LA Times pays attention!!

[whometense]

Great article here: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-kerry20feb20,0,5894834.story?coll=la-home-politics

And check out this part:

Kerry also transferred $4 million to his Senate reelection committee, in case he decided to run again in 2008. Under Massachusetts law, he could seek both the presidency and a fifth term.)

Guess that takes care of that question?

"We raised more money than any Democratic campaign in history. We involved more volunteers than any campaign in history. I won more votes than any candidate on the Democratic side has ever won in history."

Which is why, some Democrats say, at the very least Kerry deserves to be considered again in 2008. "John Kerry came darn close," said Kathleen Sullivan, Democratic chairwoman in the lead primary state of New Hampshire. "Darn close. I think that makes a difference."

Kerry's advantages — near-universal name recognition, a vast fundraising base, a core of supporters in key states and the experience of having run before — may allow him to put off a decision on 2008 much longer than others. In last week's interview, he indicated he may not make up his mind much before 2007.

[JI7]

1. he is very ambitious

being a realist if he believes he wont be able to get it he wont run.

but if he believes there is any chance he can then i really think he will run. just knowing his history and how he is it's clear he wants to be president very much and he is willing to do the hard work and go through the difficult process.

in 2000 with Al Gore having been vice president under a president with a great record in terms of job approval he felt it was unlikely he could win. especially since the republicans were going after Clinton on his personal life and they would have brought up Kerry's dating days between first and second marriage and those rumors after marriage to teresa. this is one reason gore took him off the vp list.

but you know what, i seriously believe that if Kerry had tried in 2000 he could have won the nomination. i wont say i am 100 percent sure. but i think he would have done a lot better than Bill Bradley.

the frustrating thing about 2004 was that it was so close that a few simple things would have turned it in Kerry's favor.

another thing is that if Democrats are likely to get control of the Senate he might just want to stay in the Senate since when Ted Kennedy retires he will be senior senator of the majority party with a lot of seniority and therefore a lot of power. but i think he wants to be president more so if he thinks he can win he will go for it.

[TayTay]

9. What rumors?

JI7 wrote:
in 2000 with Al Gore having been vice president under a president with a great record in terms of job approval he felt it was unlikely he could win. especially since the republicans were going after Clinton on his personal life and they would have brought up Kerry's dating days between first and second marriage and those rumors after marriage to teresa. this is one reason gore took him off the vp list.

Ooooh, I never heard these rumors? The Rethugs couldn't bring up any womanizing rumors on Kerry last year because it went against the 'script' they had written for him. ("Kerry's a stiff, boring guy.") Hmmm, how odd. His image might have been improved (or complicated in the public mind) if he had had more colorful stories told about him. Well, that's a first! LOL!


I always wondered if we Massholes failed in this in some way. I know a lot of people who have good Kerry stories. But there is a real reluctance to tell them because they are not serious. (New England reserve, I guess.) aybe we should have. I truly believe that if Kerry runs again, you are going to see a lot more of the warm and fuzzy stories. (That will be extremely odd and unsettling.)

[JI7]

13. it includes the stuff that we know about

which is from when he was a SINGLE guy. so it shouldn't have been an issue. but i guess Gore and his people wanted to play the morals thing and they thought that part of his life would show him to be someone who can't really be trusted.

sadly, it kind of happened in 2004 also which all that crap about him marrying rich women. they tried to make him out to be some weak irresponsible type who was supported and controlled by rich women.

it was mostly pushed by the right wingers who would never support any democrat so i didn't take it too seriously but since Kerry is an unknown these things do have an affect on others also. they don't always totally believe it but since they don't really know Kerry there is something in the back of their mind like "well, what if there is some truth to it". this is why it was very important to get out what Kerry had done through the years and i think that's where we failed the most.

[ginnyinWI]

2. Go John!

I like the last line: that the voters "put the lie" to the idea that he didn't connect with them! I see a very confident man there! :)

[elshiva]

3. Woo Hoo! Smart, Smart man!

I guess he learned from the Edwards fiasco (we lost a great Senator, sob, sob). He certainly learns from his mistakes as well as other people's mistakes.
Oh, please God if Nixon can come back and win, why can't Kerry? Please God help him. Amen!

[sandnsea]

4. John Kerry just keeps being John Kerry

I think we should repeat what Bill Clinton said for the next four years. Because that's exactly what he does.

"I've got a lot of big issues on the table," he said in an interview last week. "I don't want them clouded by any politics."

And I'm fixin' to give old SC Harpoonman an earful. Lesson to southern democrats that you failed to learn from your mothers, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Or in the venacular, SHUT THE FUCK UP!!

[JI7]

5. when did Bill Clinton say that ?

and what was the context ?

i always thought Clinton understood Kerry well. i also think he likes and admires Kerry a lot also.

[sandnsea]

6. New Mexico, for one

Seems like I heard it a couple of other times late in the campaign. Part of his stump speech. I honestly can never figure out when Clinton is being sincere, so I don't know what he really thinks. But it's a great line!

Now this guy, I know he says exactly what's on his mind:

"I endorsed John Kerry a long time ago," he said, "and I will do everything in my power, short of roaming the streets with a meat hammer, to help him be the next president of the United States."

Which is true. I said all those things, and I will say them again. Of course I will vote for John Kerry. I have known him for 30 years as a good man with a brave heart."

Hunter S. Thompson
RIP

[JI7]

8. everyone who actually knows Kerry

really really likes him. i remember when Kerry was campaigning with Thompson last year and Kerry made some jokes about making Thompson his vp. Thompson was on Charlie Rose about 2 years ago and he said he didn't like Hillary. i was wondering if he had just become one of those leftists who complains about everything. but then i saw him campaiging with Kerry and the great things he said about him. it made me love Kerry even more.

i'm not surprised Thompson would commit suicide but it's still weird and sad that he isn't around anymore.

one reason i do believe Clinton is true when it comes to Kerry is because the words really do describe Kerry in an original or personal way. if he had just said "Kerry should be respected for serving the country" or something else similar then it would probably seem more like he was just saying something nice to be nice.

[whometense]

11. So, so sad.

I absolutely loved the piece Thompson wrote about JK in the Rolling Stone endorsement issue last fall.

Fear and Loathing, Campaign 2004

"Four more years of George Bush will be like four more years of syphilis," the famed author said yesterday at a hastily called press conference near his home in Woody Creek, Colorado. "Only a fool or a sucker would vote for a dangerous loser like Bush," Dr. Thompson warned. "He hates everything we stand for, and he knows we will vote against him in November."

Thompson, long known for the eerie accuracy of his political instincts, went on to denounce Ralph Nader as "a worthless Judas Goat with no moral compass."

"I endorsed John Kerry a long time ago," he said, "and I will do everything in my power, short of roaming the streets with a meat hammer, to help him be the next President of the United States."

*****

Which is true. I said all those things, and I will say them again. Of course I will vote for John Kerry. I have known him for thirty years as a good man with a brave heart -- which is more than even the president's friends will tell you about George W. Bush, who is also an old acquaintance from the white-knuckle days of yesteryear. He is hated all over the world, including large parts of Texas, and he is taking us all down with him.

Bush is a natural-born loser with a filthy-rich daddy who pimped his son out to rich oil-mongers. He hates music, football and sex, in no particular order, and he is no fun at all.

Whatever else you thought of the man or his lifestyle, he was an American original and a truthteller. RIP indeed.

[LittleClarkie]

7. You know what the ABBers would say

that most of the votes that he got were ABB, and that he really doesn't have that much support.

But, you know, they can never prove it. I ask them to, but they can't. Just because they and their ABB friends feel that way does NOT put them in the majority.

I do wish more around me felt he had a chance in 2008, though. It depresses me. I show off my wristband and don't get terribly enthusicastic responses.

I wish he didn't have to campaign. He may not be the best campaigner in the world, but damn, I still think he'd make a wonderful president.

It makes me wanna cry to think he may never get the chance.

Damn it! If it was truly stolen, I hope that fact comes out loud and clear in the next 4 years, so that people will feel like giving him a second chance.

[TayTay]

10. I think he may surprise a lot of folks

I don't think a new Kerry candicacy for '08 would be like the '04 one. It seems to me that Sen. Kerry has learned something from each race he has run and applied that lesson to the next race. He is a very, very tough and resilient man. I think Dems get used to the idea that if the Rethugs slimed you, then you sort of stay slimed and fold up and go away. Kerry has never been that sort of guy. He is adaptable and smart and I am very interested in seeing what he does.

It is highly likely (election fraud not withstanding) that the voters will want a change in '08 from the Rethugs they have now. (Rethug fatigue anyone?) I think it's smart of Kerry to try and position himself as the 'known' quantity in the next race, the one with a recognition factor. It will be interesting.

[ginnyinWI]

12. true, TayTay

John Kerry has a way of surprising people, doesn't he? They write him off, and he rises like a phoenix. He's politically smart--he learns, grows, adapts. He'd make sure he didn't look like "warmed- over 2004 Kerry" if he ran in 2008. He'll be looking for ways to get to his goal, and isn't afraid to break new ground politically. Somebody has to be first to run two consecutive races in a row, if it will ever get done.
Small minds have resisted JK's ideas all his life, and he's used to fighting for them. And now, if he wants the presidency in 2008, he'll have to go out and win it a second time. Was in JFK or RFK who said something like, "some people ask 'why'; and I say 'why not'?" That's the way JK is.

edit: I Googled RFK and found it:

<<Some men see things as they are and say, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"
Robert F. Kennedy, after George Bernard Shaw >>

[TayTay]

14. Kerry is already making a start of it

He was criticized during the campaign for being 'light' on legislation. (Which we know is not true.) So, he is starting to introduce the legislation that he promised he would during the campaign. He is one of the most knowledgeable people in DC on foreign policy and those credentials were burnished by the trip to the Middle East and by principled opposition to Condiliar and Torture Boy during their confirmation hearings. (Burnished for Dems, which is what matters at the moment.) He is wisely starting to spread around some of the leftover cash from the campaign. (Which I believe he is using as seed money for Dem organizations. I don't think he can transfer that to a PAC, but I'm not sure.)

Kerry will probably start to get more heavily into domestic issues and should also start talking up his achievements in tracking government corruption. All these things will make him a stronger candidate in '08. I know he hasn't officialy declared, but I got my eye on the trips to Iowa and New Hampshire and on where he sends his money. That will tell the tale.