I found the following quote that seems to be the source of the story
In McCaw Hall, there was some evidence that Kerry’s modulated sales effort might succeed. Iraq is "an absolute mess," said David Haldeman, 25. "Kerry did not address Iraq as clearly as I would have liked. But my dislike of George Bush overrides everything at this point. You can put a sock puppet next to Bush and I would vote for it."
At Kerry headquarters in Washington, no one’s calling it the "sock puppet" theory, but it’s pretty much the one they are operating on. The election, in their view, doesn’t turn on Kerry’s legislative victories (in 20 years in the Senate, they are few) or on his grand new ideas (his foreign policy, judging from his advisers, would be a Clinton Restoration). Rather, his handlers think, the race is about being a minimally acceptable alternative and in the right position to capitalize on the president’s weakness.
That is, it seems to be another version of "anyone but Bush"
Cheers, BNJTOKYO
