Excerpt: 'Their goal is to get a mandate without explaining what it is they're trying to get a mandate for,' said Jason Furman, the Kerry campaign's economic policy director, 'and our goal is to pin them down on what they want a mandate for.' That strategy has come at a cost, however. The president's campaign has repeatedly challenged the Kerry team's assumptions, and some media outlets and independent analysts have castigated Kerry for what they see as the Democrat's distortions.