Kerry will be portrayed as a semi-communist in general election

[catherineD]

When is somebody going to point out that John Kerry is going to get creamed in the general election because of the book cover for "The New Soldier"? There on the cover is his name above a group of men mimicking the revered Iwo Jima photo from WWII with an upside down flag. Here's a link to a picture of it http://www.tinyvital.com/BlogArchives/000392.html .

There are two copies of the book selling on ebay right now for close to $200 and $300 -- one of them was recently autographed by Kerry himself.

Apparently there are pictures of him also in the communist Daily World marching alongside famous communist Angela Davis. Can anybody really believe, after the way the Bush campaign made McCain, a POW, appear unpatriotic, and Max Cleland, also, a man who lost his legs and an arm to Vietnam -- can anyone believe that they won't succeed in doing this when they have actual pictures to work with??

Do you think Americans will be willing to vote for a man to be president of the United States when they've been told he may be a communist sympathizer?

If people are voting for him because they think he's electable, then they haven't been informed. This is why the conservative media has been soft on Kerry and it's the Democrats who are going to have to pay for not alerting voters to the kinds of problems that this candidate will have to face if he becomes our nominee.

[Dookus]

1. yawn...

they've tried to paint every Democrat since the Russian Revolution as a communist. So what?

Kerry beats Bush RIGHT NOW in polls - I call that pretty damned electable.

[BruinAlum]

2. Oh Bullshit

Your title alone was enough to tell me the rest of your post was going to be propaganda crap.

This is really desperate.

[JohnKleeb]

3. Ya know something

Lets not use fear as a weapon, we have to fight them. BTW I am a descendant of one of the brave men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, Sgt Strank is related to me through my grandmother, a Kerry person. Kerry I feel can win this thing. FDR once said only thing we have to fear is fear itself, and we cant let fear get to us. If we do, we are gonna have Bush again. BTW they can find reasons to go after any of the other guys.

[Maddy McCall]

4. A thread started recently, linked to the same right-wing blog, was locked

by mods, and the lock was approved by Skinner. If I were you, I would consider self-deleting to stay within rules.

Just a suggestion. :-)

[UnAmericanJoe]

5. If it were the 50's

or even still the 80's I might be worried.
Communism is SO yesterday...
;)

I'd be much more worried about the tax/spend democrat smears...

[JohnKleeb]

8. lol communism is so yesterday indeed

There was an onion article and apparently communists are 273rd on threats to the US.

[Blayde Starrfyre]

12. I wouldn't worry about that

Tax and spend smears? Luckily Bush can't really use them, being that he has racked up the biggest deficit in history.

[sandnsea]

21. They're the spenders now

Bill Bennett just said they can't even use that argument. They can't label him as unpatriotic. He's no Dukakis.

We've got one thing to fight and that's some old votes against some military stuff. And some old votes to reduce the CIA. That's about it.

And I think they kind of don't realize alot of us older Democrats still love the Kennedys. Dukakis wasn't connected to them like Kerry is. I think this might be easier than any of us think.

[D G]

6. I think the majority of voters won't be "informed" by blogs

and fringe conservative web sites that will no doubt echo this type of thing. (Oddly enough, I first saw the reference to the upside-down flag on "Blog for America" - shocked, I tell you!)

Sure, Kerry will be unfairly attacked by the GOP, probably about his patriotism and other ridiculous garbage. The difference is, in 2004, Bush is looking worse and worse by the day, as opposed to 2002.

I'm not saying Kerry should rest on his laurels and cruise to victory but this alone will not get him "creamed"

[The Magistrate]

7. It Will Not Work, Ma'am

The only people who would be turned against him by it are already going to vote Republican; the attempt might easily work to shore up his left flank amonmg the persistent types who insist they could not vote for him because he "really" is a Republican....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[eridani]

9. The communist threat is REAL!

Better watch out, or you'll get crushed by a statue of Lenin being toppled by a gang of Latvians wearing Guess jeans!

[catherineD]

11. Gee, well, as long as none of YOU are worried

I guess "Don't worry, be happy," should be my theme, too. I gave you my reasons, which is that this is the pattern of these Republicans, to question their opposition's patriotism. They've been immensely successful with it. The book is real, it's not just a smear. Yes, I would have no problem voting for him, but the people who will be voting are the same ones who almost voted Bush into office. I'm not trying to smear Kerry, I'm saying that people should know about this now, not when the Bush people bring it up in the general election. Kerry got that great approval rating vs. Bush in a week where the only criticism of him was that some lobbyists have supported him, during a week where Bush has been hammered. You really think that'll hold up when the Republicans go on the attack?

[Dookus]

14. well...

I don't think there's any reason to believe that any other candidate would do BETTER against republican attacks.

[fujiyama]

18. You have a very good point...

I'd rather have all this crap surface now and have democrats make a decision knowing full well, the possible crap the RWers will throw at us. You are also right that the republicans have been successful at questioning the patriotism of democrats even though it's complete BS.

Any possible links the anti war group Kerry was part of, had with "Hanoi Jane" would be disasterous. It doesn't matter if they aren't true...This makes me very nervous.

[girl gone mad]

10. I, for one, am outraged.

$355.00 for a former library copy? Even if it is an authentic signature, they are overpaying.

Also, I hope it's a true discard, and not outright library theft which is so often the case with rare books on ebay.

[girl gone mad]

13. I was being sarcastic..

but this part is troubling if true:

"Due to the controversial nature of the book, most copies were pulled off the shelves when Kerry decided to run for office.."

[Maddy McCall]

16. Usually when this happens, the books are taken out of the stacks, where

anyone can pick them up (and stick them in a backpack to steal) and are instead placed in reserves, which means you have to go to the library's desk and ask to see the copy, but you aren't allowed to take the copy out of a certain room and certainly not out of the library.

If a graduate student were doing a dissertation on Viet Nam, he or she would certainly have access to the book.

I am describing the university library system, but I am sure public libraries function in the same way. I am glad that libraries are preserving the books for scholarly use instead of letting them sit on the stacks and be targeted for theft.

[isbister]

15. If you were to by the book

would it come with a FBI agent peeking in your windows?

[girl gone mad]

20. Buy from an independent book dealer.

We don't keep permanent records that connect a book to a buyer. I've sold some interesting books, and some to very well-known people, but you'd never pry it out of me.

I'd say most, though not all, independents value their customer's privacy.

[patricia92243]

17. Supporters don't want it mentioned-makes it go away & Bush won't use it

[Dookus]

19. no, not really

of course they'll use it. They'll use the same charge against any Democrat. They've done it for over 60 years. I repeat: so what?

[Old and In the Way]

22. If this concerns you,

you ought to be terrified as to what they'd do to Dean on this issue.

I can see the attack ads now, Dean on the slopes contrasted to George "Ace" Bush sitting in the cockpit, protecting America. Ann Coulter providing commentary on Dean's treasonous actions during VietNam. While neither image would be accurate, they'd play that up until the association was burned into every American's brain.

[blm]

23. The upside down flag is a universally accepted symbol of distress.

There is nothing communistic about it. Why pretend it is?

[West Coast Democrat]

24. So, we'll lose the--people who call Democrats "Commies"--vote?

I'm terrified!!!!

[Ficus]

25. red baiting on DU

now I've seen it all!

[paulk]

26. I've already seen it in a local paper

in an article written by a foaming right winger that had more lies and distortions per paragraph than Bush's SOTU. And the only people who are gonna buy it are the other foaming right wingers.

Bush and the Republicans had better start worrying about the attacks we're going to launch on them - about things that are happening right now - not 30 years ago.

[David Zephyr]

27. John Kerry: "I Am A Capitalist"

"I am a capitalist," Kerry said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-kerry8jan08,1,4796804.story?coll=la-headlines-business

[corporatewhore]

28. Oh thats a bunch of bs they will use his IWR vote to validate bush

[TexasSissy]

29. He can handle it. He's experienced, even tempered, and all the

rest. He has shown he is better at handling the media and attacks better than Dean. That's what over 20 years in public service will do for you.

Many awful things will be said about him, just as many awful things will be said about any of the candidates. It's the REACTION to it and the fighting back appropriately that counts. Kerry has done well so far. We'll see how he continues to do. Dean has failed that test. Clark (my guy) hasn't done well with that test, either. The others haven't been attacked much.