BG: O'Reilly agreed to drop SBVT issue "after speaking with Kerry"

[beachmom]

I didn't see this April 6th BG story posted anywhere. It largely deals with everyone "lining up" to challenge Kerry in the 2008 Senate re-election campaign:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/04/06/candidates_line_up_to_face_kerry/

I thought this part was unfair, considering how often we have read of Kerry making visits to various parts of Mass.:

"There is an extra challenge to going against an incumbent, but not when they haven't delivered," Ogonowski said yesterday in a phone interview. "You don't see him in Massachusetts. He's more interested in being a national figure than a representative of the people of Massachusetts."

Kerry, in his fourth six-year term, has not faced a serious challenge since Governor William F. Weld, a Republican, in 1996, and even fellow Democrats joke about Kerry's absence from Massachusetts. At the Saint Patrick's Day Breakfast last month, Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral compared him to Halley's Comet, appearing quickly every six years.

But lately his public appearances have seen a noticeable uptick. Over the past week, the junior senator was in Roxbury and Lawrence to talk about home foreclosures, and stopped by the opening ceremony for a Coast Guard command center. Tomorrow he is scheduled to be at a State House hearing on federal immigration raids in New England.

Lately? He has been doing this for quite some time making a lot of appearances in 2007, and really, he has been making appearances in Mass. post 2004. I remember watching video of him in Worcester, not to mention his Faneiul Hall speeches. Why don't the yahoos at the BG do their homework? As if they're not receiving press releases every time he makes an appearance in Mass.

But I digress. Here was the part of the article that caught my eye:

O'Reilly says Kerry did not oppose the Iraq war strongly enough and that spending on the war has diverted money from other areas such as education. In a previous interview with the Globe, O'Reilly also contended that issues raised by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth reflected poorly on Kerry's character, although he said yesterday that after speaking with Kerry, he agreed to drop that issue.

Thoughts?

[JI7]

1. so it doesn't matter that what they said were all lies ?

the guy seems like an egotistical asshole.

[Mass]

2. I guess he got returns from his supporters about this, most likely.

As for Ogo, he still has to win the primary first. There are at least 2 other candidates, and, while he is most likely the favorite, the fact that he could not beat Tsongas may push some people to support somebody else (we all know they are not running for the Senate seat, but to be positioned well enough statewide to challenge Deval Patrick in 2010).

Who is Matt Viser? Did he just arrive in MA? Though it is true that the Globe has been reporting more on Kerry than they did in the past, it does not mean Kerry has been absent (though the Western Mass question is still a difficult question for every statewide elected person).

BTW, I though you were talking about Bill, not Ed, as he is receiving a MA Emmy Award (go figure). Ed is irrelevant, mostly. He will get some votes from students and teachers, but he seems very out of touch with people, as far as I can see. Though recently, he seems to have started to understand that a senator's place is in DC, as well, but he has not given us any idea how he would make his idea happen, and that you have to compromise. There was an article a few days ago where Kerry and O'Reilly were said to have the same position on ENDA, but, though they thought the law did not go far enough, they BOTH would vote for it because it would allow progress to be made (so, he is ready to compromise as well to get things done. So much for the image of inflexible warrior).

[beachmom]

3. I got the impression from the article that Sen. Kerry talked to him, and

that is what made his mind up (although, agreed, probably many of his supporters didn't approve of what he said before). I just was wondering what kind of conversation that was.

Too bad, we didn't hear Hillary say that upon talking to Obama personally, she decided not to call Obama an "elitist" anymore or say he wasn't ready to be CIC. Ha!

[Mass]

6. Made his mind up on what? Do you think he does not know the truth about the liars

If it is the case, he is even more a desperate case than I think. I do not know if they talked, but it would impress me even less because it would mean he was sincere and a total idiot, not just an opportunist. Most GOP candidates know that the liars lie. Even * knows that. If he has less brain than *, why is he running? Or may be it is the reason. :shrug:

For me, this interview was the death of this guy. I actually like a few of his proposals, particularly the energy one, even if I would never have considered supporting him. But, to respect somebody, you need to believe in his integrity, and this showed me he had none.

[karynnj]

4. I hope Kerry quickly knocks down the never in MA line

This is a right wing attack that seems to have deep roots. The answer is obvious to those of us who post here: Tabulate for 2005, 2006, 2007 and year to date the number of MA appearances, the number of days in DC because the Senate is in session, number of days on Senate business elsewhere (Davos, Bali, Pakistan etc) and in 2006 days spend working for a Democratic majority. It seems he spends a very high of his time working. (This would underestimate how much work as it would ignore the work he does out of the public eye)

I would be willing to bet that the sum would be greater than the number of days most people work - and he has to be in DC for the Senate and nobody goes to Pakistan and Afghanistan for a vacation. What is annoying is that here is a guy who is clearly working extremely hard - and is a leading expert on foreign policy, the environment, trade and health care and he is attacked as missing votes, not going to MA and doing nothing. The Globe seems to rarely give him credit deserved.

[beachmom]

5. What would be a good idea, would be to create an outline of every

appearance Kerry made in Mass. since the 2004 election. Then put it together at Blue Mass Group. This is ridiculous. Just because the Globe didn't pay attention, doesn't mean it didn't happen.