Watching John Kerry on Tweetie: This man truly looks Presidential

[Nimrod2005]

Articulate, smart, and makes an extremely good presentation, no matter what topic he is discussing.

Today, he is President Kerry!!!

[Taverner]

1. Unfortunately, he didn't fight

Yes he was the better candidate in 04
Yes he would have been Lincolnesque in his presidency
Yes the US does not deserve a statesman of the caliber of Kerry

But there were numerous instances where he ignored RNC talking points that hurt him

Swift Boat Liars for example

Now, the "Kerry pleaded with McCain to join the ticket" story - he should have stated that DURING the fucking election

[Mass]

6. As for every campaign, there are things that were not well managed.

This is true for every single campaign, winning or losing.

This said, it is always easy to play quaterback on every single instance. Kerry always said he did not offer the VP to McCain, again and again. This is people from our own party that pushed the meme, starting by Biden (do not forget that, a few months ago, Biden still wanted to be on the same ticket as MCCain).

As for the Swift Boat, Kerry is the first one to say that they did not react strongly enough because they still believed in the honesty of the media. This was an error, obviously. However, they reacted, even if they reacted belatedly, and those who served with him reacted even before that. The media gave 10 times more time to the liars than to Kerry's friends, and, once again, some well-intentioned Dems did not help, going on the media to say that Kerry brought that on himself.

[Firespirit]

9. The media HATED him. And STILL DO.

Once the Beltway Klub turns on you, forget it.

He was fighting an incumbent wartime president who was hovering at 50% approval in the polls on the day of the election.

He was up against widespread election fraud in several states.

And in the end, a fraction of the vote (if that -- I have strong doubts that Ohio was on the up and up) was what decided it.

These criticisms of his campaign were also leveled against Gore's campaign before 2004. I remember it clearly; if anyone tried to blame the Supreme Court, Ralph Nader, or Katherine Harris, the chorus would counter with "but but but it shouldn't have been that close in the first place!" Now Gore is a DU darling. This too will pass once people realize just how good of a job that Kerry did, given the environment he had to work with.

[Diane R]

15. The Clinton wing wouldn't back him, and Carville gave away his secrets to Matalin.

[emulatorloo]

17. Head over to DU research forum -- just because the media didn't report something Kerry did

or said does not mean it didn't happen.

[zulchzulu]

19. That's a myth

The Kerry campaign had people (including himself) out talking about the SBVFT less than a week after the first ads came out. And then there were plenty of surrogates out on the campaign trail that debunked the story. The New York Times had a definitive article about how the Swifites were lying and were connected to the Bush campaign by late August.

As for the Kerry/McCain link, that was mentioned as well.

It's too bad the MSM didn't bother to do their job.

[karynnj]

20. Not to mention he had the official records

he had 120 pages of naval records - spanning the entire interval with glowing fitness reports - all given to the media and on his web site from April on. That alone should have been enough.

He had every man on his boat for every medal earned 100% behind him. That alone should have been enough.

He had the Nixon administration on tape (that they thought would never be public) saying he was both a genuine war hero and clean. That alone should have been enough.

He also was given a plum assignment in Brooklyn as an aide to a rear admiral. From the naval records, this required a higher security clearance - clearly his "employers" of the last 3 years (many SBVT) had to attest to his good character. That's just standard. That alone should have been enough.

The Then secretary of the Navy (John Warner) said he personally had reviewed the Silver Star Award. That alone should have been enough.

The media had all of this in April. The SBVT were NEVER asked for any proof and they had none - not a cable sent saying Kerry was a problem, a photo, nothing. In addition, the Kerry people within a week or so of the August attack gave the media 30 some pages documenting inconsistencies and provable lies in the SBVT book. How many lies did they have to prove before it was ruled out. (The Rather story was rejected when documents couldn't be authenticated, though their content could)

Saying Kerry did not fight back simply swiftboats him again - compare this list of proof to Carville & Co response on Clinton's Flowers or draft problems - this is far more comprehensive and completely refutes the charges.

They also proved the links to Bush - in funding, lawyers, and in one case the B/C people were caught passing it out.

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. Yeah, blame the victim, it's the American way, after all! nt

[mod mom]

25. Thanks to the traitor James Carville:

Did Carville Tip Bush Off to Kerry Strategy (Woodward)


By M.J. Rosenberg | bio




On page 344, Woodward describes the doings at the White House in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the day after the '04 election.

Apparently, Kerry had decided not to concede. There were 250,000 outstanding ballots in Ohio.

So Kerry decides to fight. In fact, he considers going to Ohio to camp out with his voters until there is a recount. This is the last thing the White House needs, especially after Florida 2000.

-snip

"Carville told her he had some inside news. The Kerry campaign was going to challenge the provisional ballots in Ohio -- perhaps up to 250,000 of them. 'I don't agree with it, Carville said. I'm just telling you that's what they're talking about.'

-snip

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward

[mod mom]

26. Also, for the record the DLC blamed Gore's "loss" on his switch from DLC to populist:

So Gore "lost" because of decision to discard New Dems (ie DLC)?

"A key factor in that defeat was Gore's peculiar decision to discard the New Democrat formula that had worked so well in 1992 and 1996."

-snip
http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAr...

This was written by Will Marshall. Who is Will Marshall?

Will Marshall is one of the founders of the New Democrat movement, which aims to steer the US Democratic Party toward a more right-wing orientation. Since its founding in 1989, he has been president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council. He recently served on the board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a committee chaired by Joe Lieberman and John McCain designed to build bipartisan support for the invasion of Iraq. Marshall also signed, at the outset of the war, a letter issued by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) expressing support for the invasion. Marshall signed a similar letter sent to President Bush put out by the Social Democrats USA on Feb. 25, 2003, just before the invasion.

-snip
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Marshall

THAT'S RIGHT, THE GUY WHO SAID GORE LOST BECAUSE OF HIS DECISION TO ABANDON THE NEW DEMOCRAT MOVEMENT (IE THE DLC) WAS A SIGNER OF PNAC!

DO YOU THINK PERHAPS THIS IS WHY THE DEMS IGNORED ELECTION FRAUD AND ALLOWED THE APPOINTMENT OF bu$h?


DLC -definitely NOT looking out for Dem voters.

[Error]

2. I also thought so

this book must be an attempt to get back into the fray, Al Gore style.

I think Gore is biding his time, letting the early comers tire themselves out (which they seem to be doing). He must be saving his tricks for the actual season.

[fedupinBushcountry]

4. This book has been in the works

for over a year. It has nothing to do with getting back into fray, it has everything to do with putting this issue on the burner. Which by the way Kerry mentioned the enviroment in every speech and in every state in his run for the presidency, but the media didn't want any part of it. It was all about fear, 9/11,9/11, 9/11.

[politicasista]

5. And both Gore and Kerry deserve Kudos n/t

[blm]

14. The Kerry's actually started collecting these stories for the book back during primaries

in 2003. So, it definitely had nothing to do with Inconvenient Truth. And Gore and Kerry have LONG been the leaders in DC on the environment.


Here's Gore at the Dem convention:

And we’re here this week to present to the nation the man who should be and will be
our new president: John Kerry. John and I were elected to the United States Senate
on the same day 20 years ago and I have worked closely with him for all that time.
So I want to say a personal word about John Kerry the man. He is a friend who will
stand by you. His word is his bond. He has a deep patriotism that goes far beyond
words. He has devoted his life to making America a better place for all of us.

He showed uncommon heroism on the battlefield in Vietnam. I watched him show
that same courage on the Senate floor. For example, he had the best record of
protecting the environment against polluters of any of my colleagues bar none.
He never shied away from a fight, no matter how powerful the foe. He was never
afraid to take on difficult and thankless issues that few others wanted to touch.
like exposing the threat of narcoterrorism and tracing the sources of terrorist
financing. He was one of the very first in our party to take on the issue of drastic
deficit reduction. And he’s developed a tough and thoughtful plan to restore our
economic strength and fiscal discipline.

To put it simply, those of us who have worked with John know >>>>>>

[Mass]

8. Why? Kerry is pretty much in the fray.

[Bitwit1234]

3. From the stories...McCain ASKED to join Kerry.

He was ready to quit the republicans and join the dems.

[WI_DEM]

7. too bad he goes on "Tweety" becuz Tweets is always criticizing him

especially in '04.

[Mass]

10. Where should he go? The media is the same pretty much everywhere.

Tweety is an idiot, but such is basically every single host on TV, with the exception of half a dozen people.

By not going on these shows, Democrats would simply forgo talking to people.

[karynnj]

22. Who didn't? Should Kerry simply disappear?

When Kerry is on, he always seems to impress Tweety - and it shows. Tweety is only nasty when he is not there.

[tularetom]

11. Yes but did Tweety go gaga over him?

If he was a fat pudgy repub like that Thompson guy, Tweety would be swooning over how macho he was. However since he is a fit trim and healthy looking Democrat Tweety doesn't even feel a twinge in his trousers.

[fooj]

18. Did you hear him say "Not Gore. Thompson maybe, but not Gore."

He's such a jackass when anyone DARES to mention Al's name. :mad:

[tularetom]

21. Nah you're a better person than I am

I can't bring myself to watch the slobbering moran. All I know of Tweety nowadays I read on DU.

[Nimrod2005]

12. What if Kerry decides to jump in later on, around Labor day or so?

Just thinking...

[karynnj]

23. I doubt it

I assume he was very very careful in making his decision. I think I read that only one of his major donors had left him and the Boston people who were big in his 2004 campaign were still behind him - there was aDonna Brazille article after he pulled out commenting on how good that group of people were.

When he announced he wouldn't be running, many of these people presumably joined others. I think many of the money people went to Obama. Although these people were loyal to him to the end - which is a testimony to both Kerry and them - I seriously doubt that they would come back in.

You can't hypothesize that ALL 8 or so candidates will implode, Gore will refuse to get in and Kerry will agree to jump in if Massachusetts agrees he should - and they do. (I am as big a Kerry fan as most anyone - and I find that beyond unlikely.)

[ProSense]

13. Being repeated now. n/t

[NNN0LHI]

16. He would have made a great president. There is little doubt of that n/t