Brazile: Kerry should go with his gut

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- John Kerry should "go with his gut" if he wants to be elected U.S. president in 2004, Democrat strategist Donna Brazile said Friday.

"Politics, like anything else, is about risk management," the manager of Al Gore's 2000 presidential bid wrote in Roll Call. "If you are too bold, too different or simply too loud, you risk alienating voters (just ask Howard Dean). But if you are too timid, too equivocating, or afraid to listen to your own gut, then you have to rely on the instincts of others."

"It's time Sen. John Kerry listens to his gut and asks the American people if they are ready for change," she said, adding she believed the answer would be yes.

"Democrats can still win this presidential election and take back control of Congress for one reason: The truth is on our side. The war in Iraq -- its planning, execution and management -- is a disaster. Vice President Cheney and President Bush dismiss with sarcasm the idea that going into Iraq made America less safe, despite the anger it created in the Muslim world and the critical ideological ammo it gave to Osama bin Laden," Brazile said.

"Kerry has every opportunity to help the American people sort through the evidence and judge it for its credibility and importance. But in order to get there, he must take some risks and go with his gut on battling the GOP."