My response to an anti Kerry person, who thinks Kerry's campaign

[saracat]

doesn't provide qualification for another run! I couldn't stand it anymore!

"It is. He got more votes than any Democratic presidential
candidate in history, and probably was really elected. I am tired of all this anti-Kerry carping. No one who is complaining could have done better , and no other candidate could have done any better. Jesus himself would not have won.
The Ohio allegations are still being investigated and there was now way to alter the timeline. The truth will eventually come out. It was just not possible to obtain the evidence in time . It is still being judicially stonewalled.
It is very destructive to blame our own candidate. We should unite against Bush, not one of our own, and most particularly not against one who has one of the best voting records in the Senate(except for IWAR). We need to be supportive of anyone we select as OUR standard bearer, regardless of the outcome of the election because that person represents US, and to disrespect them ,is to show disrespect for ourselves as Democrats.
Some may not have supported Kerry in the primary, but "we" did choose him and he is one of "ours". We should be blaming Bush and the dishonest Repukes who stole this election. More time spent on election reform and less carping about Kerry would be beneficial."

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. Bravo

You'll probably get ignored, because it's amazing the lengths to which these people will go to preserve their radical cognitive dissonance, but bravo anyway.

[saracat]

2. I know. I just can't stand it anymore.

It is counterproductive. I did find out that the person supported another primary candidate as I suspected. Some want to rub our noses,and say "I told you so" about a failure that did NOT take place. Some others are convinced they have established credibility due to a recent election. Instead of uniting the party, some are uniting in Kerry bashing. This is why we lose some of our best candidates. It is truly amazing that someone like Kerry would continue working for this country, and this party ,with all the denigration that these ungrateful people pile on his head.I don't think I could take it. I would have exploded or been carted off to a rubber room by now!

[politicasista]

4. 100% Correct

How does he do it with all this talk of Hillary running, I don't know.

[JI7]

5. it's what he has always done

and will continue to do whether he runs for President or not.

[politicasista]

6. Thanks.

Unfortunately, that will never satisfy some people here.

[ginnyinWI]

11. his momma taught him right! :-) n/t

[karynnj]

12. He does keep working for this country

The strength of his love for this country and his determination to serve the country is amazing. I don't understand how he was able to like, much less love this country after what they did to him in 1971 - 1972. It seems he has fought so hard to bring America back from some of the bad things it has done.

These times are scary as it appears that there are no checks and balances working any more. I am glad that Kerry is still fighting because it may take every force that can be found to keep America America. What most angers me are the DU people who credit Kerry only with his 1971 testimony, then grudgingly concede Iran/Contra, then the BCCI work, but then complain that he hasn't done anything recently. Their work - well they posted that there was a problem with the voting machines last year. So they did their job, Kerry did nothing.

Some are worse in saying that because the entire BFEE (a term I really wish they would lose as it makes us look stupid) is not in jail, Kerry messed up these investigations. I've concluded they didn't want a President, they wanted a Superman, who can single handedly fix everything. One poster was even willing to settle with the perception of a Superman as he compared Kerry negatively with Arnold.

[JI7]

3. don't take them too seriously

they are just trying to get support for whoever they support in 2008 instead of Kerry or anyone else.

[saracat]

7. Well tearing down someone else and demoralizing an entire party

while your doing it is a p**s poor way of gathering support if you ask me. And I do take it seriously because they end up hurting us all, and I don't like it. Boy! I guess I am venting today, but with so many , not just Kerry ,working to unite and kick a little butt, this whining pisses me off!
I would never say don't criticize. We must learn from mistakes, but jeez louise, nothing pleases these people.They work against themselves, and us ,and don't even realize it. They are busy for the most part , chasing an illusion ,that never existed in the first place. I think that is why it isn't possible to have a meaningful dialog with them. Sigh.

[JI7]

8. i agree, although i don't see them changing

as it's been this way for YEARS . the worst was when he was running against Bush but they would just repeat big media/right wing attacks on Kerry.

[saracat]

9. What is bizarre is that I empathize with many of the positions they take

on most things. I guess I don't agree with how to get there! But I do believe we should be leaning to the left and I think the attempt to do so is being made. I also believe we need to encourage those Senators and Reps who do the right thing and let them know they have a constituency. That is often the heart of the matter for these officials. We have to let them know that they are "electable" and we have their back. Screaming at them all the time accomplishes only so much. A well placed "atta boy" in sufficient numbers could cause miracles!
Unfortunately, this whining is making me dislike these people. I wouldn't dislike them if they were angry, that I can deal with and respect. It is this whining that infuriates me!

[ginnyinWI]

14. or not even that--

--they just want to be smarty-pantses. I'm tempted to give them sarcastic answers, but then I think, why bother--rise above it. I give facts, if I can--the only thing that might, just might convince them that they don't know all.

[ginnyinWI]

10. good for you!

I hope you save it on your computer and use it over and over. I know, it probably won't stop the professional whiners who think they know better than all the politicians, but their rants shouldn't be allowed to stand unchallenged.

[cestpaspossible]

13. Great response saracat!

the really Kerry-bashers seem to be still holding grudges from the primaries, imho.

[TayTay]

15. I think we should ask them who has done a better job this year

in this 109th (weasel) Congress. Let's see Kerry voted against:

Condiliar Rice's confirmation in committee and on the floor. Kerry questioned Condiliar for well over 1 & 1/2 hours in committee. (Longer than anyone else.) Kerry got Rice to answer no, on the record and under oath, to the idea that the US has plans to invade Iraq. (Along with numerous other things I can delineate if desired. Maybe we need a running total of what has gone on.)

Voted Against Torture Boy Gonzales on the floor.

Voted against the Tort Deform Bill. (Screwing the little guy doesn't appear to be on his agenda.) Voted with the minority on 4 amendments.

Will vote against the Bankruptcy Bill (In fact voted straight lib on 17 or 18 amendments to this bill. The only one he vote with the majority was an amendment that might need to go back to committee for review.)

Submitted KidsComeFirst Bill to get health care for 9 million kids not currently covered.

Cosponsored the Election Reform bill that Sen. Clinton and Rep Tubbs-Jones have submitted.

And I've left out stuff (on account of my raging cold.) This is a good record. And it's only the second week in March.

Who has a better one right now?

[saracat]

16. Absolutely Tay! Tay!

Some however think he is a good Senator but Gag, isn't leadership material! Thay say he should stay in the Senate. Grrrr. They think someone else, who isn't running, would be better! They are certifiable! All you have to do is look at his record to see leadership. Oh, I forgot, he "lost" so that cancels him out! But strangely , another candidate who "lost" but bigtime in the primaries, wasn't even close, is unaffected, and could still be a "leader" Honestly! Go, figure.

[karynnj]

22. Actually there are at least 4 primary losers who have people

arguing that they are better.

-Dean (who they forget isn't suppose to run because he is DNC head
-Clark (who they say has a more liberal record than Kerry - cause he doesn't have a record anyone could check. Other than he lavished praise on Bush in 2001 (pre-911))
-Edwards
-Kuchinich (who could have won according to a few posters)

[TayTay]

43. Clark voted Repub in 1980, ...

84, 88, 92, 96 and 2000. That should tell us something. He just registered as a Dem last year. He has openly praised Repub Presidents in the past as well as Repub policies.

While I am not opposed to having him in the choir, I draw the line at making him Director of it. Not until I see more actions that indicate that he is firmly in the Dem column. His experience to date is light and his Dem support somewhat thin.

[ginnyinWI]

33. Also:

The Military Family Bill of Rights. :)

And let's not leave out $1,000,000 to the DNC for Dean's grassroots effort. :) :)

[TayTay]

37. Thanks! And I know I left out more

I will try and compile the canonical list of things done this year. I am almost feeling wonky enough to do this today, maybe tomorrow. Then I will give it to Jordan for his website so we can all reference it when needed in other DU forums.

[ginnyinWI]

41. how about if I send you my list and have you cross-check it?

Then you could send it on to Jordan (share credit with me, ok?) You may only want the legislative part, but I'll copy it all. I've recently sorted it out by catagory, and trimmed off everything before 2005:

2005

Legislative Duties and Action

1-18-2005: Confirmation hearings for Condi Rice, Kerry cross-examines her, as the fourth-ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. One of two senators to vote not to confirm her in committee, one of thirteen to vote against in the full Senate.
1-27-2005: Kerry introduces a bill to provide health insurance to all of the nation’s children called the Kids Come First Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Kennedy.
2-3-2005: Committee Assignments for the 109th Congress: Small Business and Entrepreneurship,(Ranking Member). Commerce, Science and Transportation: sub-committees on Oceans, Fisheries, and the Environment, (Ranking Member), Communications, and Transportation. Finance: sub-committees on Health Care, International Trade, and Social Security and Family Policy. Foreign Relations: sub-committees on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, (Ranking Member), European Affairs, and Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps & Narcotics Affairs.
2-3-2005: Kerry votes “no” on confirming Gonzales for Atty. General, one of 36 Democrats who voted against.
2-10-2005: Votes “no” against limiting class action lawsuits against corporations.
2-14-2005: Kerry introduces a bill designed to help small businesses and farms being hurt by increases in heating fuel costs.
2-16-2005: Senate unannimously passes a resolution honoring W.E.B.DuBois, which was co-authored by Senators Kerry, Kennedy and Levin.
2-17-2005: Kerry participates in a press conference with Senators Clinton and Boxer and Congresswoman Tubbs Jones to announce a new bill regarding election reform. He announces that 35,000 people responded to his request that they call Hastert and Frist’s offices to ask for election reform on January 5th.
2-17-2005: Kerry votes “no” on the bill to restrict class action lawsuits.
3-2-2005: Kerry voted on four amendments to Bankruptcy bill #256, all of which attempted to mitigate the damaging effects of the bill on average Americans. Kerry’s votes were all pro-citizen, anti-corporation.
3-3-2005: Kerry helps a MA resident and high school teacher keep from being deported, at least for 18 months. The teacher would have been sent back to the Ivory Coast.


Speeches and Speaking Engagements

1-17-2005: Speaks at Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast and makes some strong statements against voting irregularities
2-9-2005: Speaks at the Brookings Institution Conference on Climate Change Policy and takes questions afterward. Speech is titled, “Climate Change Policy: What’s Next?”
2-10-2005: Speaks at the opening of the DNC winter session, along with Bill Clinton, in a tribute to outgoing DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe.
2-14-2005: Senator Kerry delivers a major policy speech on the subject of “Strengthening America’s Military” at the annual Worcester Telegram & Gazette Visions Ceremony, Worcester, MA.
2-28-2005: In his acceptance speech, after being awarded the Distinguished American Award from the Kennedy Library Foundation, Kerry criticized corporate-controlled media, and some of Bush’s latest policies, including Bush’s plan to remove funding from Amtrak, calling instead for more improvements such as high-speed rail.
3-2-2005: John Kerry was one of the presenters in a ceremony awarding Jackie Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously. Sen. Kerry and Rep. Neal wrote the resolution. The award was presented to Robinson’s widow.
3-4-2005: Kerry participates in a forum on Social Security along with several other prominent Democrats in New York City, which was designed to counter Bush’s assertions that Social Security needs to undergo radical and immediate reforms.


Official Statements, Letters, and Op-eds:

1-5-2005: Kerry issues a statement from his office expressing his support for Conyers’ investigation into the Ohio election and voting rights.
1-6-2005: Although absent from the Congressional certification of the Electoral College, Kerry issues a statement to be added to the record, speaking about deep concerns over voting rights and strong support for investigations into the election
2-2-2005: On the State of the Union Address, outlining his alternative view of the state of the union.
2-7-2005: Kerry issues a statement on the President’s budget for fiscal year 2006, calling it irresponsible, saddling future generations mountains of debt.
2-9-2005: Kerry issues a statement on the announcement that Medicare is going to cost more than twice as much as the White House originally projected, saying that the WH is trying to deflect attention toward Social Security instead, and saying that it is not doing its job of protecting the economic security of Americans.
2-14-2005: Kerry issues a statement blasting Bush for cutting funding to the Small Business Administration in his new budget, slashing it more than any other federal agency.
2-15-2005: Kerry issues a statement regarding the budget supplemental for military expenses. He intends to fight to get as much of his Military Family Bill of Rights as possible passed as part of the debate.
2-16-2005: Kerry issues a statement regarding today, the day the Kyoto Treaty takes effect, though without the U.S. He warns that we need to get serious about global warming.
2-24-2005: Senators Kerry and Kennedy have signed on to a letter written by Senator Durbin, calling for an inquiry into how Jeff Gannon got access to the White House.
2-25-2005: On the Bratislava Initiatives agreed to by President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Calls for a comprehensive strategy to meet the threat of nuclear weapons getting into the hands of terrorists.
2-28-2005: Letter from John Kerry appears in the Boston Herald addressing the need for better treatment of our military forces and their families. He outlines several things that his Family Bill of Rights will do to improve it.
Feb. 2005 issue of “Outside” magazine includes and article by John Kerry criticizing the idea of drilling for oil in the ANWAR wilderness in Alaska.
3-7-2005: Kerry issues a statement criticizing the selection of John Bolton for U.S. ambassador to the U.N., calling the choice “inexplicable” and “baggage we cannot afford”.


Travel

Jan.4 through 17th, 2005: Takes a two-week trip to the Middle East and speaks with heads of countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Israel, and the West Bank. Then goes to Europe and speaks with leaders in England, France and Germany. Comes back with first-hand knowledge of the war in Iraq and the leaders’ views on it, which he uses while questioning Condi Rice.

Leading Grassroots Efforts

1-5-05: Email to supporters urging them to call Hastert and Frist to voice their demands for election reforms.
2-2005: In connection with the Kids Come First Act, Kerry initiates the Give Voices to Values program, which encourages people to call and have recorded their stories about the health care needs of their children, which others can listen to via his website.
2-9-2005: Kerry emails his followers announces that he will contribute $1,000,000 from his campaign funds to the DNC to help Howard Dean begin to build up the grassroots effort. He encourages them to join him in contributing to the DNC.

Legal Action and Politics

2-24-2005: Kerry-Edwards 2004 makes two filings in the Ohio recount case currently pending before Federal Judge Edmund Sargus in Columbus, Ohio.
3-7-2005: Kerry lauches his new Political Action Committee, “Keeping America’s Promise”
3-9-2005: Kerry meets at his Georgetown home with 100 of his top campaign fund-raisers to talk about future fund-raising.

[TayTay]

42. Bless you my dear

I doubt tht I will be able to add anything to this, but I willl review it and see. Then we will forward it to LUTD and Kerry2008 site.

(You can have all the credit, that's okay. As long as it gets done.)

[ginnyinWI]

44. there are a few typos--and too late to edit,

so change them if you can catch them. Also I have two dates for a vote on the same thing in Feb--not sure which one is correct, or maybe there were two votes? Thanks for your help. :)

[TayTay]

17. Screw it, look at this questioning:

Feb 17th, Finance Committee
Sec. Mike Leavitt (former Gov of Utah) on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Budget for 2006.

THOMAS: Senator Kerry?

KERRY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Secretary, welcome. We appreciate you being here today, and this is obviously an area of enormous interest.

I heard some of the comments back in my office of the ranking member and others with respect to the specific amounts per state, and I know you're going to pursue that.

But let me just say that I have a lot of difficulty with this budget and with the proposal for a lot of different reasons. You've been a governor. You've balanced budgets. You know what honest budgeting is all about.

And I regret that the overall budget that's in front of us, I think, is significantly a shell game. Many people have pointed that out in different ways. But in the 22 years I've been here, it's one of the most inaccurate, almost dishonest, budgets that I've seen.

It doesn't cover the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. It doesn't cover Social Security. It doesn't reflect the permanency of the tax cuts, which is almost $1.6 trillion. I mean, none of this is in the budget.

There's almost $5 trillion of proposals that you guys are fighting for that aren't in the budget. So there's a different set of books, totally different set of books. It's sort of Enron-style accounting.

You've got a set of books over here for what you really want to do, and then something you present to us. I don't know why you didn't just present something that said you balanced the budget, because it would have been, in effect, the same thing.

Now, you have a proposal that you're calling Cover the Kids. Cover the Kids: implication, we're going to cover the kids in America. There are 11 million children without health insurance in America, correct?

LEAVITT: The exact number, Senator, is not something that I'm able to give you.

KERRY: It's about 11 million, and about nine million under the age of nineteen, are you aware of that, who have no health insurance?

LEAVITT: Senator, I'm aware that there are, in fact, somewhere between 35 million and 45 million people in this country who do not have access to health care. And I... KERRY: Well, I'm talking about kids. Your program is called Cover the Kids. How many kids do you cover?

LEAVITT: Well, we're proposing an additional $10 billion, and in total...

KERRY: But you're proposing an additional $10 billion based on your first proposal that puts $1 billion into outreach, correct?

LEAVITT: Senator, the administration is putting forward a proposal over the next 10 years that would spend $125.7 billion...

KERRY: You're not answering my question, Mr. Secretary.

LEAVITT: ... to provide coverage to an additional 12 million to 14 million people in America.

KERRY: Mr. Secretary, that's not correct. And I'll tell you why it's not correct. $70 billion of that $142 billion is in tax credits.

And it has a $1,000 tax credit level, and it's not going to apply to most people who don't have health insurance. It's just not correct. That's part of the game that I'm talking about. It's $70 billion that probably won't be spent.

[TayTay]

18. Same public hearing, later questioning

I'd say Sen. Kerry is pissed off, but your opinion may vary:

KERRY: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

{snip}

Eleven million kids under 21 have no coverage in America, and the question I'm asking, and a lot of people are asking, is is what you're offering really going to change this.

Now, based on past experience, particularly when we're cutting $60 billion and the states are in the throes of trying to figure out how they're going to provide Medicaid services, what's the incentive to go out and enroll a whole bunch of more people when they haven't done it in the past, and we're not getting rid of the enrollment barriers themselves?

There's a term of art called churning. Are you familiar with it?

LEAVITT: I am.

KERRY: OK. So the churning that takes place is going to set us right -- you know, to whatever degree it is, we don't get ahead of the game here unless you change the enrollment barriers, unless people don't have to re-enroll every three months in some states, or unless they don't have to go to the office to do it, or so forth.

That's what I'm trying to get at, is how do we get rid of the barriers, boldly reach out and insure all these kids. Now, you've got a program called Cover the Kids. It's going to leave millions of kids out.

And here's the other problem and I'd like you to address it. I understand the president and your administration have a choice of tax credits as an approach. The problem is you've got $125 billion that's tax credit-oriented out of the money you're talking about spending.

You have a refundable credit of $1,000 to low-income people. But $1,000 is not enough to be able to purchase health care, and particularly pushed toward the higher deductible, which is what you're doing, pushing them towards higher deductible plans.

So the notion that you're really covering people with that $75 billion is, in my judgment and the judgment of many experts, a fiction, because they can't afford the premiums. And that's not enough money. And they're being pushed to a high deductible.

The other $51 billion goes to people who already are insured, and it is an incentive to actually push them into the higher deductible plan. But it won't do anything to provide that broader coverage.

So ask the naysayers: Who is on to the *ies and their lies across a broad spectrum of the government. I'd say that Kerry is doing a very good job and not mincing his words with these folks at all.

[LittleClarkie]

28. This is catnip to me, where do you find the transcript?

I couldn't seem to find committee transcripts on Thomas.gov. Is it there somewhere or on another site?

[TayTay]

38. Ahm, well, I accessed them from a different source.

I applied a, ah, creative standard to the Fair Use clause of the Copyright Law. (Well it is Fair Use, mostly.)

The idiotic keepers of PUBLIC transcripts have yet to publish these to the appropriate Senate Committee sites. (Did I mention that these are PUBLIC transcripts that I, as a taxpayer, have paid for? Yikes.) I have the full committee transcript and liberated a certain portion of it and set it free to roam on this thread. (They are PUBLIC hearings, ferchrissakes!)

The one that really pisses me off is the SBA transcript. That hearing (Feb 16ht, I think) was held in a room that was not equipped with audio transmission so it could not be listened to on the C-Span hearings channel. (www.capitolhearings.org) So, not only was the hearing itself not accessible live, but the idiots haven't published the transcripts on the SBA sites yet either. (This is as close as I got to a hearing transcript: http://sbc.senate.gov/democrat/20050217.cfm) What if they held a hearing but nobody could hear it and nobody could read what actually happened in that hearing? That's Democracy for ya in the 109th (weasel) Congress. (Steam comes out of TayTay's ears.)

Am I pissed that the public can't read transcripts of what their elected officials say in committee, MF bastards. If you should require an actual transcript of these two hearings, please PM. I will see what I can do.

[ginnyinWI]

35. Ah there he goes again!

He's brandishing that sword again, and cutting through the crap of the * administration stooges! Love it.

[karynnj]

19. Kerry is calling Bush & co on everything

I guess he's decided his role is to be a thorn in the side when they try all these lies. Kennedy was great on the Bankruptcy bill. I can't believe they couldn't find Republicans to fix anything. Maybe, the Democrats should make an ad using Kennedy Leviticus quote along with an explanation of what the bill does.

[LittleClarkie]

20. Someone said his campaign was dismal

I think that was the word. I was tempted to go and get the definition. Actually, McGovern's showing in 1972 was dismal. Kerry lost, obviously, but his showing was far from dismal.

[JohnKleeb]

21. dismal? haha I love the revisionist history here

BTW hes kicking ass and I couldnt be prouder of the man I defend.

[TayTay]

23. Yeah, but he has also tried to offer some ....

general proposals for making Dem Pres campaigns better. He seems to have taken a look at what went wrong and come up with some proposals so that Dems do better next time.

Watch the money after the first set of primaries is over. Kerry was flat-busted broke after Super Tuesday when he was the presumptive nominee and couldn't fund the ads to strike back after the *ies did the 'voted against it before I voted for it.' ad.

Run in every state. Kerry has stated that it was a mistake to do just the swing states, Dems need to run everywhere. (Hmmm, who else has said this recently? Do you think maybe they talked?)

Hit the Rethugs much, much harder. I wouldn't be surprised to hear him say that the Dem Convention didn't hit * hard enough. (It was his convention, his mistake.) He learned from it. Hit these bastards and don't let up.

What is wrong with learning from your mistakes. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I like that Kerry is pushing for certain things. Showed he is ready to fight again and hasn't rolled over to play dead for *.

[saracat]

25. And Kerry put his house up in order to keep in the race.

I think he may have been the only candidate EVER to do such a thing.(I don't know for certain, but I have never before heard of such a thing!) People forget that .And if they do remember they just dismissively say, "Theresa will buy it back or something." Legally she can't .It would then be an illegal campaign contribution.But none of them want to know the facts, or even begin to understand what an impressive gesture that was from a man they say "didn't fight' and threw the race" .Sure , men like that always gamble everything they own. Right. I wonder which of "their" candidates put "everything on the line" like Kerry did. Sheesh.

[JohnKleeb]

26. Ive seen them deride him for what he did with his house

Stupid jerks.

[GRLMGC]

27. Oh God

How?

[JohnKleeb]

29. You know how they are, I PMed you btw

I think it was stuff like wow hes desperate, blah, blah, I rememeber in the primaries, a lotta of the Kerry haters used it against him.

[politicasista]

30. He's not homeless is he?

[GRLMGC]

31. hahaha

I don't think he needs to worry about that with five houses and all :)

[JohnKleeb]

32. KERRY IS TOO WEALTHY, WE SHOULD SUPPORT DEAN

You mean the millionaire doctor, okie-dokie :D, seriously, I found it down right amusing when haters of Kerry's wealth tried to use that to promote Dean since Dean is wealthy too and grew up more wealthy than Kerry.

[GRLMGC]

34. ahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha

God!

[ginnyinWI]

36. Vanessa and Alex were alarmed when he did that

That house is what they consider to be home! The other homes were Teresa's.

[TayTay]

39. Kerry's friends told him not to do that

as it was possible he would be giving up his daughter's inheritance. Oddly enough, (hehehehehe) Howard Dean is responsible for that, and the subsequent win in Iowa. (Did I say hehehehehehe.) Dean was the one who asked his online fans if he should opt out of the Public Funding system for the Dem Primaries. The Deaniacs online voted yes and Howard Dean became the first Dem to 'bust the caps' or opt out of the public financing system. Kerry was then liberated to do the same. (And he wouldn't have met payroll and would have gone under in Dec 2003 without 'busting the caps' and getting private financing to continue his campaign. His private financing was that 6 1/2 million dollar loan against his half of that Beacon Hill Townhouse. The money was repaid in full sometime last spring.) (Cue the discussion for whether or not Kerry should have opted out of public financing in the GE. Sigh! Lots of cons, some pros on that one.)

So, Howard Dean is responsible, in a way, for John Kerry winning Iowa. (Well, for the money part of it anyway.) This is delicious beyond words. But I'm so over it now. (heheheheheheheh)

[ginnyinWI]

40. let me join you:

hahahahahahahahaheeheeheeheehohohohoho! :) How often history turns on just these little sorts of things.

[elshiva]

24. Thanks saracat!

Kerry does have a great chance in 2008. He has so much experience and he is liberal, but not "too liberal." I am very proud of 99% of his voting record (no one's perfect, but he is close).