"Kerry Campaign is Coming On Strong, Iowa Official Says"

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=1673&u_sid=962284

BY HENRY J. CORDES
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER



COUNCIL BLUFFS - Sen. John Kerry showed Wednesday that the talk that he is gaining momentum in Iowa is more than just talk.

More than 300 people turned out to hear the Democratic presidential candidate at a downtown community center. Several caucus watchers called the turnout one of the biggest in the Bluffs during this caucus campaign.

"People are beginning to look and say, 'Who can really be president?'" said the Massachusetts lawmaker. "We need to not just nominate somebody. We need to beat George Bush."

<>But both Mike Gronstal and Paul Shomshor, Democrats who represent Council Bluffs in the Iowa Legislature, say Kerry appears to be picking up steam and at the right time, with the caucuses now less than three weeks away.

"It's a very good crowd," Gronstal said. "Kerry is coming on strong toward the end."

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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

[La_Serpiente]

2. hey there, good morning

I'd stick my face in boiling water before I voted for Bush

Cheers :toast:
La_Serpiente

[BeyondGeography]

3. Let's come to our senses

How about a nominee with an admirable personal history who won't be cut to bits on national security and defense issues? How about not nominating another spoiled rich kid like Bush who was able to game the system to avoid Vietnam?

Kerry or Clark, please.

[HFishbine]

4. Kerry's net worth

more than Bush and Cheney combined.

[BeyondGeography]

5. As a human being?

I agree.

He's a rich kid who served his country with distinction while another rich kid went skiing.

[blm]

6. yet it never stopped him from doing the hard work

and public service that many avoided.

Besides, Bush and Cheney and the BFEE likely have billions stashed away.

[HFishbine]

10. The point is

it's hypocritical of Kerry supporters to try to impugne Dean because of his moderate wealth, when Kerry is the richest of all the candidates.

[BeyondGeography]

13. It's not his "moderate" wealth

It's his personal history, which will inspire more than a few voters to say: another rich liberal loud mouth Democrat who dodged the war.

And, by the way, my wife and I would have gladly accepted "moderate" gifts of $1 million from our parents when we were starting out.

[JI7]

11. also

he acknowledges the priveledges he had unlike many others. he doesn't claim to be just some regular guy like the fool in the white house who would be in prison if not for his family name and money. and unlike the fool he has a good record of being for the people from issues on civil rights, environment, economics etc.

[lurk_no_more]

41. Yes but did Kerry

have to share....share mind you, a room with a private nurse as a baby? I think not.



” JAFO”

[Octafish]

7. So what? Bush and Cheney have off-shore accounts...

... from the Caymans to Switzerland. Where do you think all that ENRON partnership loot went?

Regarding Kerry's wealth: He married it. Smart, huh?

[mouse7]

16. A candidate that voted GOP or married into GOP dynasty?

Kerry or Clark please.

[SayitAintSo]

8. Imagine - if Kerry pulled it out in Iowa - what would happen ?

What do you think ?

[CalProf]

12. If Kerry pulls it out in Iowa it's a new campaign

The media would parrot each other about the "comeback," and "what happened to Dean" and lots of folks in other states would rethink their choices. It would probably be healthier for the party and the eventual nominee for all this "the race is over" talk to end. It wouldn't hurt Dean all that much to lose Iowa, but it would help the other candidates if he were seen to be beatable.

[mouse7]

17. What if pigs sprouted wings and start to fly?

Just as likely.

[maddezmom]

29. I think you are on to something

no one thinks he's going to do well, so if he does it'll add a lot of life to his campaign. It ain't over til the fat lady sings. :)

[Raya]

56. Dean Campaign: "Kerry can't win, he is Bush-Lite" . Very predictable

[Raya]

57. Dean Campaign: "Kerry can't win, he is Bush-Lite" . Very predictable

And then spend 5mil on "non attack" attacks

[Octafish]

9. Iowans are smart people.

Most aren't fooled by talk. They want to see the record for production before they buy. And that is why Kerry is coming on so strong — they are discovering he really is the Real Deal.

[mouse7]

18. Yep... that's why Dean is leading in all the polls.

Kerry's numbers are in freefall. Not one poll presented in the article that Kerry's freefall is changed. It's all spin. If Kerry had polls trending his direction, he would have presented those polls.

[Octafish]

58. Iowans will change their minds when they hear Dean dodged the draft.

Iowa DEMs know that national security will play a major role in the next election. Dean has zero credentials in that field. Dean's back wasn't good enough for the Army, but it was good enough for the moguls all winter. In a general election, that spells loser. Why? Smart people call that draft dodging.

[maddezmom]

32. yes, they are smart

I've got a little bias, because my dad and his family are from Newton IA, home of Maytag Bleu Cheese and grew up in Independence MO. A few other attributes to my relatives, they are deliberative, stubborn, hardworking, compassionate and honest (sometimes brutally).

[Octafish]

59. Dr. Bock gave my grandfather an extra five years.

Born and bred in Iowa, this surgeon helped my grandfather fight pancreatic cancer in the early 1970s. He worked in Michigan for most of his career. And his family is full of great people. So, yeah, I also love Iowa and Iowans.

[elfin]

14. Kerry's a good guy BUT

I do not think he can overcome the machinations of the caucus format which favor Gephardt and Dean. It is make or break in NH.

I like Kerry - alot - but have switched to Clark due to Kerry's campaign strategy weaknesses and his overlong responses to queries, while on the mark, cannot make this soundbite age. He cannot shake the "Boston Brahmin" image which appeals to me, but not the general electorate.

[sandnsea]

15. Kerry is winning the IA union vote

In the last PEW poll. If you watch C-Span, you'll see his supporters are the most regular people you'd ever come across. Definitely not Boston Brahmin. Not nimby yuppies. Just regular people, like the Firefighters Union for one. And I think the caucus format is going to help him tremendously when other candidates' supporters don't break 15% and they go to their second choice. Alot of those people are going to go Kerry. It'll be an interesting few weeks I think.

[Gloria]

19. Elfin, I was a Kerry fan first....then after a brief looksee at Dean, I

committed to Clark. For awhile I would watch Kerry at a small group event and swing back to Kerry (from Dean). I would vote for Kerry in a heartbeat in the general election, and wouldn't have to hold my nose.

The man's long overall record is admirable and O'Reilly can't give him any crap, which is what really endeared Kerry to me a year ago.

I see Clark as have the military cred, as Kerry does, plus positions which are liberal. Clark, as an administrator responsible for many service people and their quality of life conditions, has the extra edge in terms of executive experience. In fact, in Waging Modern War, which I just took out of the library, there are more pictures of him behind a desk than in combat fatigues. In one he's sitting behind Ike's huge desk, signing papers and looks ....presidential!

[quinnox]

20. Excellent

Go Kerry!

[unfrigginreal]

21. Kerry, himself gives the best reason why he shouldn't be elected

Kerry said any time a president takes a nation to war, he should be able to look into the eyes of a parent who has lost a son or daughter in the fighting and honestly say there was no other choice because of the risk that the nation faced.

I wonder if Kerry can "look into the eyes of a parent who has lost a son or daughter" and honestly say that he had no choice but to give war authorization to GWB.

[isbister]

22. Re: Kerry, himself gives the best reason why he shouldn't be elected

I wonder if Kerry can "look into the eyes of a parent who has lost a son or daughter" and honestly say that he had no choice but to give war authorization to GWB.

I don't get it. Why wouldn't Kerry be able to explain his vote and look anyone in the eye?

Have you read the IWR?

http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/text/1010res.htm

[unfrigginreal]

24. Ask Kerry...here's how his explanation went over with a family member...

of three servicemen.


At a campaign rally in the central Iowa town of Jefferson, Michael Thompson, 15, told Kerry that he has three brothers serving in the military. Then he asked if Kerry knew then what we know now - that weapons of mass destruction would not be found and that the aftermath of the war would go badly - would Kerry still vote for the war resolution?

In his six-minute, 33-second response, Kerry blamed the president for misleading Congress and Dean for playing politics with the issue. It was not the clear cut answer the boy wanted.

"He weaseled out of it," he said when Kerry had gone.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Nation/8640C296DFD83F9C86256E100026BADF?OpenDocument&Headline=%22Perfect+Storm%22+may+rain+on+Gephardt's+parade

[mouse7]

26. The only section that mattered was allowing Dumbya to invade

Kerry says he believed Dumbya about the WoMD. That alone disqualifies Kerry from being President. The evidence that Iraq was no threat was there for Will Pitt, a first time writer, to find (Scott Ritter). Why couldn't Kerry?

[WiseMen]

27. Kerry was MUCH MORE AGAINST WAR than Dean. He bothered to say it:

On Senate floor, in public speeches, in delilberations with security coucil memebers.

Dean just USED the war in shameful and calculating way to co-opt the anti-war movement which was much more the constituency of a Kerry, a Sharpton, a Kucinich .. , that Governor Dean.

Please compare the lifetime records.

[mouse7]

31. Kerry talks one way, votes the other

This is standard behavior for Kerry. Kerry either want to be on both sides of an issue or neither side. He talks endlessly and says nothing.

Bullshit that Kerry was against the war. KERRY VOTED TO ALLOW DUMBYA INVADE IRAQ. That's all that matter, and all the whining and posing, along with $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee.

KERRY VOTED TO INVADE IRAQ. Learn it. Love it. Live it.

[zulchzulu]

33. Dean talks any way that gets him attention

Dean was for the IWR at the time the vote was up in October 2002. He would have voted for it if he had been in the Senate or Congress based on his opinions at the time. He was even for a unilateral strike in February 2003 if need be based on an interview in Salon.

Here's what Joe Biden said about voting for the IWR at the time:

"Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat who initially criticized the war powers resolution as too broad, said he decided to back it "because we should support compelling Iraq to make good on its obligations to the United Nations."

Biden also said "a strong vote in Congress increases the prospect for a tough new U.N. resolution on weapons inspections, which in turn decreases the prospects of war."

http://www.rense.com/general30/grant.htm

Dean was nowhere to be found during the anti-war protests leading up to the war in March.

Kerry is on record telling Bush not to strike unilaterally in Iraq.

Listen to an MP3 file of Kerry warning Bush not to go it alone in Iraq on March 1, 2003:
http://www.writersact.com/kerry/media/kerry-war.mp3

[mouse7]

44. You spin any way that might attain distraction

Kerry voted for the invasion of Iraq.

Kerry voted for the invasion of Iraq.

Kerry voted for the invasion of Iraq.

Kerry voted for the invasion of Iraq.

[blm]

37. You're blaming him for supporting the same measure Dean did.

Dean took the voters' ignorance of the his support for Biden-Lugar and used IWR to hammer the others and paint himself as antiwar.

He lied about and demagogued such an importanr issue for his own selfish gain.

[mouse7]

42. Where's that complete link I asked for?

I keep asking for a link that to an in-context source where Dean says he supported Biden-Lugar.

No cut-n-pastes. I want to see the quote in it's proper context.

Transcript of complete press release will do.

[blm]

62. You got it in the other thread...now what do you think?

It seems to me it should matter that he actually supported the very authority for Bush to go to war that YOU and he criticized others.

[lurk_no_more]

50. Dean says he wouldn't have signed the IWR

Much easier to say you wouldn't have done something when you wern't given the opportunity to do it.

If we're to believe dean by what he's said and what he's done and what he says now, we should believe he wouldn't have signed the IWR why?

I'm sorry, we already have one of those in the White House now.


” JAFO”

[Scott Lee]

39. And now for the facts

John Kerry voted for the IWR, the act which gave Bush more latitude to make unilateral war on Iraq than the Biden/Lugar Resolution. Kerry did this because it is indicative of Kerry's longevity in Congress. He makes the safe votes to keep his own but in the chair, no matter what the cost to the nation. I would have had much more respect for John Kerry had he voted against authorizing the chimp to make war on Iraq - this braver stance having been taken by Dennis Kucinich.

I'm sorry, John, the train left. Better luck next time.

[blm]

23. Untrue. That resolution should have been used as ALL resolutions are used,

to coerce compliance and exhaust diplomatic means FIRST.

Bush already HAD the votes for full war WITHOUT more inspections or ANY presentation of evidence and to extend the arena to Iran and Syria. Those Dems who bothered to negotiate used their votes as the price to keep Bush from having the REAL blank check he wanted.

btw...Dean supported a resolution that ALSO allowed Bush to make the final determination for use of force, even if unilateral. All Bush had to do in B-L was send a note to Congress announcing his determination.

[mouse7]

28. EVERYBODY knew it wouldn't be anything but invasion.

Even the dingbats in the corporate media said that Congress was voting on giving Dumbya the green light to invade Iraq.

Any other answer is SPIN.

[blm]

34. You said the only section that matters is the one that gave Bush the

authority to invade. That SAME section was supported by Howard Dean in Biden-Lugar.

Funny how you ignore that section and its importance in regard to Dean's support for it.

[mouse7]

48. I'm so sorry. That's incorrect. We have lovely parting gifts for you. n/t

[blm]

64. Please explain what is incorrect.

With a real answer.

[arewethereyet]

25. I've been saying all along to expect the unexpected.

the, uh, "Reubanesque" lady is not even warming up as yet

[saltpoint]

30. What would happen if --

-- Bill Weld flew out to Des Moines, held a press conference, and endorsed John Kerry?

[blm]

35. Whaaaa?????

How cool would that be? Very cool. Weld is one of the best loved liberal-leaning Republicans in modern GOP history. Clinton really liked Bill Weld.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

45. And imagine if Rand Beers joined him!

OMG!

[babzilla]

51. how about a triple threat

with the addition of Gary "I betrayed Dean's confidence by making fun of the fact that he deigned to consult me on foreign policy" Hart.

The Iowa race would never be the same I tell ya.

[blm]

63. Yuk it up you two.

.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

36. What do the latest polls say?

[Lobo_13]

38. oh oh oh I know

Kerry is hemoraghing support at a rate of one point per day.

But down is up, bad is good, and Kerry voted for the war even though he supposedly didn't support it.

[lurk_no_more]

40. This is great

Kerry is a fighter, he know it ain't over till it's over.

Go John!


” JAFO”

[maddezmom]

49. Kerry is a fighter

he's been fighting for the little guy all his life. It ain't over til the fat lady sings............... :)

[blm]

43. This voter says a mouthful here....

>>>>
Jim Schwartz of Council Bluffs went to the event looking for a candidate. Afterward, he said that he felt he had found one.

"I just came to see if I liked what I heard, and I did," Schwartz said. "He can disagree with Bush on national security concerns, and it's very legitimate."

[mouse7]

46. That's the best you've got?

A voter?

You have no polls because all the polls are against you, showing a freefall. The Kerry campaign has devolved into the political version of a rip-off weight loss product campaign...

Jim S. Of Council Bluffs lost 42 pounds, "I think Kerrybushlite is the greatest weight loss product ever made."

[lurk_no_more]

52. All the polls say bush wins

Are you saying the polls are picking your candidate?



” JAFO”

[adadem]

54. Polls

have been wrong before. Kerry is "polling" second in IA. If he does very well in IA I think we see a big change elsewhere. This goes for Gephardt, too. I think Clark was wrong not to run in IA.

[aldian159]

60. I know this has been said

but wait until a vote is cast. Then come back to me, either way.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

47. Jim Schwartz and someone else will make two.

Can Weld vote in Iowa? :shrug:

[saltpoint]

53. Weld can't vote in --

--Iowa, no. I just meant that someone with his considerable chops would be a persuasive presence for Kerry's campaign. I thought Bill Weld would defeat Kerry in that Massachusetts Senate race. When Kerry won, I was impressed, but still remembered how many independent voters Weld attracted.

There're "blue" Republicans like Bill Weld and Lincoln Chafee and Olympia Snowe, and then there are "red" Democrats like Zell Miller and Ralph Hall.

I like the first group.

[adadem]

55. I like

Lincoln Chaffee quite a bit...even if he is a Republican.

[stickdog]

61. "Kerry's campaign is DOA, California pundit claims." (nt)

[TLM]

65. Kerry is anti- due process... that's not strength

that's brutality.

[blm]

66. Dean tended to agree with Bush on TIPS.

Dean also said in Vermont he'd appoint common sense judges who didn't worry about "technicalities"....THAT you support?

Kerry is for due process, he just doesn't understand why Dean would think Saddam NEEDS a trial before he can say he's guilty when there are decades of documentation of his guilt.

Dean was fine with use of force to invade Iraq based on Saddam's guilt, but he can't say Saddam is guilty in public?

He had no problem with attacking poor defendants in Vermont and criticizing the lawyers who defended them.

http://www.ntimc.org/newswire.php?story_id=129

Rutland Herald, Wednesday, July 30, 1997

GOVERNOR’S COURT PICKS STIR CRITICS

By Diane Derby

Vermont Press Bureau

MONTPELIER – As Gov. Howard B. Dean was mulling his second appointment to the Vermont Supreme Court earlier this month, he made little effort to mask his distaste for some of the court’s recent decisions.

>>>>>>>
“I’m looking to steer the court back towards consideration of the rights of the victims”, Dean said three weeks ago in a radio interview with Bob Kinzel of the Vermont News Service. “I’m looking to make it easier to convict guilty people and not have as many technicalities interfere with justice, and I’ll appoint someone to fit that bill”.

Asked if that reflected a “get-tough-on-crime” approach, Dean responded: “I’m looking for someone who is for justice. My beef about the judicial system is that it does not emphasize truth and justice over lawyering. It emphasizes legal technicalities and rights of the defendants and all that.”

Such comments may play well with the general public, but they have sent a chill through the collective spine of lawyers – particularly defense lawyers – around the state.

Throughout his six-year tenure, Dean’s public chiding of the judiciary has led many lawyers to question the doctor-governor’s grasp of constitutional law. In their eyes, Dean views the protections contained in the Bill of Rights as mere “technicalities”.

>>>>>>
“Dean is just ignorant. I don’t think he understands what judges ought to do.” Says Michael Mello, a Vermont Law School professor who teaches advanced courses in constitutional law. “He perceives the Supreme Court as being broken in some way and sees himself on a mission to fix it.”

>>>>>>

And from Thom Hartmann who has recently moved this article off his site:

OUR GOVERNMENT NEEDS GOOD CITIZENS

By Thom Hartmann

>>>>>>>
In July of 1997, Vermont governor Howard Dean announced that he wanted to appoint to the Vermont Supreme Court a justice who would consider “common sense more important than legal technicalities” and “quickly convict guilty criminals.”

It’s probably a testimonial to the good job public education has done in Vermont that there wasn’t a public uprising against him ( although the Montpelier letters-to-the-editor section was filled with invective for several weeks). Certainly this is a statement that would not have been acceptable to the people who made Vermont the second independent Caucasian-run nation in North America (after Texas). The founding fathers of Vermont, which dropped its independent-nation status to become the USA’s 14th state in 1779, knew all too well the dangers of a government unconstrained by the “technicalities” of the law. They’d seen it when the British forced them to house their soldiers, shot or hung them for speaking out against the King, and allowed them to engage in commerce or own property only if they gave a portion of their wealth to England. They realized that the government has most of the guns and all of the power, and that it’s only “legal technicalities” which keep any government at bay. They fought and many of them died to put those “technicalities” into place. When politicians like Dean call for “swift and certain conviction of the guilty” (which actually means “swift and certain conviction of the accused, since a person is only guilty when they’ve been convicted … at least as of the date of this writing) in the courts of the state “regardless of technicalities,” I imagine our founding fathers roll over in their graves.
>>>>>>