Kerry Will Fight For Votes in every state

[sandnsea]

Kerry Hits Ground Running in February 3rd States
With Strong Grassroots Operations and Local Supporters, Kerry will Fight for Votes in Every State

January 27, 2004

For Immediate Release
Washington, DC –

Fresh from victory in the Iowa Caucus, John Kerry has hit the ground running across America in his campaign to change the nation and send George Bush back to Texas.

Field organizations in South Carolina, Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, Delaware, Oklahoma and North Dakota are already lining up supporters and deploying volunteers and the Veterans Brigade is finishing plans for nation-wide trips and phone calls in each of the seven February 3rd primary states.
In the days leading up to the February 3rd primaries, Kerry will visit each state and campaign virtually nonstop. Committed to reaching as many voters as possible and communicating Kerry’s vision to change America, the campaign will air new ads in each of the seven states starting on Wednesday.

On Wednesday January 28, John Kerry will fly into St. Louis, Missouri for a rally with supporters and then travel to Greenville, South Carolina. The next morning, January 29, he will hold a town hall meeting about his vision to give America back its future and then participate in the South Carolina Democratic Presidential Debate. On Friday, January 30, the Veterans Brigade will host Kerry at a town hall meeting in Columbia, South Carolina and participate in the Presidential Dialogue with the America’s Families Forum before flying to Wilmington, Delaware for a rally with supporters.

Kerry will kick off the weekend by spending time on Saturday January 31, with supporters in Kansas City, Missouri and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Fargo, North Dakota is the next stop with a rally on Sunday morning February 1, before Kerry attends a Super Bowl Party in the home of supporters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On February 2, 2004, John Kerry will attend a breakfast town hall in Albuquerque before an event in Tucson, Arizona and then a rally in Phoenix, Arizona.

South Carolina

The South Carolina Campaign has gained even more momentum in the last couple of days, with the endorsement of South Carolina’s senior Senator and former Governor Fritz Hollings feeding a recent surge. With more than 400,000 veterans in South Carolina, Senator Hollings – along with the John Kerry’s Veterans Brigade – will bring four busloads of fellow veterans from all over the South to South Carolina to campaign for John Kerry in the coming days. Hollings has been reaching out to South Carolina’s mayors, elected officials, former elected officials and democratic activists across the state to tell them about John Kerry and his vision for America.

To date, the South Carolina team has secured over 22 staff in place, with 56 key supporters throughout South Carolina’s 46 counties. Six state legislators including the Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, the South Carolina House Minority Leader and the Senate President Pro-Tempore Emeritus have announced their support for Kerry.

Calls and e-mails are flooding into the office from people who want to volunteer between now and Election Day. The International Association of Fire Fighters and the International Longshoreman Association Local 1422 are already planning their extensive outreach efforts for the state on Kerry’s behalf. Over the next week, key Kerry supporters will campaign in South Carolina to fight for votes for John Kerry in his effort to change America, including Senator Max Cleland, Representative Gregory Meeks, Carole King, and Diana Kerry.

Missouri

In Missouri, John Kerry’s campaign has grown exponentially since the Iowa caucuses. Kerry will stop in Missouri right after the New Hampshire primary and the campaign expects a large crowd to welcome him to the state. With Roy Temple, former Chief of Staff to the late Governor Mel Carnahan, heading the state operation with 10 staffers, Kerry volunteers and supporters are appearing everywhere and plan to kick off activities with New Hampshire primary watching parties all across the state. This week, Senator Edward Kennedy, former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, Carole King and Chris Heinz will travel to Missouri to help fight for votes for John Kerry.

Arizona

Two recent polls have placed John Kerry in the lead in the state already, and he is working hard to solidify his support. There are already over 50,000 ballots out to people who have requested ballots to support Kerry for President. The large universe of volunteers is growing on a daily basis. Firefighters are staffing phone banks nightly in the state and have proven once again that they are an integral part of the John Kerry campaign. Volunteers are baking “Cookies for Kerry” and dropping them off at fire stations around the valley to thank them for their support. Seniors are also turning out in droves for Kerry at John Kerry clubs in the major seniors’ communities around the state. New Hampshire watch parties have been scheduled around the state and the response has been overwhelming.

This weekend nearly 100 volunteers from California are taking Kerry-vans to Arizona, departing from the Veterans Administration campus in Los Angeles. The volunteers, mostly veterans, will be greeted upon arrival in Arizona by Mrs. Heinz Kerry, Arizona veterans and firefighters as they start their weekend of canvassing, phone calling and reaching out to Arizona’s undecided voters.

Over the next week, in addition to Mrs. Heinz Kerry, Representative Earl Blumenauer, former Administrator of SBA Aida Alvanez, Chris Heinz, President of the International Association of Fire Fighters Harold Schaitberger, and Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros will travel to Arizona to help fight for votes.

Delaware

In Delaware, John Kerry’s efforts are being led by a group of five political professionals who have already organized canvassing activities, telephone banking, and rallies for Kerry. Despite the short time the office has been open, Kerry has picked up key endorsements including State Senator Pat Blevins, State Senator George H. Bunting Jr., Wilmington Council President Theodore Blunt, Sussex County Council Member Dale R. Dukes, Kent County Commissioner Richard E. Ennis, New Castle County Council Member Karen Venezky, National Committeeman Bert DiClemente, Vice Chair of the State Party Jim Hussey Jr., and New Castle County Recorder of Deeds Michael E. Kozikowski.

North Dakota

John Kerry’s visit to North Dakota in the coming week has created great excitement about the campaign in the state. The campaign has opened offices in Bismarck and Fargo with six staff members on the ground and volunteers are arriving daily. Labor unions, leaders in the Native American community, and veterans groups have already expressed support for Kerry’s candidacy, declaring that he is the candidate who can beat Bush. Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland will travel to North Dakota later on this week to help fight for votes in the state.

New Mexico

Building on the already tremendously strong support for John Kerry in New Mexico under the leadership of Lt. Governor Diane Denish and House Speaker Ben Lujan, New Mexico voters have given his campaign an enormous bump in the state following the Iowa caucus victory. With the infusion of a half-dozen enthusiastic staff members from the Iowa campaign, there are now 15 staff members and hundreds of volunteers who work out of the four campaign offices across New Mexico. Firefighters, veterans and women for Kerry organizations are growing stronger every day and will hold events throughout the week leading up to the caucuses. Last weekend the firefighters and the Kerry Core of New Mexico walked precincts across the state to encourage voters to turn in absentee ballots for John Kerry. Over 15 additional key local endorsements will be announced in the coming days.

Albuquerque Veterans for Kerry kicked off a major organizational effort this morning at the Baralas Coffee House where dozens of veterans motivated each other to call, email and visit other veterans in the hope of getting a fellow brother elected President of the United States.

The "Kerry Brigade" steps up its march across New Mexico this week with visits from Teresa Heinz Kerry, Senator Ted Kennedy and Former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros.

[dolstein]

1. Of course he win -- in the PRIMARIES -- a frontrunner has to

But he's already let the cat out of the bag with talk of a Northern strategy -- even Joe Conanson thinks this is a stupid idea. Come the fall, he'll write off the South along with any hope the Democrats may have had of retaking the Senate. And the morning after election day, Democrats will face the ultimate nightmare: Bush reelected, along with a filibuster-proof Republican majority in the Senate.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Fillabuster proof?

Holy cow! It's not like the Republicans are going to pick up 9 seats!! Has that ever happened to anyone!? Calm down. The Dem. nominee will campaign across the nation and win votes wherever possible. Don't worry about the Senate. There is a good chance we will hold some of those seats and also defeat certain Republican incumbants. Don't be so fatalistic.

Sounds like Kerry is ready to kick some ass. I wish him well, along with the rest of our candidates.

[sandnsea]

3. A comment is not a strategy

People really need to read Sun Tzu around here. You'll never know Kerry's strategy until it rolls over top of you and 6 months later you're still trying to figure out what happened. He is not writing off the south.

[Egnever]

4. I hope he comes to my State I would love to fight him

weak ass bush lite excuse making blow in the wind bore. Maybe i can burn a flag in front of him and see if he has anything more than rhetoric.