Run a clean campaign and don’t allow the president to define the issues.
Dear Senator Kerry:

This is sent with confidence that with a good campaign you will beat George Bush. Here is my outline of “a good campaign.”

You should be prepared for a barrage of character assassinations.

I note a common characteristic of Bush campaigns. Remember Lee Atwater. Karl Rove is the current iteration.

Do not allow yourself to be dragged down to their level. Answer their mudslinging promptly with facts and move on to a more positive message. You cannot allow them to define the tone or the issues of this campaign. Take a page from John Edwards’ campaign and claim the higher ground.

You need to ignite the moral imagination of the citizenry.

Offer them a new vision of America’s role in the world. Americans would prefer to be about the business of systematically redressing the conditions that breed terrorism than fighting endless wars, which breed more terrorism. We must reach out to moderates in the Islamic world in a multi-lateral way.

We need to develop a clear agenda for addressing the obscene inequities between the minority of wealthy nations and the majority living in indescribable poverty. You can do this by proposing a new multi-lateral “Marshall Plan” for the Third World that will replace the old, Cold War approach of the Bush team. And you can commit to go to the Middle East personally to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Americans are waiting for a vision and plan that calls them to their better selves.

You must make a sharp distinction between your approach and the Bush “War on Terror” and his Iraq war. Both of these initiatives have failed at great cost in human life and American treasure. The war in Iraq has fueled anti-American terror. We are less secure than we were and so are our allies. You must not let Bush run on his “brilliance” as commander in chief. It’s not true.

“It is about the economy, stupid!” It worked against Bush I and it fits Bush II.

Steal a page from Ronald Reagan, and ask America’s workers if they are better off than they were four years ago. The tax cuts for the wealthy, the incredible deficits that create a terrible debt burden for our children, and the loss of 3 million jobs must be a recurring mantra of your campaign.

But you must claim a bold, daring future for the American economy. The country’s infrastructure – roads, electric grid, housing stock – are aging and inadequate for the 21st century. Paint a picture of a revitalized America, which will create a new infrastructure for a new century, reducing poverty, and narrowing the growing divide between the wealthy and the poor.

Your new paradigm must frame the debate. Preempt this issue and force the Bush campaign to deal with your vision in the face of the bankruptcy of the president’s record.

Eighty percent of Americans have concerns about the state of the environment. In Maine, we feel strongly about this.

The Bush team is systematically dismantling the noble work of Ed Muskie and George Mitchell in the Senate. Bush’s relaxation of the clean air standards has contributed to the near epidemic proportions of childhood asthma. Our children should not suffer unnecessary illness because the narrow agendas of the special interests are served. Put a human face on the effects of Bush’s anti-environmental policies.

Be courageous on health insurance.

It is disgraceful to have so many uninsured people in this wealthy country. Develop a daring program that balances cost control with quality care, provides accessibility to the system for all, and offers a good prescription program under Medicare that does not subsidize HMOs and pharmaceutical companies.

Medicare is more efficient that private insurers. Point out the lack of data to support Bush’s ideological effort to privatize Medicare. While you are doing that, highlight the risks of Bush’s efforts to privatize Social Security, a program that has been supported by every president since FDR.

Education needs your attention. No Child Left Behind was a great idea, but it is test crazy, has diverted states form their important work, and it is under funded. Reform it. Inject it with a heavy dose of practicality and trust in the states. Provide the funds necessary to implement the notion that all children can learn to high levels.

But do not stop there. Announce a new program for post-secondary education of a magnitude similar to the G.I. Bill – one of the most successful government programs ever – so that all qualified students can matriculate to a post-secondary institution and complete a degree.

During all of this, the Bush campaign will attack mercilessly. Correct their misrepresentations, but stick to your messages and your bold, new vision for the country.

The campaign needs to be primarily about you and your capacity to take America to a better, safer, fairer place.

Your biggest challenge is to restore credibility to the process of politics. The Bush administration has lost credibility. They misled us on Iraq. They misled their own party and the nation on Medicare. They failed to cooperate with the Sept.11 commission. They have fueled the terrorist efforts against America and her allies, and they misrepresent their record on the “War on Terror.”

John, I believe you are an honorable man. Run a campaign that breaks through the cynicism spawned by the last four years of deception and restores the public trust.

You must win. Four more years of failed Bush policies will radically alter the course of history in the wrong direction.
Jim Carignan is a retired educator who lives in Harpswell. His e-mail address is [email protected].