The Daily Caller brought attention to a potentially damaging story for Democratic candidates come November, reporting that Senator John Kerry has blamed negative democratic poll numbers on an uninformed electorate. Whether or not Kerry actually meant to portray voters as ignorant, the optics of his statement can be construed as finger pointing: "we have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening..."
While the story hasn't gained much traction, it is needless to say that by not recognizing voter discontent as genuine, Kerry may further alienate potential swing voters and a disaffected democratic base. Kerry's reputation as a gaffe-prone politician has preceded him since before the 2004 presidential election and we've learned over the last several election cycles that careful messaging is even more crucial in the modern political arena -- but the question in this case is whether or not he can get himself out of hot water by now.
Here's a flashback to some of Kerry's past gaffes, not including "I voted for it... before I voted against it":
- Kerry was inadvertently caught on microphone calling Bush's campaign team crooked liars in the spring of 2004, "These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group of people I've ever seen."
- His "get stuck in Iraq" statement that was criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike in 2006.
- The embarrassing "don't tase me bro" incident, when a rowdy member in the audience of a speech was tased and arrested by police in 2007.
- More recently, the Yacht tax issue.