Kerry's Press Release on today's Election Reform Press Conference

[kerrygoddess]

More Election Reform Press Conference News…
17 February 2005

Just posted at John Kerry’s Senate website, the following press release on today’s upcoming election reform press conference.

Statement from Senator John Kerry on election reform. Today, he will participate in a press conference on Capitol Hill at 12:45 in Russell 188 with Senators Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio).

Thursday, February 17, 2005

“Free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy. In the last year, millions more Americans registered and went to the polls than ever before. We saw millions in Iraq and Afghanistan vote for the first time in their lives. Yet, thousands upon thousands of Americans still fear that when they walk into the polls to vote, there is a very real chance that their vote will not be counted or they will lose the opportunity to vote at all because they are forced to stand in line for hours due to a shortage of machines.

“Faulty voting machines have no place in the greatest democracy on earth. Barriers to voting are an insult to the freest, greatest nation in the world.

More - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=385

[Catamount]

1. Thanks! n/t

[flordehinojos]

2. i voted for kerry, i gave him my support after howard dean was knocked out

of the race in the primaries or the run-up to the primaries... i think that during the campaign he was able to soften his "I", "I", "I", ARROGANT projection to a more group inclusive, congenial one --- but here again, didn't he get the message? doesn't he know HE was not elected? He obviously did get the message. He conceded within a FEW SHORT HOURS of the election...so WHAT IS HE NOW DOIGN UPSTAGING STUBBS JONES, BOXER AND CLINTON? Kerry ought to learn to sit down, be quiet, and take his loss with a grain of salt up to and including such a time, if ever, when he is called upon to take the "I" position once again. Those ladies ought not let Kerry upstage them. They ought to ask him to find his own forum to speak out. You know it is sort of like that part in a wedding ceremony which goes "...speak now or forerever hold your peace". Well, Kerry's "speak up now moment" was on November 3rd. He chose not to. He ought to just now shut up and hold his peace.

[Demit]

3. why do you take this as an upstaging of anybody? He's joining with them.

I for one would not want to see ANY Democratic senator "sit down and be quiet". What a ridiculous idea in this time of crisis in our country. I understand your anger at his quick concession, but wanting him to wait to be "called upon" would be the waste of a perfectly good senator who is still able to do a hell of a lot of good for the country.

[Dr Ron]

4. Absurd

Kerry did the right thing. Boxer and others requested that he remain out of the spotlight initially so that this would be a battle over election reform long term, not a question of whether Kerry beat Bush.

If posed as a Kerry vs. Bush battle, we will not attract Bush voters. This needs to be a battle over general principles for future elections,not a debate over the past.

Now that Bush has been sworn in, and there is no question of changing the last election result, Kerry is free to join in with them--having relevant personal experience.

[Klimmer]

7. Totally agree Dr. Ron . . .

Kerry was on the job. He was there to support and nudge lawsuits and investigations but doing so in the background. He was asked by fellow Democrat Senators to not be directly involved in the Jan. 6th contest of the Ohio electors. He supported their efforts by written statement while he was in the Middle East. He said that he would support and push for Election Reform and he is.

For anyone who says they don't think Kerry knows that this election was stolen then you are sadly ignorant. He knows. Read the interview Will Pitt had with Cameron Kerry, after the election. JK knows he just can't come out and say it without proof that can stand up in a court of law. Hopefully, one day we will have all the this absolute proof we need. There is so much evidence and signs that point the way, but we all know how cooperative the GOP Rethugs are.

Kerry has always had our backs. I supported him, I still support him, and if he runs for President again, I will vote for him in a heart beat. No one else is as Presidential as John Kerry. If you don't know him, then get to know him. Read the books, see the the DVDs, get to know a "real" President. He has my respect.

[fasttense]

11. Yeah, and Kerry's non participation after the election was the excuse the

corporate media needed to marginalize the election fraud.

[Dr Ron]

22. There would be no discussion of election fraud if Kerry was there

If Kerry was there, the media would have covered it as purely a matter of trying to overturn the election results, and long term efforts at election reform would have gone no where.

[Laurab]

14. Absurd, indeed, thanks Dr Ron

In my opinion Kerry is doing exactly what he should be doing. He does indeed have "relevant personal experience", and I would guess he feels quite strongly about the issue.

That is a great group of people, and I am really glad he was there.

[Catamount]

6. Please remember WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE HERE!

[TayTay]

8. Ahm, didn't they invite him to come over n/t

[smartvoter]

10. Wow. There is still so much Kerry anger out here. I'm over mine. nt

[ginnyinWI]

19. no anger here either

I trusted him when I voted for him, and I trusted him right after the election, and I still trust him. He's trustworthy, people. He's out there every day doing his job for the American people to the best of his ability. He has enough coming at him from the Right; please cut him some slack on the Left.

[zulchzulu]

15. Kerry mentioned this during his campaign and immediately after 11/2

It's not news...but he is bringing it up again so that something might actually get done by 2006.

Stop dissing kerry for doing his job, ferchrissakes.

[Lisabtrucking]

5. There is a lot of fixing to do, and we need to support him.

<>

[politicasista]

9. I agree. He is doing something and you are slamming him for it.

:hi:

[fasttense]

12. Yeah, he is doing something, now.

[merh]

17. yeah and wtf are you doing but

whining? Would you like some chesse with your whine?

[Chicago1]

13. Senator Kerry is the BEST!! I believe in him!!! :)

Senator Kerry is wonderful. One day in the next four years, he WILL BE PRESIDENT. This is going to take some time to get rid of these criminals. They're A VERY SLIPPERY BUNCH TO DEAL WITH. We will get them!!!


Waiting for the IMPEACHMENT WHILE THE SCANDALS KEEP UNFOLDING!!
http://usaworkstories.blogspot.com
America's Work Stories

[Peace Patriot]

16. The important thing will be how much support these national leaders...

...give to state election reform movements, because that's where the fight is going to be won or lost. Unless some miracle occurs and they are able to gain support from whatever real Republicans there might be left in Congress (fiscal conservatives unhappy with the Bush Cartel, etc.), they just don't have the votes. The BushCons in Congress quite deliberately and methodically destroyed our right to vote. They are not going to give it back. And they are not embarrasable or shameable. They are shameless. They don't care what anybody thinks. They are not into good government (indeed, it's laughable even to have to say this.)

They will gut these bills.

So it will come down to the grass roots and ordinary people, to push our more local representatives to act--that is, if the national Democrats don't get fooled or corrupted into reducing state power over election rules. (What happens in Congress could be far worse than nothing.)

See the Georgia thread! THEY'RE making progress. But Calif. has been set back, significantly.

Ah, me. But these national leaders jawboning doesn't hurt. Public education on this issue is vital. And I think it does A LOT OF GOOD for people to be hearing Kerry say it. Many people know the election was crap, and they sure must have been wondering what he thinks. This tells them at least that he sees the problem.

Kerry is one of the few of the national leadership that I feel compassion toward--maybe the only one. He was personally in one hell of a spot on 11/3. At that point--having been silent all along about Wally O'Dell and H. Ahmanson counting all our votes in secret, as was the entire Dem leadership--his choices were extremely limited, and all bad. And I'm sure he thought he chose the least bad, silence.

Please keep in mind what we are dealing with there: vicious, rotten to the core, mass murderers, torturers, assassins, and thieves of billions and billions and billions of dollars, who have just completed the fascist coup they started four years ago. Need to keep that in mind in evaluating Dem leaders' behavior.

They just destroyed Diebold's main opponent among all the Sec's of State--using CA Democratic leaders to do so. Corruption? Blackmail? Fiefdomism? Fear? Blindness? Stupidity? Who knows?

It's sometimes very hard to see what's really going on--is all I'm saying--in this Byzantium of poisonings and backstabbings that the Bush Cartel has created.

Of one thing I'm certain: restoring our right to vote is up to US. We can't count on any leaders to do it for us. We have to be on it every minute (collectively--I don't mean individuals should ruin their health over it!) until it's done. And then we have to start cleaning house.

[Trish1168]

18. I agree...this is a state by state FIGHT

The GOP are not going to do anything but insure a way to cheat. If they pass a law (which they will likely do, in order to upstage the dems) it will be full of loop holes. The won't pass a law unless they've figured out a way around it.

I'm in Mass, and Kerry is my Senator. I feel priviledged to be in a blue state, because I don't have to argue with my senators and reps. But, that doesn't mean that I don't want to protect the vote here. I worry, because one of the swift boat guys wants to run against Kerry in the senate race. What bothers me is this....either this guy has amazing hubris or he feels like they can rig the election to win, even in Mass.

Kerry is still appreciated here, despite that polls show that most in Mass don't want him to run for president again (that's only because they're not sure he can win it...but he's still popular here and will easily win a senate race).

I will contact my state party, to see what, if anything, they are doing to protect our vote (we use hand counted paper and some optical scans).

The grass roots start with me!! And you!!

[politicasista]

20. Thanks for posting this

I guess we may never know what kind of president Kerry would have been. :cry:

[Imagevision]

21. It's absurd to not declare the day a holiday to enable folks to

be able to vote.

Or as the intelligent Ukrainians did, they re-voted on the weekend.

Who dictates it must be held on a weekday

who dictates it musn't be held on the weekend.

Who decided the polls must close at a given time.

The system is set-up to fail!

We're deciding on the leader of the country for chrisakes!