I'm so excited - I got my star, and I can join you Kerry-iacs!

[jillan]

I've been reading this DU group for months, and decided to donate, so I could join too to talk about one of my favorite subjects - KERRY!!!!

To say hi to all of you, I have some eye-candy to share-



Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is seen boating with his family in Massachussetts at age 6. Kerry grew up the son of a career diplomat father and well-off mother, bouncing from Swiss to New England boarding schools.

[jillan]

1. His first campaign trail - 1984

[jillan]

2. Awwww

[MH1]

26. The bottom two are especially great.

I can't decide which of them I like better. I remember hearing some b.s. being spewed that JK and Teresa didn't have a 'warm' relationship or something. Yeah, sure. The level republicans will stoop to! Anyway I've seen plenty of pictures like this and I always feel somehow vindicated.

Thanks for posting them!

[jillan]

3. My favorite of them all

I think his daughters are great!
Along with his sons-in-law :9

[JI7]

4. welcome

you totally fit right into this group.

[jillan]

5. Thanks!

One of the few places left where I can be a Kerry-fan in peace. I think I'm gonna like it here.:grouphug:

[whometense]

6. Welcome!

Sorry it's so quiet here tonight, but as you know it isn't always this way!

[elshiva]

8. Barbara Boxer is great woman and leader! Yes, I signed the memo!

:grouphug:

[whometense]

15. Here's a welcome wagon gift.

John campaigning in his first congressional race, circa 1972.

[jillan]

23. Look at that face!

Such innocence.

How could anyone say no to him?

[karynnj]

25. Ironic comment given the race

But he really does look so sincere and clean cut (this was 72! ) It's hard to believe that people fell for all those nasty dirty tricks. Although I wonder if he would have won if he would have done better or worse. One guess his life would have possibly been easier but possibly less successful. If elected to the house, he might never have gone to law school, or had the experience of being a prosecutor - which greatly influenced him and gave him valuable skills. Possibly he might have tried to get the Senate seat earlier. (Didn't Tsongus run successfully in 74 for the seat Kerry lost in 72) In which case, he could have win or lose.

If Kerry did go to the Senate in 78(?) (when Tsongus did), and if this change of winning in 1972 put less stress on his wife, it might have caused him and Julia to stay together. He would have a lot more congressional experience and he might have run in the 1992 primary. Tsongus wouldn't be there to run. Alternative Kerry, with his attractive family and background might have been real competition for Bill Clinton. (Kerrey may have deferred to Kerry rather than the other way around.)

[jillan]

31. Oops - that's the race he lost -

I wasn't thinking about that.
Just looking at how young and handsome he looked in the pic.

I think about that race alot. How he lost, figured out what went wrong, and came back and kicked some butt. I'm hoping for a repeat.

[TayTay]

36. That was an interesting race

Kerry first thought about running in 70 but dropped out. (That race was eventually won by Father Robert Drinan who was a superb Congressman, until JPII forced him to quit politics. Sigh!)

Kerry was just a young kid back then. He made mistakes, most of them due to naivete. He did go district shopping in MA, (3 districts) and settled on the very economically depressed and blue-collar 5th Congressional district whose biggest city is Lowell. (Rox grew up in Lowell, she might remember more than me. I grew up near Salem, so I don't remember first-hand as well, though I have heard stories.)

I don't know if Kerry could have taken out Ed Brook the way Paul Tsongas did. My hubbie worked on that campaign. Brook was and is a deeply respected man. He was an African-American Republican who worked on and lent a great deal of respect to the effort to get Nixon out during Watergate. Mr. Brook was and is a great man. (You used to have great Repubs, but not any more.) '78 was a funny year in MA. Dukakis lost the Gov's race in a fiery primary to Ed King who was a flaming idiot.

The worst thing about that 72 race was how much of the mud-slinging that first came up then was still around last year. The same group of jerks who red-baited him in 72 were still using the same mud all these years later. It's sad.

[elshiva]

7. Welcome, hon. Greetings from the Old Line State, Maryland!

I love those pictures..

How about this one... When he was assistant to the DA...

[MH1]

9. Welcome from PA! Great pics!

I just got my star a couple days ago too!

It's great to see the group growing. Good sign of things to come!

:toast:

[jillan]

10. Looks like we have alot in common!

Both newbies here, and already in the John Kerry group:toast:

[Pirate Smile]

11. Welcome, awww. I love that picture.

I'll add something.

[wisteria]

12. Welcome and hello!

Great pictures everyone! Thank you!

[Island Blue]

13. Welcome Pirhana!

I just received my star last week and was initiated into this group on Friday night - I think I caught everyone on "Lust After John Kerry Night". Great pics by the way!

[TayTay]

14. Welcome Pirhana

So, tell us a bit about yourself. Who are ya, where ya from, how goes it with you?

I'm TyTay and I'm from Mass. I hang out here because everyone is so wicked intelligent, charming, welcoming and passionate. It's home on DU.

[jillan]

22. I was reading... that's when I decided to join too!

And when I saw Kerry's picture when he was 6, I was on paypal...no more procrastinating!

[ginnyinWI]

27. if you liked that one, try this one:

<img src="" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

age 12, I think it said. :)

[jillan]

38. Awww

such a cute kid!

[muse]

24. Isn't every night

Lust After John Night here on the Kerry forum? If not, it should be!

:)

[whometense]

28. It certainly is.

But we try to restrain ourselves. ;-)


CALLIE SHELL / AURORA FOR TIME


Cloistered from the TV cameras and delegates, John Kerry takes a final pause with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry before she leaves to sit in the family box. In less than 10 minutes, he will enter the arena of Boston's FleetCenter to accept the Democratic Party's nomination for President

[politicasista]

29. The REAL first couple

:cry:

[MH1]

30. Awwww...

That's so neat.

Nice way to end the night for me...G'nite all. More fun tomorrow!

[Island Blue]

32. I LOVE that photograph!

There is just something about it that's so sweet. It's like they're gaining strength from each other just by touching.

[jillan]

39. Thanks for posting this picture!

I think that Kerry was brilliant that nite!

AND when I look at that picture, I feel so much emotion. You can feel the love, the trust, the strength... along with the tension of that moment.

I still have that nite - well Kerry's speech, recorded.

I find Kerry one of the most inspiring speakers there are. And I could never figure out how anyone could say he doesn't connect with his audience. When Kerry speaks, I am motionless. And I have noticed that with other people.

[rox63]

16. Welcome to DU and the John Kerry group

Always happy to have more Kerry fans aboard. :hi: :grouphug:

[karynnj]

17. Welcome Pirhana, Island Blue, and MH1

This group is really growing. It's the nicest group I've found on DU by far. Also it may be the only group I've seen where disscussions - even with divergent opinions - stay discussions rather than turning into middle school level name calling.

[beachmom]

18. Thanks for the pics and welcome!

I'm fairly new, too. This forum is great because it's largly not an attack forum. Everyone shows everyone else mutual respect, even if we disagree. Kind of like the subject of the forum!

[politicasista]

19. Welcome beachmom and pirhana!

:hi:

[Island Blue]

20. Welcome Beachmom!

I'm new here too and I'm right down the road from you on the OBX. Hot enough for you today?

[Fla4kerry]

21. Welcome

Welcome to everyone. I know you will like this forum. I know I enjoy it. I am from HOT, HUMID Fla, where we are hell bent on turning Florida Blue in 06 !!!!

[TayTay]

33. Welcome, Welcome

It's wonderful to be attracting so many new people (who aren't opposed to our many-fold purpose here.)

BTW newbies, That LLL that you hear referred to around here stands for:

Libidinous Liberal Lasses Love Looking Longingly at Lanky Leaders.

(It was an alliterative moment in time. I know it should be LLLLLLLL, but that is simply overdone and tacky.) Libidinous was chosen because freepers wouldn't know what it meant.

Again, a great and deep welcome to you all. It's nice to hear that so many of you are returnees of a sort from the old KerryBlog. (I never used a blog in my life before last Nov.)

[MH1]

37. Thanks for that!

I was guessing, "liberally lusting ladies". Too easy I guess.

[beachmom]

34. Hi Island Blue!

OBX are gorgeous! Yeah, killer hot, but it is, after all, June in the South. It's a) nice to be in touch with other Kerry fans and b) to be in touch with other Dems in the South, which is SUCH a red area. It makes me feel like I'm not alone! Thanks guys.

[BlueIris]

35. Yes, welcome. We're a nice bunch of folks.

:-)