Senator John Kerry

[WilliamPitt]

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Toasted marshmallows were sounding good this morning...

Thanks for providing the possible flames. ;) :hi: With the exception of turncoats, any Democrat on naitonal television is a "yay" for me.

[babylonsister]

2. And lots of Dems got airtime today. Tide turning? I wonder why? nt

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. I can only hope..hope..HOPE.

After that sickening email from my Church of the Nazarene next door neighbor, advocating the hatred and extermination of Muslims, I hope we are seeing the worm turn.

[babylonsister]

12. I don't think you can reason with people like that; they have

too much hatred in their heart and sadly, I think a lot of that is inspired by their church, so it must be justified. :eyes: :(

[TheFarseer]

56. Now just get Juan Williams some help

Brit and Bill were making too make absurd statements about oil prices to be refuted by one man. Here's a hot investing tip for you guys: oil/gas is going to go down because the market can't bear these prices and to meet the demand, oil companies are going to magically get more oil - so sell short on oil and make a killing! You can thank Brit Hume for that gem.

[_dynamicdems]

3. BRAVO Senator Kerry!

I was there yesterday and the response of the crowd was amazing.

Big John hit one out of the ballpark.

[rockymountaindem]

4. Yay!

Good poll.

[bigtree]

6. President John Kerry

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. Yay!

[sandnsea]

8. Is your interview up yet?

Lazy of me I know, but I haven't seen it and it'd be faster for me if you'd be so kind as to post a link.

[WilliamPitt]

11. Later today

Roundabout 2pm EST.

[babylonsister]

13. So what did Will Pitt think about Kerry's speech and Kerry in

general?

[WilliamPitt]

14. I thought

it was maybe the best speech I've seen him give. From the article that is coming out later today:

The speech delivered on Saturday by Senator Kerry was as important for its timing as it was for its content. Kerry is by far and away not the first Democratic politician to demand a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq; indeed, he has with this speech joined a long and important line of officeholders who have worked for more than a year to apply pressure on the Bush administration regarding this issue. He is, however, the highest-profile Democrat to do so.

As for the timing, it can be argued that Kerry chose the perfect moment to speak as he did. Every poll on the planet has Bush’s popularity scraping historic lows, the chief millstone around his neck being his handling of Iraq. A number of the falsehoods that were used to trick the American people into war – the uranium from Niger claims, the biological weapons labs claims, the attacks upon whistleblowers – have been widely exposed in the last month. Previous attempts by Democratic officeholders to push the issue of withdrawal have withered on the vine, but given Kerry’s high visibility and the timing of his remarks, a breakthrough on this discussion may have finally been achieved.

All of this, of course, remains to be seen, and Kerry’s ability to motivate the base after the 2004 election remains suspect. Many within the Democratic grassroots are leery of anything having to do with this particular Senator. Resentment lingers over his ‘Yes’ vote on the Iraq War Resolution, and much of the base still simmers over his decision to concede the 2004 election even as reports of widespread irregularities and fraud flooded out of Ohio. If he does choose to run for president again in 2008, he will find a good portion of the Democratic activist base eyeing him with suspicion.

Senator Kerry said, in an interview conducted after his speech on Saturday, that he has learned from the mistakes of his 2004 campaign. The jury will be out on this for some time to come, but it is possible that we are witnessing the actions of a different man than the one who campaigned so cautiously and accepted defeat so rapidly. At a minimum, Kerry has bolstered the drive towards an accounting on Iraq, and has pushed the widening demand for a withdrawal of US forces, for the time being, to the forefront of discussion. This, in and of itself, is worthy of note.

[babylonsister]

16. Thanks kindly, Will. I look forward to reading your entire

article. And as always, you do have a way with words that people like myself love and appreciate.

[guinivere]

34. I love your writing.

Always a pleasure to read.

I would bet you could make putting a bookcase together sound interesting and vital.

[WiseButAngrySara]

42. He's on C-Span right now! Just started...I'm assuming it is the same

Saturday speech. He is on fire! The topic is The Vietnam War and the Iraq War. Your above comments are so well written, and well received. I so hope Kerry chooses to run again. He has my full support, and the country needs him now, ironically more so than we did in 2004, although many of the agonies that we have faced would have been thwarted had he won or not conceded so rapidly.

[KoKo]

49. It ranks with his Environmental speech in '03 which was a barn burner.

When Kerry is on...he can light the world on fire.

Sadly, he can only be on...when he's on.

It was ...as I said one of his Top Speeches though. It did layout a comprehensive plan on Iraq and tied up alot of loose ends for Dems.

It got "passing mention" from "Timmeh" and "Wolfie." It's the best we could have hoped for given the whore media.

Now...put him together with Gore...and tell me we Dems don't have "a plan." :shrug:

And, don't forget the Black Caucus and Waxman and the Progressive Dems (the handful) who are powerhouses unto themselves.

Dems should never forget their Left because we are the ones who kept the torch lit...while some of the "frontrunners" watched to see when the Olympics could get started...:-(

[sandnsea]

18. Thanks

Looking forward to it.

[_dynamicdems]

9. Show support of Senator Kerry by adding a pin to the map....

http://www.frappr.com/kerrycratsjohnkerrysupportgroup

and by supporting the Patriot Project:
"The Patriot Project is a non-profit organization of men and women, and the families of men and women, who served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. The Patriot Project is dedicated to defending and supporting the right of these Americans to question the policies and actions of their government, particularly with regard to armed conflict."

http://www.patriotproject.com.

[MH1]

10. Yay! Yay! Yay!!!!!!

:)

Looking forward to your full post later. I'll be writing mine on the train ride home today.

[LWolf]

15. Groan. Whatever. n/t

[lonestarnot]

17. Yay! But I wish he would have fought against the stolen election.

[jillan]

37. I was listening to Bob Fritakis on AAR last nite

and Rosenfeld(? I think that was his name)...the guys that wrote the book about what went wrong in Ohio.

From what they were saying, they still can't pinpoint the probs with the machine.

They were studying the actual ballots, and are saying that what they are finding is that
many people that voted for bshit, also voted for gay marriage.... and that does not add up.

So maybe Kerry was right to let it go when he did. I personally wish he waited another day or two.
Not that it would have made any difference. I just wasn't ready to hear him concede.

[MH1]

59. This guy was there, and said he did.

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/4/23/115230/700/26#c26

I worked as a Green volunteer . . . (12+ / 0-)
...
on the recount here in Ohio and you're right, Kerry's team was here all the way. In one of the counties I witnessed in, his witnesses worked late into the night with our coordinator and uncovered false numbers that led to the revelation that every ballot in the county had been recounted w/o witnesses between the certified vote and the official recount itself.

I think Kerry felt he couldn't get bogged down in protesting the vote here, that the larger strategy of waking the American people to the true intentions of the Bush administration and its perfidy demanded that he kept moving. But that doesn't mean his campaign hasn't been involved in the recount or the lawsuits that have grown out of from it.

The wide range of candidates in the Dem presidential primary broke through the Wurlitzer din, Kerry made himself a lightning rod for Swiftboaters and Republican Gay-bashing hypocricy to expose more of how the BushCo right really operates and what it's about. After the election the battle on SS exposed even more, while all the while in the background the lies and the war continued to play out.

I think if we step back far enough we see a strategy that respects citizens and is working. Democrats drawing media attention to various issues that are ultimately connected -- corruption, congressional toadies, investigative whitewashes, legislative pandering, etc. -- planting the seeds of questioning that challenge the propaganda narrative in place.

I truly admire Kerry and the many Democrats like Murtha, Feingold, Kennedy, Reid, Boxer, etc., who working from different angles to awaken the broader electorate to the real crisis we face . . .

Don't ask me nothin' 'bout nothin'; I just might tell you the truth -- Bob Dylan

by ponderer on Sun Apr 23, 2006 at 01:14:12 PM EST

[ronnykmarshall]

19. Momma T!!!

:loveya:



:loveya:



:loveya:



Her speech at the 2004 covention was one of the best!

[bdamomma]

73. Teresa is a very smart woman

she would have been a great first lady, very outspoken, not what we have right now. Stepford wife laura pickles.

[LSK]

20. Yay!

[DemReadingDU]

21. Yay!

Kerry for President 2008!

[patrice]

22. Please correct me if I am wrong.

The reason the vote on 114 is a problem is that they had all of the information that many of us here had. The pResident worked them with something that amounted to "There is more to Iraq and WMD than I can tell you because to give you this classified information would risk national security", so they voted to let him decide. The "special knowledge" the Senate had amounted to "There's more 'special knowledge'" - That's it. So basically they were in the same condition as we were in regard to what was going on and Many of us knew what Bush was really up to, *****why***** didn't they? Unless it was okay with them somehow. If I can't accept Bush basically because he takes us for granted, treats like servants or slaves, how can I ignore that tendency in other "leaders"?

I'm a Deanocrat, but I like Kerry a lot. I WANT to see him (and others) take shape and pull ALL of us together.

It's just that it is

SO LATE

and things are in an extremely serious condition; this makes it hard to trust, because so much more is on the line now than even just 2 years ago.

[oasis]

23. Kerry can get America back into a Democratic state of mind. (n/t)

[Justpat]

24. Only if he made the decision to come like a warrior for

our country and for democracy.

Last time he caved when the going got ugly and he needs to realize that no matter how right your ideas are - no one
will follow a wimp into the future. He needs to come out swinging and not stop until he is sworn in as president.

[DearAbby]

25. AMEN!

Yay, for JK!

So much is on the line, we NEED a leader. FIGHT JK, and we will take your back.

[ginnyinWI]

41. He's fought his way back before

He can do it again.

[IronLionZion]

27. Leadership makes all the difference

Kerry already has the right ideas. In fact, there are a lot of good Dems with the right ideas. But leadership? *sigh*

[IsIt1984Yet]

29. THAT is/was my issue with Kerry

I was angry that he didn't get as angry I did about the attacks during the campaign and about Ohio. I was angry that he has not CONSISTENTLY stood up against the thieves in the WH. He was duped into voting for the war and for the USA PATRIOT Act. I'd like to see a candidate who will FIGHT when we need it MOST. JK didn't in '04. That's super that he's fighting now, but... day late, dollar short.

[Catrina]

35. It's safe now ~ I'm more interested in a candidate who was right

from the beginning, who wasn't 'duped' into what millions of people around the globe knew would be a huge mistake, to ever, ever trust these criminals in the WH. We were right, Kerry was wrong.

He says he's learned from his 'mistakes'. Those mistakes, and he certainly wasn't the only one, have had tragic results for thousands, maybe millions of people. They can't be undone ~

As far as mistakes in his campaign, I'd like to know what he thinks they were. I think it was cheating, disenfranchisement of way too many voters, machines that are easily hacked ~ I haven't heard him address those issues. Not to mention, slamming every rightwing operative the minute they rear their ugly heads.

I'm distrustful in real life, as well as in public life, of people who have to 'remake themselves'. Why should anyone have to do that?

We need to clear out this government entirely of all those who got us into this horrible mess we are in, imo. Or who helped, by not speaking out when it was necessary, imo.

I am very, very distrustful of those who took a sebatical after the election and left the rest of us to deal with the disaster. Then came back inch by inch, putting a toe in the water, hoping we'd forget. It's hard to forget as the horrors, the lies and all that we knew, but were silenced about, comes to pass.

I hope we can get someone who doesn't have to correct mistakes, or remake themselves to run.

[Justpat]

43. I agree with a lot of what you say - but I would forgive

him for his mistakes if he learned to be fearless as a result of his soul searching.

I felt that he acted on the belief that if he stayed above the fray and held to
certain principles of fairness and decency, that he would win in the end.
Maybe now he knows exactly what he is up against and that these are not times in which
to engage in polite politicking no matter how much it goes against your style.



He would not be the first candidate to return from the political wilderness to be a smarter,
more effective candidate.

I also feel this way about Al Gore. He caved when we needed him most and he has lived with
the consequences of this every day. But he is one of the few voices on our side tearing
the right wing a new one every chance he gets.

Whether it is too late for either man to resurrect their political careers - I don't know.
BUt I am willing to give a second chance to someone of intelligence who now knows that
intelligence must be coupled with fighting spirit that will not quit or wilt when the going gets ugly.

[beachmom]

78. He never took a sabbatical!! But I suppose since neither the media

nor much of the left wing blogosphere chose to cover JK's good works, I suppose that MUST mean he's been nonstop windsurfing in the Caribbean for 18 months on this "sabbatical" you speak of!

John Kerry was literally back in the Senate and on the Senate floor at a lame duck session 2 weeks after the election. Between his emotionally felt concession speech and his tough grit of withstanding the ridicule of showing up at a Senate session that he didn't have to go to, the man has literally stolen my heart. And he has been fighting every day to stop the madness from the WH -- little things that maybe don't warm your cockles like Small Business legislation, Congressional oversight on these "CIA prisons", and more and better benefits for veterans. These are bills that have been PASSED.

But timing is everything. This speech could not have been made any other time but now. If he had given this speech in January '05, right after the Iraqi elections, he would have been booed, ridiculed, destroyed, and dismissed. But this 35 year anniversary has turned out to be the right time for him to call it as he sees it.

What a lot of people here seem to want from Kerry is to act like a raving lunatic; that's not who he is (just read his anti-war protest history), and that's certainly what I don't want from such a respected U.S. senator.

[IronLionZion]

26. I'd prefer President John Kerry

but that didn't work out so well. *disappointed sigh*

[calmblueocean]

28. Kerry's a good man

I'm glad he's still thinking about running for president again.

[H2O Man]

30. Other.

I have long admired much about Senator Kerry. I invested both time and money in his 2004 presidential campaign, and would be pleased to see him enter the primaries for 2008's election. However, I would be equally pleased to see a number of others enter the primaries, including John Edwards, Wes Clark, and Al Sharpton. It is far too early for me to say who I would vote for when the primary is held in my state.

[WilliamPitt]

31. I think that counts as a "Meh."

:)

[H2O Man]

32. I'm not sure ....

in rural upstate New York, few people say "Meh," unless they are discussing our junior baseball team.

Watching John Kerry today was wonderful. One a scale of 1 to 10, he gets a 10. And I think that he has been solid in the past few months. However, there are a number of examples of people who make wonderful senators, but who aren't necessarily able to translate that into being the best presidential candidate.

Having Kerry in the primaries would benefit the entire party. It could help bring out the best in candidates, including Senator Kerry. At the same time, I think he could potentially be this generation's Adlai Stevenson.

[KoKo]

50. For all Al Sharpton's flaws...he needs to be hired by Dems in some

capacity. He can put a populist message together in seconds and lay waste to useless Repug Robot Speak with one succinct phrase that cuts through to the heart of an issue.

He has a gift and it's sad that we Dems run from him because he likes fancy hotel rooms and made his name by pushing Twana Brawley....

He is one in a million. We need him to cut through the crap rhetoric of the Right..... :shrug:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

33. Yay All The Way. Now THAT Is An Honorable Man There.

Stand up guy, man of his convictions, intellectual to boot and incredibly well spoken. I admire him greatly and enjoy the hell out of listening to him speak.

[jillan]

36. At this point in time, I can't think of one other person that holds a

candle to Kerry.

I like Russ alot, but maybe as VP. I would love to see these 2 team up.
I like Biden alot, but he is too concerned about pleasing the right.
Hillary? Too much baggage, altho I want to see a woman, a democratic woman, run this country one day.

Kerry's experience in the Senate, in Foreign Relations, the environment, his willingness to stand up for what he believes in, leaves him far far ahead of anyone else in the Democratic Party.

Plus, he brings the unique experience of having run in a Presidential campaign. He knows what he did wrong, and he knows what he did right.

My ONLY concern about Kerry is the people in the Democratic Party that won't open their eyes & ears to what Kerry has been saying over the last year, and what he continues to say, because they are still living in November 2004.


Kerry deserves to be President.

[tatertop]

38. Gore. We need Gore.

[WiseButAngrySara]

39. 100 Trillion Yays!!!!!!! K & R for President Kerry. I'm listening to

him as I type...on C-Span.

:kick: for Kerry!

[DaveColorado]

40. "I've got a plan."

*Groans*

[jillan]

44. I have a feeling if he runs again, he will tell us. n/t

[realFedUp]

45. too vague a poll question.

Senator John Kerry

Running again?
As Senator?
As Democratic leader?
As a speaker?
As a good husband?
As a nice guy?
As a snappy dresser?

I think he's a snappy dresser :-)

[IndyOp]

46. Groan. I will try to trust again when he lays out an elaborate, fail safe

plan to protect our election. We won last time and he isn't in office. I want to hear him speak about all of the weaknesses in the system that I know of and more -- then I want to hear him address point-for-point how each will be addressed. I trusted him (and I trusted DU) November 2004; December 2004 -- he had our backs, but he didn't. I think he could make a great President. I want to hear his plan on election protection.

:(

[LittleClarkie]

47. Woo hoo! Hoody Hoo! Yip Yip Yip! Woof, Woof, Woof!

Ahem. I picked "Yay"

[WildEyedLiberal]

48. We have 66 freeper trolls on DU today?

Seriously. If he's not your guy for 2008 - Meh would do. Even Sigh.

But GROAN?

Troll alert.

[Zorra]

51. Really, what's that about? His voting record as a Senator is

excellent.

[Egnever]

74. And cowardly

Sorry but he votes for the right things when its safe to do so and ducks those votes when it might hurt him.

Heres one just for an example that he ducked during the election.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00047

and there were more.

[Zorra]

76. Presidential candidates often do not vote on legislation when they

are campaigning if their vote is not critical to the passage or non-passage of a bill, or if it is politically or personally expedient to refrain from voting when their vote is not critical.

And, of course, sometimes even the best legislators make errors in judgement.

Realistically, given Senator Kerry's consistent long term pro-choice stance on the choice issue, don't you think that in all probability he would have voted on the legislation you posted, if he knew his vote was critical?

I think that John Kerry is an excellent Senator. He has not always voted to my satisfaction, but the overwhelming majority of his votes were consistent with my wishes. He would not, however, be my first choice as a Presidential candidate, although I would again work diligently to get him elected to the Presidency if he is nominated, and I do believe that he would be a good President.

In my personal ideal world, every Democratic legislator would vote exactly how I want them to on every issue.

But this is the real world, and it appears to me that in the real world compromise is sometimes necessary, particularly in a democracy that is already severely compromised by private interests, and is currently in imminent danger of being irrevocably destroyed by the forces of fascism.

[Jacobin]

77. I'm groaning

Been NOT a freeper here for years.

Been there, done that.

I think he's a great senator and was a not so good prez candidate, although I voted for him and sent him money and drove people to the polls for him.

I would be very happy to see another candidate nominated....one who wants to win badly enough that he will fight for it.

[AspenRose]

52. Meh...

I like him; I just wish he would have fought harder to count all the votes in OH.

(And Teresa is one classy lady. I really like her.)

I'll support him if he's the choice for the Dems, though. I'll support whoever wins the primary, though I like John Edwards.

We are so fortunate to have so many good choices.

[frankenforpres]

53. meh, also

another rich guy. if i could just pick the pres, and not worry about "electability" he wouldnt be in my top 30

[Peter Frank]

54. Groan...

Kerry dropped the ball twice. First failed to define himself before the Rove smear campaign kicked in (non-fatal).

But the worst thing he did was to concede the election while he knew there were voting irregularities under investigation.

IMO He's toast in '08.

[GetTheRightVote]

55. He has kept the DEMS in the news over all this time of madness

I give him marks for keeping the fight moving forward.

:kick:

[subutane]

57. the last thing we need

is another half-hearted attempt from the indecisive Senator.

[Peter Frank]

58. I hear you...

No to Hillary in '08 -- for that very reason (unless she does something extraordinary in the next two years).

[blm]

67. Kerry has never been indecisive - GOP spin made Kerry's ability to LISTEN

and inform himself of all sides as proof of indecision to glorify Bush's REFUSAL to hear all sides and hear all opinions whenever a decision was to be made.

[subutane]

71. talk talk talk

That's all the guy does. People are presenting talks he has given and statements he has made as proof that he is "fighting". Words are not actions.

The sooner Democrats realize this the better off we will be.

[Darkhawk32]

60. He's a good democrat. I'm sick and tired of democrats throwing away....

good Democratic leaders like a piece of trash.


I didn't agree with everything he did on his campaign, but he's a GOOD MAN.

That's enough for me.

[frankenforpres]

62. throwing away?

how can you throw away someone you didnt want in the first place?


he isnt even the best senator from his own state, and it isnt close.

[TayTay]

63. Gee, I wonder why Teddy wants him to be Prez so bad then.

Are you questioning Teddy's judgement or calling him some kind of whore or something?

[frankenforpres]

66. "so bad"?

i dont see it that way.



i still cant understand how kerry won in iowa never mind the nomination.

[TayTay]

69. Because the good people of Iowa had a chance to hear him

Abd liked what they saw and heard. It's not that difficult to figure out. It's called democracy. Candidates come in, endure a very long process of being evaluated. Frontrunners appear, disappear, re-appear and the voters listen to them and make up their own minds.

This is what happened in Iowa. The voters had a year or more to evaluate the candidates and made their choice. Kerry won Iowa because he was a good candidate, had some luck at the end, had held money in reserve for late ad buys and appealed to the people who showed up to vote.

What is so hard to understand about that? Should we now talk about why some other candidates did not win Iowa?

[subutane]

75. he threw us away

by refusing to fight for the real election results

[Darkhawk32]

79. Thanks for proving my point. n/t

[RedStateShame]

61. Allow me to explain my groan

I love John Kerry now. I wasn't that hot on him when he ran for president. The main reason being he didn't seem to find his inner fire, for better lack of a term other than "balls," until after the election? Where was this fire while he was being Swift Boated by a bunch of do-nothing lackeys? Where was this fire when he was being called a flip-flopper by Mr. "We Don't Want to Be Nation Builders?" The same goes for Gore, I'm glad they're on our side, and they do a great job of rallying the left, but I just wish the Al Gore and John Kerry that we see now had shown up a little earlier.

[Ksec]

64. I like Kerry

I also like the General and Gore. Any one of those guys would do me proud.

[MoeHayNow]

65. President

John Kerry has a nice ring to it.

Even now. Especially now!

[redwitch]

68. I voted Yay

because gravitas turns me on! :P

[bigwillq]

70. YAY! I like him.

I feel like he's been doing an above average job as the junior Senator from Mass. since after the election of 2004.

[bdamomma]

72. Senator Kerry

is such a great speaker, I really miss that, someone who has intelligence, and who has class.

[NJ Democrats]

80. Yay...

as a Senator.