Kerry really needs to learn to turn off his microphone after interviews...

[KaraokeKarlton]

He was caught yet again talking about Dean when his mike wasn't turned off yet. Trippi got a kick out of it...

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/20/politics/campaigns/20KERR.html?ex=1064635200&en=61107c509440e7eb&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[Octafish]

1. It's true.

Those who know him say it's just like everything else John Kerry says in public, on the record or off — the truth.

[mom says lose bush]

5. Soldiers?

What!?! I never liked Dean anyway and didn't think he had a chance. Now I like him even less. I was really surprised he was doing as well as he was in the polls. But this..THAT's just past being ignorant--like calling the nuts that murdered thousands of our people "soldiers" isn't it? I thought he was far too fringe.

Dean will torpedo his own ship.

[Evanstondem]

12. Are you at the wrong website?

Not many DUers manage to combine rudeness and factual errors into so few words? Did I miss the news flash announcing that Hamas was responsible for 9/11?

[KaraokeKarlton]

14. It was taken out of context

Dean was commenting on a situation where Israel targetted a Hamas leader. Basically, he was saying that since Hamas chooses to fight Israel, they view themselves as soldiers and soldiers in a war are a legitimate target and there are going to be casualties. Technically, anyone who fights in any conflict is a soldier by definition. Morality and methods of fighting are really quite irrelevent. When speaking of WWII, Nazis are referred to as soldiers, yet their methods were beneath contempt and many were war criminals. Terrorists are soldiers as well, and would also fall into the "war criminal" group. There was nothing wrong with what Dean said and he was factually accurate.

[liberalnurse]

31. Some people need to look in their own back yard......

n/t

[KC21304]

2. I kind of got a kick out of it myself.

Kerry/Clark

[newsguyatl]

8. ...

Kerry/Clark

you're right, that looks much better than dean/clark now...


two war hawks, bowing to the bush cabal

[KC21304]

10. Glad you like it.

Kerry/Clark Kerry/Clark Kerry/Clark Kerry/Clark Kerry/Clark

[liberalnurse]

32. Feeling scared are you?

[TheDonkey]

3. kerry tore Dean a new one!

I don't think he should have done that publicly (and he probably didn't mean to have it shown). But it wasn't him lying on issues, he was just being very critical of Dean and making valid critisms. If you agree with them or not, it was only his unabashed opinion on Dean's campaign.

[KaraokeKarlton]

4. Poor Kerry

He must be thinking that if he repeats his wish that Dean can't be elected president enough times it'll actually be true! LMAO!

[mom says lose bush]

7. Well, it probably stung...

Kerry is a Jew.

[KaraokeKarlton]

15. So is Howard Dean's wife

But that didn't stop Kerry from trying to portray Dean as being some kind of "jew hater". Seeing as Dean's kids are raised jewish I find it quite impossible that Dean is in any way biased against Jews.

[IndianaGreen]

18. Kerry is a Jew like he is an Irishman

Heck, if it would gain him votes, Kerry would claim he has Greek ancestry!

Kerry has turned into quite a whiner. Even Lieberman makes more sense when he speaks of Senator Waffle!

[aquart]

28. Kerry is not a Jew.

He was raised Christian and recently found out about his Jewish ancestry.

Many people chose to conceal such ancestry from others who would use it to target them and their children.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

6. So funny!

He says a president can't afford to make mistakes so often, yet TWICE in a short time he's caught muttering about Dean when he thought no one was listening. Maybe he should direct his comment to himself. He is starting to tear at the seams from the stress.

[Lady President]

9. Not sure it was a mistake

I'm not entirely certain he forgot about the mike. I think it may have been a way to "accidently" get a few things off his chest. He's not new to this game and no one in his camp seems too upset by the faux pas. Personally, I thought it was kinda funny.

[janekat]

22. I'm sure it wasn't - he's not much of a "loose wire"

He's usually pretty in contol of his emotions. In addition, he's an "old pro." I've never seen him "lose it' have you?

[PurityOfEssence]

11. There's a big slug of truth to this

"You can't make 15 gaffes a week and be president."

Even Dean admits he's "got a mouth on him", and this is a problem. It's a problem even if you ARE correct in the statements, and he often isn't.

I was talking to my Dad about the various candidates tonight and he had independently arrived at the same irritation at Dean's personality; it's the first time we ever talked about him, and it was very interesting, because we only agree on personality about half of the time.

If he's elected, I suggest a new cabinet post: Secretary of Explaining Away Yesterday's Distortion.

One can hate Kerry all one wants about the war vote, but he's got integrity. He's also more of a liberal than Dean, lest we forget...

Brashness is refreshing, but the presidency demands a lot of personal control, precision, finesse and sophistication. Kerry has those, and he's due some respect for it. It's fine by me if he gets annoyed and is seen crabby on the subject; it's human, and it's still nothing untoward. If this is the clumsiest he gets, it won't hurt a bit.

Remember the Adam Clymer moment? Godly, steadfast and decent human being Junior Bush referred to him as a "major league asshole" over an open microphone at a public speech with Igor Cheney standing there in his black leather hood saying "Yeff, boss, heh, snort".

[tsipple]

16. 15 Gaffes a Week?

That's a very good week for George W. Bush.

[mitchum]

21. Judging by the evidence so far, there will be plenty of applicants...

for that cabinet post

And yes, Kerry is more liberal

[JNelson6563]

33. I have my doubts

about the "integrity" you speak of. The Iraq vote is counter-intuitive of great integrity, as are the subsequent explanations.

Making (suspected) popular choices requires no integrity.

Julie

[w13rd0]

13. Kerry is taking crap out of context...

...to try and make an issue where none exists, just like Joe. The desperation wears like a cheap threadbare suit.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

17. Scarborough covered this

Not that I was watching him or anything...

So much for a Dean/Kerry or Kerry/Dean ticket, eh?

[KaraokeKarlton]

20. Kerry thinks he's the authority on who can and can't be president

But his recent voting record proves just how out of touch with voters he is, so his opinion on this is irrelevent.

[Sean Reynolds]

19. Maybe someone needs to tell Kerry the definition of 'soldier'

From www.dictionary.com

sol·dier(sljr)
n

1. One who serves in an army.
2. An enlisted person or a noncommissioned officer.
3. An active, loyal, or militant follower of an organization.

Seems Dean's definition fits, no?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=soldier

[AP]

25. and afterwards, he can say, "oh, that's what I was doing in Vietnam

while Dean was drinking and skiing in Aspen."

Just kidding.

By the way, I heard some real libeal commentator complain abut Dean's excuse for this statement...apparently Dean's 'correction" was, "I only called them soldiers because that would justify Israel in killing them."

The commentator said, there you have it, the elevated debate on Israel in America, it's sad.

[AP]

26. BTW, I know "soldier" is in the dictionary. Is "ski bum"?

These jokes write themselves.

[tsipple]

36. Yup, Dean Used the Word Correctly

Kerry was piqued because Dean wasn't sufficiently pejorative on that sole occasion, I guess. There've been dumber "issues," but not too many.

Now, if Dean used the word "officer," then Kerry might be on to something. We do not recognize that organization, so we do not give its members official titles.

[DemBones DemBones]

23. Senator Kerry has been in politics a good while and probably

knows how to turn his mic off. When he wants it off.

[JI7]

27. yup, hehe

got that right.

[janekat]

42. definitely n/t

[thinkahead]

24. Kerry should attack Dean on substance rather than style

because I'm sorry, Kerry just doesn't have the same passion - or atleast is not able to communicate it effectively. And he certainly comes across as a whiner. Dean just has the juice. Whether challenging Dean to one on one debates, or just making some "off the record" comment, Kerry looks like a guy who's trying to pick a fight with someone who already kicked his ass. And to me, that doesn't seem very presidential.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

34. How has Dean kicked Kerry's ass? Did Dean win Iowa and NH already?

did I miss something? Kerry's as presidential as they come nowadays, actually more so. He's far above this crowd.

[MrPrax]

29. Interesting Drudge strikes

on the other anti Kerry thread...they pick up the drudge thing about the philly cheese steak..
and this thread remembers the Drudge 'jew' discovery...

AND the NYT loves to bash Kerry...as does WP

and Dean and Clark poll nicely with the GOP...

new trojan (so_luv_rulerz.w32.doc) seems to be working nicely...

http://kerry.senate.gov/low/press_photos_R0020.html

a google search for 'kerry lennon picture' brought up first hit!!!
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_071603/content/stack_c.guest.html

go figure who likes who...in the real world

[clar]

30. I'm sure it wasn't an accident.

Kerry's worried, and you can't blame him. He came into this as the annointed one; it should have been his. He sure didn't expect that Dean would be an obstacle on his path to the WH. Q3 figures are coming soon. Speculation is that Dean is going to raise 12 to 15 million, and Kerry not even half of that. Money is a big deal. Dean will drown out the others by running ads and opening more offices in more states. Kerry has to aggressively battle a juggernaut before it's completely unstoppable.

[HPLeft]

35. Of course, JFK has a secret weapon...

...Teresa's money. He says that he'll not use it, but come January, all's fair in love, politics and war. If he needs the cash to get his message across, he'll have to use it.

[clar]

37. I thought

that it was established that there are legal barriers to his use of his wife's money. Besides, it just doesn't look good when compared to the small donor support of Dean's base. Kerry will catch endless shit for it.

[HPLeft]

39. I'm not a campaign finance expert, but...

My impression is that the big drawback has to do with not qualifying for matching public funds. Of course, the site where I saw the possibility raised of Kerry using his family money was here...so perhaps you're right.

[KaraokeKarlton]

41. JFK is dead

so he can't run and certainly can't benefit from the Heinz fortune.

[KC21304]

43. So stop saying that !

Bob Boudelang, is that you ?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

38. Dean need be careful he doesn't drown himself

something tells me the Dean camp is suffering from overconfidence.
And all Kerry need do is win NH to stop Dean.

[blm]

44. Noone has really campaigned AGAINST Dean....but

that's all changed as of next week. The Firefighters are the most dogged activists and tough as nails. They are endorsing Kerry next week and they do not like Dean because of the way he treated their issues in Vermont and refused to meet with them, even after 9-11. Think what you like, but these issues will come out and Dean will NOT come out smelling like roses.

[CWebster]

40. Isn't it a beaut?

What planet is Kerry on? What could he possibly be thinking?