Kerry Warns Dean Has No Chance Vs. Bush

[dusty64]

Dec 27, 10:33 AM (ET)

By WILL LESTER


WASHINGTON (AP) - With a month to go before the New Hampshire primary, John Kerry says voters must choose between Democratic front-runner Howard Dean or a more centrist candidate like himself.

The Massachusetts senator said he would fare better than Dean against President Bush in November.

"Two roads have diverged in the New Hampshire woods," Kerry said in a speech prepared for delivery Saturday in Manchester. "One of them takes us toward retreat from our responsibility in the world, our responsibility to working families, our responsibility to talk straight to the American people - and our obligation to win their confidence and their votes next November."

Kerry was critical of Dean for his unrelenting stand against involvement in Iraq and his desire to roll back all of the Bush tax cuts. Republicans and President Bush intend to run on national security and "we have to be able to meet them there," Kerry said.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031227/D7VMQCNG0.html

[kalian]

1. Are the dems self-destructing...?

:shrug:

It sure as hell appears that way...

[Demobrat]

2. And who does? Kerry?

The guy who has no chance against Dean?

Edit: Sorry, I was replying to the original post, not you.

[papau]

15. Kerry said Dean had less chance than Kerry - not no chance n/t

:-)

[UrbScotty]

3. Kerry must be looking at DU too much.

Just kidding.

The fact is, anybody has a chance against this monster.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Thank you, Senator Kerry...

Bush Advisers, With Eye on Dean, Formulate '04 Plans

<snip>
As a Bush strategist put it, Dr. Dean's rivals are "doing a great job for us" with their increasingly tough attacks on him.

"Voters don't normally vote for an angry, pessimistic person to be president of the country," Matthew Dowd, a senior Bush adviser, said as he pressed the anti-Dean theme this week in an interview at Mr. Bush's re-election campaign headquarters. "They want somebody, even if times are not great, to be forward looking and optimistic."
</snip>

If I can't play, I'll take my ball and go home. So there!!

[Northwind]

5. oh, the irony

After months of Kerry supporters railing against Dean being so conservative and Kerry being a real liberal choice, Kerry now says HE is the centrist while be tries to blast Dean wth GOP talking points.

Irrelevance, thy name is Kerry.

[virtualobserver]

12. unbelievable!

I want to avert my eyes, but I can't.

[isbister]

20. Re: oh, the irony

Where? Where does Kerry say he's the centrist... I cannot find that

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1227.html

I've only seen the opposite stance taken in a number of places.

[BOSSHOG]

6. If truth and honesty are factors

Anybody can beat bush. The repukes know that, so they will run a campaign of lies, deception, coverup and attack. Their record cannot stand the scrutiny, so they won't run on it.

[Demobrat]

7. They won't.

But we will.

[Ready4Change]

8. I agree.

I think Kerry has a better chance of beating Bush than Dean.

I'd like to think that the Democratic Party is putting Dean up as their front runner so that the Republicans will waste efforts tearing him down. Then, at the last possible moment, have Kerry rise to the top.

Sadly, I'm not convinced the Democrats have their act that together.

As an "Anyone But Bush" Republican, I intend to vote for any Repub with the cojones to run against Bush in our primary, and then vote for whoever the Dems nominate in 2004. I've encountered a number of Repubs of the same mindset, but that effect might just be due to the liberal minded circles I hand out with.

[janx]

30. Dean is Bush's nemesis.

n/t

[ClassWarrior]

9. Talk about devisive - what's with the title?

I haven't clicked through and read through the entire article, but in the snip posted, never does Kerry say Dean "has no chance" against Bush*, simply that he (Kerry) would "fare better" than Dean.

We HAVE to stop using incendiary language against OUR OWN CANDIDATES. Please people, be fair. Any one of these nine fine Americans is a million times better than Junior.

[dusty64]

11. That is the actual

title of the article from the "liberal" media. I generally do not make my choice for the nomination known, but I find it interesting that many Democratic candidates are trying to outrethug the rethugs. Seems like bad strategy to me, but what do I know.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

17. The media is dividing us

not Kerry

[LuminousX]

10. Will the real Centrist please stand up.

Is Kerry the Centrist who voted for IWR or the Real Liberal who has fought for liberal causes for decades? Oh, I see, it depends which one has political advantage.

Flip-Flop much?

[isbister]

21. Re:

Kerry doesn't claim to be a centrist in the speech, the writer of the article made that up.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1227.html

[dfong63]

13. bye-bye, John

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. Which one will Kerry endorse?

I wonder.

:shrug:

[polpilot]

16. Did Kerry correctly predict his trouncing by Dean?? Kerry's obviously

still reeling from Dean's TKO.

Dean '04...

[zulchzulu]

18. Word to those that want to hand the election to Bush

A vote for Dean is a vote for Bush to handily win.

Time to get a real candidate to beat Bush in position. And that person is Kerry.

[isbister]

19. Re: Kerry Warns Dean

I don't think Will Lester actually read or heard Kerry's speech.

Kerry NEVER says "voters must choose between Democratic front-runner Howard Dean or a more centrist candidate like himself". Quite the opposite. Maybe Lester just didn't understand or has misrepresented Kerry's speech for some other purpose, I don't know.

Read the speech:

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1227.html

you won't recognize most of what Lester's talking about.

[Beearewhyain]

22. Why should I trust what the media says

However, Kerry has positioned himself to appeal to the centrist. Fair enough, but the party has done allot to alienate the liberal base and that is why we find ourselves in this present situation. Direction, direction, direction...that is what we need to focus on because when the primaries are over vision is what the rest of us will be looking for, not what one candidate said against another in the primaries.

[Hippo_Tron]

23. Kerry's negative attacks are starting to piss me off...

But Dean isn't any better. So far I'm sticking with the guy who seems to be most positive (Clark).

[Feanorcurufinwe]

24. More media distortion.

The headline does not accurately represent what Kerry said.

Kerry also defended fellow Democratic hopefuls from some of Dean's campaign charges and claims.

"Howard Dean says he's the only candidate who talks about race in front of white audiences, but many of the candidates in this field have dedicated themselves to this cause," he said. He called Dean's claim an insult to the two blacks in the race, Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun.

Talking to reporters after his speech, Kerry stopped short of saying Dean was unelectable.

"All I'm trying to do is point out clear, real differences that matter to people who vote," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=694&u=/ap/20031227/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_7&printer=1

Folks, if you were fooled by this, maybe you should re-examine just how many lies you are believing uncritically. This is a clear case of media distortion.


"Kerry stopped short of saying Dean was unelectable."

somehow becomes, basically, the exact opposite in the headline:

"Kerry Says Dean Has No Chance Vs. Bush"


WAKE UP FOLKS! You are being manipulated.

[PATRICK]

29. listen to the actual speeches

And if you are lucky, the personal asides when working the crowd. The blurbs did distort the message because they were to stupid to phrase the subtleties. Kerry did a masterful and restrained Marc Anthony speech. He might have been saying: "I have not come here to dis any of the candidates, but to bury Dean." He turned several key issues and strong points about Dean totally around while praising the candidates and at the end stacking just about everyone else up(including the Party) against Dean!

Yes he stopped short, but the momentum of his powerful discourse propels the listener in sevral reassessments of Dean at the same time presenting an overview of our crisis and his own credentials.
Really masterful and even fair, I thought, given the nature of politics.

The main criticism I would have- and it is not fair- is that the people, especially the Party is extremely nervous at this point. We need not just wrath and worry but a projected sense of calm and assurance that sometimes only a smile and humor at the right times can provide.

Even if the ship is going down that would help the people. Compared to other candidates in the same spot in history though the impulse to seriousness is overwhelming. The candidate knows the stakes, maybe the people are still in need of convincing, but the powerful image of a new choice demands a positive message to lift our spirits.

oddly, the main concern with the very qulaifiedkerry is the campaign. The same is true of anyone but Dean's campaign. I think we in the middle ground should have as our chief concern helping the eventual winner build up the campaign aspect from everyone's proven strenghts and band together. That is a lot more than ABB, it means being ready to transfer 100% under the tattered standard.

Maybe that is not fair either or humanly possible, but it would be greatness itself.

[Alex146]

25. Well in that case I'll switch my support to Kerry...

he's not just a loser but a sore loser.

[helleborient]

26. We would be doomed to failure with Kerry's campaigning ineptness...

He has proven he is the only candidate in the race to go from frontrunner to near second tier candidate in the polls.

His campaign has been nothing but an utter failure...in single digits most everywhere but NH and Iowa...he has no credibility for speaking about the likely success of any other campaign.

[polpilot]

27. He's pacing...It's a marathon..not a sprint...Dean can't win he's got

too many supporters!!

Dean '04...

[RetroLounge]

31. Yup, Dean's definitely peaked

again...

[ErasureAcer]

28. Kerry and I agree on something

go figure.

[oasis]

32. Dean could be a "Denise Majette" on a national scale. Same m.o.; GOP cash

crossover voters and a mission to target the neighboring liberal Democrat and put him out of commision.

Since the Bushistas knew Kerry would be Chimpy's biggest threat, it is very likely that they launced a covert campaign to help to pump up a rival New Englander.

Rep.Cynthia Mckinney, an outspoken liberal from Georgia's 4th district, was taken out by a coordinated effort of both Repulicans and Democrats who backed her 2002 opponent, Denise Majette.

It was no secret that Zell Miller was behind the effort to unseat McKinney.

GOP consultant, Ralph Reed, can hatch many a plot from his perch in the peach state.

[cbua34]

33. Dean confuses me

"As many have said before, hindsight is 20-20 and no one could have predicted what could have happened on a terrible day in September 2001," Jay Carson, Spokesman for Dean said.
- From Yahoo article regarding Vermont nuclear plant vulnerabilities

Wasn't Dean the person that, just a month ago, was saying how Bush should have predicted 9/11? Another example of Dean hypocrisy

[JaneQPublic]

34. Latest poll shows Dean has the BEST chance vs. Bush

[molly]

35. Hey - Lieberman has the same percentage against the

idiot.

[netrally]

37. why aren't these polls on CNN?

Why haven't these polls been broadcast on CNN and other networks? It seems that the media don't want to report their own polls when they happen to look good for democrats.

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[daschledemocrat04]

38. John Kerry is Right

While JK is my choice for President, I don't agree with all of the negative campaigning.

Dean can't beat Bush, but who cares. That's not why we should vote for Kerry. Vote for him because he'll make a great President