Word: pivotal
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...shed. Aides Shrum and Ron Klain, who were running the practices, imposed what they called "zero tolerance," and by the time Kerry had drilled a few days, he had figured out how to make those lights his friends. The green one, for instance, would be his cue to pivot from attacking Bush to talking about his own proposals, so that every answer would end on an upbeat note...
When it came to his closing argument, John Kerry wasn't about to trust anyone's instincts but his own. Ten days before the election, Lockhart and pollster Stan Greenberg started circulating a battle plan among Kerry's top advisers that called for an abrupt pivot in tone and message for the final stretch. He should talk more about domestic issues, the memo said, adopt a "positive and hopeful tone" and offer optimism instead of fear. "We want to elevate the choice by elevating the moment and the consequences--of four more years of Bush, with all the partiality...
...moved above the President's. But Kerry has more work to do. "We've suffered a little bit because of our focus on security," says Kerry campaign strategist Joe Lockhart. "We haven't talked enough about issues like health care that women care about." The campaign planned an immediate pivot: Kerry's speech last Saturday focused on the middle-class squeeze. "Two incomes barely cover the basics," said Kerry. "The costs of health care, gas, child care and tuition are through the roof. Personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high. And the typical family is making $1,500 less...
...qualifications to be Commander in Chief--that it came out of Boston without a clearly defined domestic agenda for the nation. Kerry hardly lacks a platform at home; his health-care and fiscal policies are far more detailed, if less numerous, than Bush's. But the campaign didn't pivot from the past to the future after Boston and then hammer home Kerry's ideas. That left Bush a huge opening--and he reached for it in New York City. "They made a big bet on his Vietnam service," said Mark Penn, Bill Clinton's longtime pollster...
This week in New York City, the Republicans are going to be selling moderation in bulk. With Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger as his warm-up, Bush will pivot to talking about that ownership society. The Republican National Committee has foreshadowed the message of the day by boasting that the delegates are the convention's most diverse ever. How do they know? They have counted. The pageant will probably cause seizures among Bush's enemies. But they are not the target audience...