will only have legs in the media if there is motive behind it. Who has motive attached to this story?

Bush? I bet he'll rather save this one up for closer to November.

Edwards? He has sold himself on this positive-message thing, he won't do this now, especially since he might be seeking a vice-presidential slot

Dean? Yes, Dean is highly motivated, but by the 17th, if he doesn't win Wisconsin, he'll lose more and more motivation. Plus, the press isn't giving him much attention these days anymore. And, the story JUST got leaked, it'll take more than an aide suggesting for it to come up. For the juicy details, the media will need some pictures, a name, more reports, sktchy evidence etc.. and that takes weeks to come up. Dean doesn't have the time before Big Tuesday. He'll bring it up though.

Anybody else? The left would rather just get this in-fighting over and MoveOn. What about the right? They could bring it up, but Bush is the main guy for this, so it's his job, and he'll keep it for later.

My guess is that the story will bubble up a little over the weekend but will then die down in a few days, until new evidence comes up, which it inevitbly will, and it'll try to be ressurrected, but not in time for Dean or Edwards to gain anything by it. Once these two start dropping out, then who knows where this story will go.

UPDATE: Slate has a fun article regarding the Kerry Rumor.