Keep that stinkin Kerry away from my campaign!!!

[JohnnyFlame]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/...rks/index.html

Coming down the home stretch and Dem's don't want Kerry to come anywhere near their campaigns.

[Clarkey]

Kerry just self destructed himself with one sentence. Paraphrasing he said, "Some kids work hard in school, study and get decent grades and they get good jobs, others instead don't work that hard and have to end up in the military." Stupid comment, that will even **** off and offend many democrats.

[Agamemnon]

The quote I've been able to find is slightly different, "Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

And some further stuff;

Kerry, who is considering another run for the White House in 2008, angrily fired back: "I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy."

"This is the classic GOP playbook," Kerry said. "I'm sick and tired of a bunch of despicable Republicans who will not debate real policy, who won't take responsibility for their own mistakes, standing up and trying to make other people the butt of those mistakes," he said. "It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did."

And...

"Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "This is an absolute insult."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran and President George W. Bush's rival in 2004, fired back, saying the president and his administration are the ones who owe U.S. troops an apology because they "misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it."

[North East Goon]

That's the thing about the "W" years. I think the Democrats rolled out two losers against him, and this is what the U.S. gets for it. I am a fan of rotating between parties if the candidates are both even, just to keep both ideologies moving along. Balance is what I am trying to say.

[octothorp]

So was he actually meaning that if you're uneducated you get stuck in Iraq in the way that the Bush administration is now stuck in Iraq? Because it certainly sounds like he's talking about soldiers. Doesn't he have a speech-writer or at least an editor who checks this sort of thing? I hate the way politics (both in Canada and the US) swing on the optics of these little off-the-cuff phrases and issues that have nothing to do with the actual running of the country.

[JohnnyFlame]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

The quote I've been able to find is slightly different, "Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

And some further stuff;

Kerry, who is considering another run for the White House in 2008, angrily fired back: "I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy."

"This is the classic GOP playbook," Kerry said. "I'm sick and tired of a bunch of despicable Republicans who will not debate real policy, who won't take responsibility for their own mistakes, standing up and trying to make other people the butt of those mistakes," he said. "It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did."

And...

"Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "This is an absolute insult."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran and President George W. Bush's rival in 2004, fired back, saying the president and his administration are the ones who owe U.S. troops an apology because they "misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it."

I would think a far more important fireback was this :

A number of top Democrats said they were upset with the senator for giving the Republicans election-time ammunition -- even if the GOP was hyping the remark.
"He has already cost us one election. The guy just needs to keep his mouth shut until after the election," a top Democratic strategist said Tuesday.

He already blew his shot and I'm sure many a Democrat wishes he would just fade away.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlame

I would think a far more important fireback was this :

A number of top Democrats said they were upset with the senator for giving the Republicans election-time ammunition -- even if the GOP was hyping the remark.
"He has already cost us one election. The guy just needs to keep his mouth shut until after the election," a top Democratic strategist said Tuesday.

He already blew his shot and I'm sure many a Democrat wishes he would just fade away.

Yeah that's just it. It was a dumb thing to say and a really stupid time to say it. It's not like a comment like that is going to attract any new voters, but it will certainly drive some away.

[Table 5]

the worst thing the democrats could do right now is keep talking about this non-issue. in the long-run its such a petty thing to put the spotlight on, but the longer it is there, the longer real issues get ignored and the democrats will lose potential votes.

[Hack&Lube]

Except you know that to a large extent, Kerry is right.

There are the exceptions - himself being one as the so-called American Patrician class who did well in school and high circles, could have avoided draft, yet still volunteered, fought, and killed in Vietnam to serve his country.

But there are also a much greater percentage of people that don't make it in the school system, community colleges, etc. and end up going into the Army

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Except you know that to a large extent, Kerry is right.

There are the exceptions - himself being one as the so-called American Patrician class who did well in school and high circles, could have avoided draft, yet still volunteered, fought, and killed in Vietnam to serve his country.

But there are also a much greater percentage of people that don't make it in the school system, community colleges, etc. and end up going into the Army

He was hemming and hawing about it today and saying that wasn't the message. He meant that if young people don't do well and act smart the country ends up in a dumb war like Iraq.

Coming from a combat veteran he should get the benefit of the doubt. He admitted that it came out wrong.

[JohnnyFlame]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

He was hemming and hawing about it today and saying that wasn't the message. He meant that if young people don't do well and act smart the country ends up in a dumb war like Iraq.

Coming from a combat veteran he should get the benefit of the doubt. He admitted that it came out wrong.

Nah I still think the his fellow Democrats were right --Shut up and go away -- Retire already---get out of the spotlight so we can have it on somebody who actually matters.

Why don't these guys know when they are done like dinner?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

He was hemming and hawing about it today and saying that wasn't the message. He meant that if young people don't do well and act smart the country ends up in a dumb war like Iraq.

Coming from a combat veteran he should get the benefit of the doubt. He admitted that it came out wrong.

You would think so--but this is the political climate in which the GOP was able to paint triple-amputee Max Cleland as soft on terrorism and replace him with a chickenhawk with no military background. American politics is kind of a bizarro-world sometimes.

Kerry has apparently provided the media with the text of his actual joke, which he claims he "botched." But actually, I think the less is said about this over the next 6 days the better. If the Dems don't take back at least the House, we'll all be remembering this comment next week.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlame

Nah I still think the his fellow Democrats were right --Shut up and go away -- Retire already---get out of the spotlight so we can have it on somebody who actually matters.

Why don't these guys know when they are done like dinner?

Oh no doubt he should keep his yap shut, I'm just saying he was misunderstood and they all know it.

Why don't they know when they are done? Same reason athletes usually don't -- big egos and they like the spotlight probably. This guy Kerry more than most of the others even seems like he was born (or at least was raised) to be a politician. He doesn't have anything else to do.

[Calgaryborn]

Kerry won't have an impact on the Democrats fortunes this election. A vote for the Democrats won't be perceived as a vote for Kerry.

Kerry just has made himself the party scape-goat if the Democrats fall short which is good for the Republicans. The long term success of the Republicans is dependent on the Democrats never figure out why the average American has trouble voting for them.

[Hemi-Cuda]

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

Kerry won't have an impact on the Democrats fortunes this election. A vote for the Democrats won't be perceived as a vote for Kerry.

Kerry just has made himself the party scape-goat if the Democrats fall short which is good for the Republicans. The long term success of the Republicans is dependent on the Democrats never figure out why the average American has trouble voting for them.

On thee first part, I hope you're right--and I think you probably are. The fact that the republicans and their proxies (Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc.) are focussing so heavily on what is really a pretty minor gaffe just shows their desperation--it's the political equivalent of a hail-mary pass. If they can at least stem the tide, they might be able to keep control of the Senate.

But this business of "average Americans" not wanting to vote Democratic is just not true. The Democrats have held a solid lead nationwide on the generic congressional ballot for a very long time--since the last few election cycles, in fact. The reasons the Republicans typically do better has to do with the geographical advantage they get from gerrymandering and re-districting. In fact, more Americans vote for Democratic congressional representatives than Republican ones.

In fact, the question really is who is this "average American"? A rural voter from Tennessee or an urban voter from San Francisco? One of them gets more democratic bang for their buck, but that doesn't make them the norm. The republicans have pulled off a remarkable trick--being successful politically in spite of the fact that a little more than half the country disagrees with their agenda. If anything, the evidence shows that "the average American" has trouble voting for the GOP. But the truth is that the average American has trouble voting at all, which is another story.

[Agamemnon]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — Senator John Kerry tried this afternoon to put what he called a “poorly stated joke” behind him for good, offering an apology for anything he said on Monday that might have been interpreted as an insult to American troops in Iraq.

“As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loves ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement. “I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/wa...rtner=homepage

[Calgaryborn]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

On thee first part, I hope you're right--and I think you probably are. The fact that the republicans and their proxies (Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc.) are focussing so heavily on what is really a pretty minor gaffe just shows their desperation--it's the political equivalent of a hail-mary pass. If they can at least stem the tide, they might be able to keep control of the Senate.

But this business of "average Americans" not wanting to vote Democratic is just not true. The Democrats have held a solid lead nationwide on the generic congressional ballot for a very long time--since the last few election cycles, in fact. The reasons the Republicans typically do better has to do with the geographical advantage they get from gerrymandering and re-districting. In fact, more Americans vote for Democratic congressional representatives than Republican ones.

In fact, the question really is who is this "average American"? A rural voter from Tennessee or an urban voter from San Francisco? One of them gets more democratic bang for their buck, but that doesn't make them the norm. The republicans have pulled off a remarkable trick--being successful politically in spite of the fact that a little more than half the country disagrees with their agenda. If anything, the evidence shows that "the average American" has trouble voting for the GOP. But the truth is that the average American has trouble voting at all, which is another story.

The "average American" commit comes from the fact that even with the war and the fears surrounding Medicare and the vast majority of the media slanting towards the Democrats the Republicans have continued to win elections. Perhaps this mid-term will be different but that won't be known until Nov 11th.

The fact is Americans not liking Bush hasn't moved them away from the Republican party. It appears Americans must absolutely hate Bush to consider voting Democrat. Many chose not to vote at all rather than vote Democrat.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

The "average American" commit comes from the fact that even with the war and the fears surrounding Medicare and the vast majority of the media slanting towards the Democrats the Republicans have continued to win elections.

Whaaaa? Seriously, dude. Buy a television. If you think the media favours the democrats, then you haven't watched TV in the last 6 months.

The fact is Americans not liking Bush hasn't moved them away from the Republican party. It appears Americans must absolutely hate Bush to consider voting Democrat.

Actually, it has. This is what I was trying to explain. More Americans intend to vote for the Democrats than for the Republicans, by a LARGE margin. This isn't rocket science: you might try actually looking at some poll numbers rather than just making it up. Here: www.zogby.com. That's a good place to start.

In fact, if you look at the last few elections, the Republican majority in congress is a product of geography and gerrymandering. They have never had anything like a mandate in terms of public support, in any of the elections--the closest they came was 2002, and that was really pretty anomalous, given the proximity to 9.11, and the rallying effects, etc.

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

The fact is Americans not liking Bush hasn't moved them away from the Republican party. It appears Americans must absolutely hate Bush to consider voting Democrat. Many chose not to vote at all rather than vote Democrat.

Being American living in Canada, I can tell you that this statement is VERY true. Most people I know will not vote, rather than vote for the 'other' party. I have dual citizenship but only vote in Canadian elections .. the last presidential election I didn't bother even registering to vote b/c I can't stand either Bush or Kerry.