Congrats to John Kerry!

[ShainaT]

Well it looks like us Democrats finally got ourselves a contender here. John Kerry is certainly the man to beat these days. You have to give the guy credit. Plan A was not working so he went to plan B. Brilliant.

After this week the only other person still in the race should be Edwards. Edwards--you are handsome and a great speaker but you need to tell me what ideas you have that are different from Kerry's to get my vote. Once you start bashing Kerry it is all over. Don't do the Republican's fall job for them.

Dean- time to go back to Vermont. They will be studying you for years to come in Poly Sci classes. Your implosion is definitely one for the record books.

Sharpton- when a black man doesn't even get 20% of the black vote you know there is a problem. There are a ton of offices between you and the president...start with city councilman or something.

Kucinich- a short, single guy who is a vegan. Guess this voting block isn't as big as you thought. If nothing else, you should be able to get some dates out of this though.

Clark- glad to hear you decided to go bye-bye. Next time hire folks who know what they are doing and you might have a better shot. I know all about Kerry's Vietnam experience and nothing about yours. Big mistake since you've got nothing else in the well to bring forward.

JFK vs. GWB....let's go!

[mayor]

Kerry is no contender. The Republican campaign hasn't even begun. Wait till America gets a load of this...

Kerry called for strong U.N. role in 1970 [United Nations control of the U.S. military..

The Associated Press 2/11/2004, 12:06 p.m. ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry called for United Nations control of the U.S. military in an interview 34 years ago with Harvard University's student newspaper.

Kerry was a long-shot congressional candidate in Massachusetts when he was interviewed by The Crimson in February 1970, 10 months after he returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam.

He described himself as "an internationalist," and said he wanted "to almost eliminate CIA activity."

"I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations," Kerry said.

"The CIA is fighting its own war in Laos and nobody seems to care," he later said.

As a presidential candidate, Kerry has said he supports the autonomy of the U.S. military and has not called for a reduction in CIA operations.

"Through 20 years in the United States Senate, John Kerry has stood up for the strongest military on earth and a muscular internationalism that makes America safe while winning the cooperation of allies," said Kerry spokesman David Wade. "Unlike George Bush, John Kerry knows that while the United States never gives veto power over our security to any international institution, multilateralism is a strength and not a weakness."

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who has endorsed Kerry, said Kerry's statements were appropriate for their time.

"In the context of the Vietnam War, those comments are completely understandable," he said.

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for President Bush's re-election campaign, said Kerry's remarks were a sign of his weakness on defense.

"President Bush will never cede the best interests of the national security of the American people to anybody but the president of the United States, along with the Congress," he said.

That ain't gonna play in America. Not now. Hopefully not ever.

Kerry is toast. No wonder Dean is staying in the race...

Mayor

[bassmount]

I'm not going to get into John Kerry's " Vietnam veteran" status at this point. BUT please suffice it to say that my father and mother, both devout JFK democrat, said they would rather vote for Bush than Kerry, BECAUSE of what Kerry did in and after he returned from Vietnam. I have a feeling that the younger democrats see him as the new JFK, but if he in fact gets the nomination, there will be many "old soldiers" who come out in droves to see he is not elected Commander in Chief.

[ShainaT]

Becky- When I referred to John Kerry as JFK I did that because that is what Kerry's initials are. I was not referring to him as John Kennedy.

I still don't know how to interpret Kerry's military status as potential votes. The fact that Clinton (whom I have to admit did dodge the draft along with Dick Cheney) handily beat WWII veteran Dole shows me you can never predict with certainty how one class of people will vote.

Mayor- Kerry is by no means toast. (Not yet anyhow! Ask me again in October.)

[bassmount]

Originally Posted by ShainaT

Becky- When I referred to John Kerry as JFK I did that because that is what Kerry's initials are. I was not referring to him as John Kennedy.

I still don't know how to interpret Kerry's military status as potential votes. The fact that Clinton (whom I have to admit did dodge the draft along with Dick Cheney) handily beat WWII veteran Dole shows me you can never predict with certainty how one class of people will vote.

Mayor- Kerry is by no means toast. (Not yet anyhow! Ask me again in October.)

Ah OK, sorry about that. I thought you were bringing the fact that Kerry said he idolized JFK, we good friends with that family and wanted to be like Kennedy. Didn't even really think about Kerry's initials. LOL

Also on the "vet" thing, was not to long ago that Kerry was chastising the Republicans for using military service to get votes? I think it was and now I guess he is seeing it a different way.

All I really know is that a man who has never voted republican in his life, my father was visible upset and started saying stuff like Kerry bold faced lied about what they were doing in Nam, he certainly did not see anyone intentionally kill babies, but did see the Vietcong put bombs on them and make them walk over to American soldiers, then he said something about a book that Kerry wrote full of lies and the flag on the cover was in strike contrast to the Iwogima (sp?) picture, except the flag was upside down and "soldiers" were desecrating it. He also said something about Kerry tossing his medals and ribbons somewhere. I don't know, maybe I need to do some net searching. But I do know that my Dad seemed very upset and I have to think if a man that has never voted republican before, has this strong a feeling then it needs to be taken to heart. He was living in that time, I was just a little baby or not even here yet. LOL

[bwsmom]

Originally Posted by ShainaT

Becky- When I referred to John Kerry as JFK I did that because that is what Kerry's initials are. I was not referring to him as John Kennedy.

I still don't know how to interpret Kerry's military status as potential votes. The fact that Clinton (whom I have to admit did dodge the draft along with Dick Cheney) handily beat WWII veteran Dole shows me you can never predict with certainty how one class of people will vote.

Mayor- Kerry is by no means toast. (Not yet anyhow! Ask me again in October.)

I've heard (though have not seen anything to back this up) that when Kerry threw his hat into the presidential ring, he requested that he be referred to from then on as "John F. Kerry, the Senator from Massachusetts". This, of course, would be a ploy to align him in people's minds with the "original" JFK. Don't know if it's true or not, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The thing about military status being used to get votes... well, I can understand it, because one of the hats the President has to wear is that of Commander-in-Chief... this is why Clark got into the race. I'm guessing that Kerry's going to ask Clark to be his running mate, so that if Kerry gets slammed for his military/war/anti-war stuff, Clark will be the "stand-up" military guy to provide balance. (After all, there seems to be a big bruhaha building over the photo with Kerry & Jane Fonda at an anti-war rally in 1970...)

One thing I will say about Kerry... he's sure pulled off a stunner! Dean was clearly the front-runner until the actual primaries and caucuses began! Then Kerry came out of "left field" (so to speak) and trumped 'em all! I just want all the rigamarole stuff to be over so we can get down to the Bush/Kerry debates!! That's gonna be a fun time!!

[bassmount]

Originally Posted by bwsmom

The thing about military status being used to get votes... well, I can understand it, because one of the hats the President has to wear is that of Commander-in-Chief... this is why Clark got into the race. I'm guessing that Kerry's going to ask Clark to be his running mate, so that if Kerry gets slammed for his military/war/anti-war stuff, Clark will be the "stand-up" military guy to provide balance. (After all, there seems to be a big bruhaha building over the photo with Kerry & Jane Fonda at an anti-war rally in 1970...)

One thing I will say about Kerry... he's sure pulled off a stunner! Dean was clearly the front-runner until the actual primaries and caucuses began! Then Kerry came out of "left field" (so to speak) and trumped 'em all! I just want all the rigamarole stuff to be over so we can get down to the Bush/Kerry debates!! That's gonna be a fun time!!

Oh I agree to a certian extent it is necessary to report on your military service, if you can, since you are or may be the Commander in Chief. The military either follows your orders or one heck of a court martial will ensue. LOL

BUT my point was, that if Kerry chastised Bush and other Republicans for doing just that in the last election, why is he doing it now? If it was not right for Bush, then Kerry should feel likewise about himself now. That was my thing.

[ShainaT]

Originally Posted by bwsmom

I've heard (though have not seen anything to back this up) that when Kerry threw his hat into the presidential ring, he requested that he be referred to from then on as "John F. Kerry, the Senator from Massachusetts".

One thing I will say about Kerry... he's sure pulled off a stunner!

Kerry's middle name is Forbes. So his initials really are JFK. (I had to look that up just now...just to see for myself!)

You never know who the candidate will pick for a VP. I remember hearing that they were sure Clinton would pick either Kerrey or Graham for VP. And when Dole picked his arch-rival Kemp that was a big surprise as well so you never know. Personally, I'd love to see Kerry pick Hillary to be his VP but I know those odds are slim to none.

[lukemason]

Anyone But Bush in 2004 i hate that man so
much for his Power Hungry Lies

[Taxman]

Luke:

Just so you know, we don't allow posts like that. If you don't like Bush, that's fine. However, you're going to have to be more specific about why you don't like him. Give an example about what you don't like, back it up with a reputable source, and then we can discuss. Thanks.