ABC World News Tonight Slammed Kerry re: Special Interests

[Skip Intro]

Reported he'd taken more from special interests than any other Senator over the last 15 yrs., despite his campaign claims. Had a guy from Center for Public Integrity (or something like that) who said Kerry, by virtue of his current claims on this issue, is "to be blunt, a hypocrite." Had some offical from some group (sorry, I didn't catch it) saying that to think there was no action taken by Kerry on behalf of certain donors is "lunacy."

There is no link, because this was just reported on TV. Wish I had it word for word, but suffice it to say, Kerry was being slammed, hard.

Having been informed by many here that the media has no effect on the public's perception of a candidate, and that claiming media bias is akin to a conspiracy theory, I just don't know what to make of this report. I merely pass along what millions of viewers saw on ABC's evening news, on the night before several primaries.

[EllieDem]

1. Well there you go

proof that they attack the frontrunners - not just Dean

[lancdem]

19. Hmmm...

I thought the media wanted Kerry to be the front-runner? Or, at least, that's what I've been told on DU.

[krkaufman]

53. ABC News qualified the story at the end

Actually, ABC News (Dean something?) qualified the story at the end by highlighting that Kerry is getting the scrutiny afforded the frontrunner.

[slinkerwink]

2. I wonder how this is going to affect tomorrow's primaries?

I'll have to see what the print editions are like with headlines saying "Kerry a Hypocrite When it Comes to Special Interests".......

[David Dunham]

4. Those Headlines Ran over the weekend; but tomorrow JK wins 5 or 6 of 7

[slinkerwink]

5. I hope it helps Clark or Edwards once voters get a REAL look at Kerry

[blm]

24. Then you should post a REAL look at Dean's numbers using the same formula

that was used for Kerry.

Wouldn't that be the HONEST way to compare?

[Nicholas_J]

50. Yes

Becasue Dean is not a senator, he isnt included in this figuring, however there are a lot of articles that indicate that Dean recieved a great deal of contributions from special interest groups including over 900,000 from lawyers just for this campaign and this is not including his campaign contributions while Governor.

I just posted a long list at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=253548&mesg_id=255788&page=

And Dean is still actively trying to keep the information related to energy contributions hidden in his sealed records.

[markus]

51. Apples and oranges

The sort of people who were contributing to Kerry don't care about little governors, unless they perhaps have a lot of plant in their state.

They care very much about U.S. Senators.

The real comparison is: where are they raising their money today, $100 at a time or $1,000 at a time?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. I guess Eliot Spitzer doesn't know what he's talking about

:eyes:

[David Dunham]

9. Spitzer Knows that Kerry is against corporate special interests

[Hawkeye-X]

44. No he doesn't

Or he would have _NEVER endorsed Kerry.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

47. You take Gore, we'll take Spitzer

I think Eloit did his homework.

[Hawkeye-X]

60. Think what you want to think

A man voting for CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 takes in money from telemarketing firms, and exactly the kind of shit that Spitzer is fighting against. Now with the CAN-SPAM legislation, it furthers make spamming legal.

Hawkeye-X

[Hawkeye-X]

61. Don't believe me?

Look at NYS vs Monsterhut. Spitzer singlehandly shut down a notorious spammer out of Canada, and put him out of business.

[Hawkeye-X]

43. I was greatly disappointed when Spitzer endorsed Kerry

It means all of the hard work for anti-spammers that Spitzer has done all went for naught. Also, it damages his opportunity to run for Gov of NY.

Kerry and special interests are together like peanut butter on jelly.

[Duder]

52. Not all that surprising...

Eliot Spitzer's surprising donor list

[nolabels]

57. Good link, thanks

Just when one was thinking there possibly could be one or two honest, roll you sleeve type of guys, you roll out posts with link like that. The only problem is the repukes who are often way more egregious stay on the ranch and corporate media never reports them. Still a good link though, thanks again

[magatte]

58. nice find!

:kick:

[WiseMen]

6. Congratulations to Dean and Supporters. Good Job.

[Forkboy]

7. Those pesky Dean supporters

trying to out dirty the Kerry campaign...no easy task.

[David Dunham]

8. On Tuesday, Kerry Wins Big and Dr. Dean Is Toast

[EllieDem]

12. Besides........on Meet the Press we found out

that although Dean depicts lobbyists as evil and part of the special interest "crowd" he then turns around and hires one!!! Neel was a lobbyist just 4 years ago!! (oh but that doesn't count) ha ha I wonder how much Neel made as a lobbyist. I'd love to see that released.

[wabeewoman]

36. Dean didn't say lobbyist were evil

what he said was it was being hypocritical to say you were against special interests(as Kerry is doing) and then turn out to be the biggest benefactor of them in the senate. What Neel made is irrevalent because Dean didn't make the statement. Neel was hired because of his work in Clinton and Gore's campaigns, not disregarded because he had been a lobbist. Dean said his criteria in hiring people was that they were ethical and followed the ethics guidelines which Neel did. That smear won't stick to Dean...

edit for spelling

[PAMod]

28. Then the GOP uses the hypocrisy like a cudgel in the G.E....

...taking away from Kerry one of his campaign themes.

Then, fast forward to 2008, our country is in even worse shape and the Democratic party (or whatever we are called by then) turns to former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

Or some other leader (obviously unknown at this point) who has risen to prominence by then.

[HereSince1628]

38. No, I am afraid that judgement must wait

As a Dean supporter, I am not going to try to make light of his circumstance. He is conceding not only the wins but also the second place finishes to other candidates. If he is going to survive into March, he really must have a first place finish as he comes back into the race

[Hawkeye-X]

45. Try the other way around

Kerry is toast.

[Gloria]

10. Here is report on the CFPI report via the AP ...also covers Edwards

IF the voters only had a full picture....I snipped some of the Edwards stuff which is pretty interesting.....

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7850840.htm


Posted on Sun, Feb. 01, 2004 story:
Kerry, Edwards Boasts Hardly Tell Story
JOHN SOLOMON
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards are fond of telling voters they are spurning special-interest money during their White House bids, but voters beware. Their boasts hardly tell the whole story.

Sen. Kerry, who says he hasn't taken a dime of political action committee money for his presidential campaign, in fact ran a tax-exempt political committee that collected nearly a half million dollars directly from companies and labor unions just before those types of donations were outlawed in late 2002, tax records show.

Many of the biggest donors to that effort came from companies with direct interests before Kerry's Senate committee, and the Massachusetts Democrat spent much of the money laying groundwork in early presidential primary states, the records show.

Sen. Edwards, who tells voters he rejects donations to his presidential campaign from Washington lobbyists, took one donation in 2002 directly from a lobbying firm. He also collected more than $80,000 from people who aren't formally registered as lobbyists but nonetheless work for some of Washington's powerhouse firms.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. Yes every person who contributes to you and lists their occupation

is a "special interest."

If one goes to the actual study on CPI's site, they will see the biggest abusers are Republicans...far and away.

[Moderator]

63. Gloria

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
news source.


Thank you


DU Moderator

[Straight Shooter]

11. Time to repeat the political mantra

Slick Willie, Oily George, Greasy John.

When someone greases your palm, there's nothing quite like that residue from money with strings attached, is there?

[EllieDem]

14. And don't forget "Extremely Secretive Dean"

how about those sealed records?? What is he hiding??

[Hawkeye-X]

46. You do realize

That Dean has only 40% of the records closed to the public. Most of them are personal correspondences that are deemed private. You can call him Bush* but realize that Dean has opened 60% of his records to the public while Bush* has taken impossible steps to ensure that the public doesn't look at his "open files". If you don't believe me, do a little research yourself and find out.

[lancdem]

17. FYI

"Slick Willie" won two elections.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

26. Slick Willie is a term coined by the right wing...we came to DU to get

away from right wing talking points.

[sandnsea]

15. Also said this

"While governor, Howard Dean pushed for utility contract provisions that aided the power companies, but cost Vermont families millions of dollars in skyrocketing rates. Vermont has the sixth highest utility rates in the country, due in part to a series of long-term contracts between its major power companies. After years of pushing for Central Vermont Public Service Corp. and the smaller utilities it held to absorb the excess costs of their expensive contracts, Dean's Department of Public Service agreed to let ratepayers be billed for more than 90 percent of the excess costs—which could soar into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Central Vermont Public Service Corp. donated more than $10,000 to Dean's Fund for a Healthy America PAC—a hefty contribution in a state that limits campaign contributions for statewide offices to $400."

I don't know who these people are, but they have an agenda. They totally omit PAC money and other Senator's have a much higher amount of PAC money and this guy is just ignoring it.

http://www.bop2004.org/bop2004/report.aspx?aid=132

[Skip Intro]

22. ABC didn't report that tonight

btw, if your guy is the nom, and rove throws this stuff up, are you going to just change the subject to Dean?

Doesn't seem a particularly effective strategy.

Imho, of course.

:D

[sandnsea]

29. Change the subject to BUSH???

That's the point. Bush is the one with the bills that cater to special interests, not Kerry.

[Skip Intro]

31. You changed the subject to Dean

not bush., even though Dean wasn't quoted at all in my post or the report.

Look at your post "Also said this."

The media is now going after Kerry. It will get much worse after tomorrow. And when I and other Dean supporters shouted media bias (major understatement) concerning Dean, the response from some Kerry supporters was "quit crying in your teacups."

To slam Dean and then call bush the real enemy, well, what's up?

[sandnsea]

35. Media bias???

No, I'm saying Charles Lewis is intentionally misrepresenting the facts. I'm looking to see where this Republican's money to operate his group is coming from at this moment.

[girl gone mad]

48. Unfortunatey for Kerry,

Bush won't be running on the "anti-specia-interests" platform, so the criticism will be ineffective.

Bush will simply say "business is good for the citizens, they give jobs to people", and all the other stupid GOP pro-special interest arguments that people fall for every time.

Kerry not being able to effectively distance himself from these same interests is a problem.

[dansolo]

54. Bush won't be the one making the accusations

Bush doesn't need to be the one to raise the issue. He has dozens of people in the media who will hammer Kerry day after day until the election.

[sandnsea]

56. Unfortunately for Bush

Kerry has been the one on the Small Business Committee for the last 6 years working on legislation to help small business which provides the majority of jobs and new innovations in this country. So Bush won't have a blessed thing to say to Kerry.

In addition, Bush has $600,000 in special interest money from one corporation in one election. Not $600,000 over FIFTEEN YEARS.

[EllieDem]

25. Wow .....thats some interesting stuff

about Vermont and the power companies. Sounds pretty bad Dr.

[David Dunham]

16. Elliot Spitzer Aptly Praised Kerry Today as a Fighter for Consumers

One day away from casting its vote for America's future, Albuquerque rallied around John Kerry. Joined by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Kerry assured America's small investors and consumers that he will fight for "an economy where they can succeed and build a better life; a country that rewards what's right; a government that is on their side.”

[Lobo_13]

55. I guess we know where that mortgage money went then

or as Ted Dibiase used to say, "Everybody has their price."

[spindoctor]

18. When I hear names like "Center for Public Integrity" I get suspicious

There are a billion of these special interest store fronts around.
Semi-scientifical paid by the day institutions that go on TV, radio and wherever they can be heard to announce their sponsored messages.

[Jerseycoa]

32. CPI

bashes both Dems and Republicans pretty much.

[cthrumatrix]

20. well ...let' see if they run this 600 times over the next week

[David Dunham]

21. They won't run it a lot -- there's no wackiness like the Dean Scream

[Skip Intro]

27. Nah, just boring stuff like honesty and integrity

[Southsideirish]

23. Its nice to see Kerry take his lumps - he lodged enough at Dean.

Lets see how he handles the scrutiny.

[David Dunham]

30. Kerry will keep winning; Dean should stop sliming Kerry

[Skip Intro]

33. Dean was not quoted, or mentioned, in this report

It was a report by ABC News on John Kerry. Nothing to do with Dean.

That wonderful media many Kerry supporters accused Dean supporters of using as a scapegoat is now, apparently, setting its sights on Kerry.

Some of us saw it coming.

[stepnw1f]

34. Cut off your noses despite the faces?

Just more power to the repukes. This is not going to help your candidate. Dean is out and now the Repukes have dirt on almost every possible Bush contention. Hope your all proud.

[wabeewoman]

40. Come on guys!

If we are going to run as the adults in the world, I think we have to quit blaming each other. Somebody tell me about Kerry instead of bashing Dean. What is the story about that? I've heard it twice now that Kerry has more special interest money than anybody in the Senate. If he does win, we will need to come up with an answer to combat that and just saying busy is worse (definately true) won't be enough.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

62. Kerry's on very heavy Senate committees and senior. JUICE=BUX.

When I hear that anyone in congress gets big bucks, I want to know what they're actual track record is, not just their budget.

Unfortunately, money has been the lifeblood of political life for a long time. How it affects performance is more animal specific. We know what whoring the current administration is capable of.

I'm afraid that Kerry's financial backing is currently a mantle of power. How much of that power goes to backers instead of constituents needs to be detailed for context.

[Cuban_Liberal]

37. I saw it.

I'm gowing more leery of Sen. Kerry with each passing day. I'm afraid he may be damaged goods, and I'm not sure our party will survive a withering, Rovian assault with him as the nominee.

[D G]

39. Compared to Bush, it's nothing

I'm sure no comparative perspective was provided on ABC News, so I thought I'd throw that out.

[George_Bonanza]

41. This is all part of a greater conspiracy

You see, the media took a glance at DU, and they started to realize that people were onto them for taking down the great revolutionary Howard Dean. So they planted this story just to make it seem like they're attacking Kerry while they're sipping brandy with right now as we speak. The whole world is against Dean!

[Cocoa]

42. ABC News has been awful this election

their smear job on "Dean's trooper" was the media's low point, it really stunk.

So if you're interested in the truth about Kerry's money, ABC is not a good bet, imo.

[Vis Numar]

49. Kerry

the pain is waiting for you in Wisconsin. Friday night, live on a TV in the fat land.

[GreenArrow]

59. Why aren't they slamming Bush on "special interests"

after all, he's the sitting president.