dkos post on JK MTP appearance

[MH1]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/9/11742/45290

Positive so far but there is bitching about his answer on impeachment (which I thought was spot on)

[ginnyinWI]

1. A good morning!

Damn, he's good. So smart and competent--and hopefully a lot of voters will see this. I mean, I wanted to just cry, thinking about the president we could have right now. I know we all know this, but it was brought home to me again today.

I just don't see any Dem out there who can speak as authoritatively on the issue of Iraq, who knows his stuff like John Kerry.

Tim Russert made every effort to show him to be inconsistent. But the fact is that when you base your policies around facts and realities, then they have to change as the situation does. Only when your policies are ideologically driven can you keep them the same (and then they are useless because they are impractical).

Kerry gets a 10 out of 10 for this one. :loveya:

[MH1]

2. Yes, I thought he was just great.

Just great.

:loveya:

[benny05]

3. Good Interview

But didn't Russert ask the most stupid question related to censure:


R: Do you support censure?

JK: yes

R: Penalty?

JK: Censure itself; a reprimand.

Jeepers, Russert. Didn't you know that censure is just a reprimand?

To quote the thread leader here, Kerry was spot on. And I really appreciated his answers about the campaign trail. I still just shake my head and wonder how 59 million voters could be so stupid and 2,300+ US service men and women wouldn't be dead.




:kick:

[ginnyinWI]

4. I know

Is he lazy, or just trying to play the part of a stupid viewer??
And his questions about JK's previous statements--can't he think of anything better to ask?? :nopity:

[Mass]

5. TR was out to get Kerry today.

Between the quotes from the last few years about Iraq, asking him if he regretted his vote on Iraq (question that Kerry answered time and time again, including last fall on MTP), the stupid questions about the 04 campaign, ... Nasty bastard.

The good news is that Kerry handled that very well, and certainly won points on all these issues by answering straightforwardly, accepting responsibility for his errors and also pointing at others' errors.

He also defended Reid and the Democrats on the immigration question masterfully. The reporters who said during the campaign Kerry did not know how the Senate works are idiots. He knows it inside out.

[benny05]

6. He Does Know the Senate Rules Very Well

I do think Russert was a little more respectful than George S though. Kerry was ready for this interview; the op-ed piece led the discussion, serving Kerry well.

Kerry is a damn good debater. My spouse, who is not a Kerry or Edwards supporter, thought Kerry performed well this morning and that his senatorial experience was well-illustrated.

[ProSense]

7. I missed both JK's appearances

Read through the thread at Kos. Seems the critics want to focus on the impeachment response, which means Kerry must have done well. I can't wait to see the transcript.

[Inuca]

8. I also...

.... missed the Russert appearnace, just finished viewing it on MTP's web site, they do a good job with that. CNN had a replay of the Thursday interview. BTW, the MTP interview was great, one of the best if not the best I have seen.

[ProSense]

9. Found it. Thanks! n/t

[beachmom]

10. MTP will repeat tonight on CNBC or MSNBC (not sure which)

So if you get cable, check it out -- Kerry was just fantastic. I was blown away that he went to the Vietnam Wall last night, at about the same time dKos posters were weeping about friends and relatives they lost and whose names were on that Wall.

I realize the "Boston crowd" had everything confirmed that they thought they knew about John Kerry. Hearing him say that he visited the Wall last night . . . I can't put into words how much that conveys that he's "the real deal". He didn't have to go there last night; he's been there so many times. Yet after his momentous decision about the war, he had to go back one more time, which tells you how real he feels all of this stuff.

He had a great interview, and was fearless against "flip floppy" questions. I like that he calls this the third war, which means that what he's talking about is the CURRENT war, not the war against the insurgency happening in 2004. That was excellent.

[Island Blue]

13. That struck me too.

When he mentioned that he went to the Vietnam Wall late last night, I said to myself "bless his heart". It's amazing how powerful the wall is to him. (Didn't he take THK there on their first date?) For him, it seems to be almost a place of meditation.

Hearing him say that this morning made me even angrier (if that's possible) at the Swift Boat Liars and the purple heart band-aid wearing fools at the RNC.

I thought the interview was excellent. He didn't let Timmy interrupt him, and he kept the upper hand throughout. (Oh, and he's just so damn presidential.)

[karynnj]

15. I only saw the MTP interview - because we went to a Mets game

Kerry was fantastic - it was clear that he was prepared to answer TR's stupid questions on the IWR vote and that a year ago he was against pulling out. (As opposed to McCain who when he was on got angry, defensive and had really poor answers when subjected to the same thing.)

His going to the Vietnam Wall yesterday and the way he talked about it on MTP really does show where he is coming from. When he talked about the wall in his Allard bash the emotion in his voice was overwheming - he put a finger near one eye at that point. I think he will fight on this issue without regard to political consequence - and I think that was why he was so strong on all these issues - he knows where he is coming from.

[ginnyinWI]

21. The CNN appearance was a repeat of Thurs.

So don't feel bad about missing that. It was a re-cut version of the Thursday Situation Room one. It might have had a bit more footage, I'm not sure. Then they added other clips of troops, etc. to play while he was talking--jazzed it up a bit. But it was basically the same interview.

[TayTay]

17. It did confirm that.

I'm not surprised that Sen. Kerry went to 'The Wall' last night and ruminated a bit. That line about 'half the names on that Wall going up *after* we knew the war was lost' is so very poignant. I mean, I think the Senator understands the cost of war very well. I think the cost of a war that is a monumental mistake is just something that hurts your soul.

I liked Kerry's answer to Russert's question about regretting the IWR vote.
'Doy you regret the vote?'
'Profoundly.'

methinks that is true in many ways.

[beachmom]

18. Some jerk on Kos pretty much said Kerry was lying about that

He said something like, how many senators are at the Wall late at night? He thought it was suspicious, and inferred that some people (like his staffers, I suppose) had read the comments on Kos last night, and then Kerry just made it up this morning. I just can't believe there are people at a liberal blog who can think something like that. All the poster would have needed to have done was to read the MSM version of him -- it was common knowledge that he lost friends and that their names were on the Wall and that he took Teresa on their first date there . . . I found that to be the most offensive comment on the whole thread.

Having said that, there is more than us on Kos defending him. I knew we had friends over there the whole time, but like Karynnj mentioned they were previously silent. Glad to hear their voices.

[TayTay]

20. There are a lot of friends everywhere

They have to be given the opportunity to come out and say something. There are way more lurkers on the web than actual posters on the various boards. A lot of people are intimidated by the louder voices and keep quiet until they see something they are really moved to respond to. When Sen. Kerry posted to DKos the first time he got over 1200 responses and many of them were from the litle-heard from voices on that forum. (And many of those folks were very emotional and wrote in personal terms to that original posting.)

I would love the see another post from the Senator on DKos. Perhaps that is coming soon and the office is spacing out the various postings on the web. That would be nice.

[ginnyinWI]

22. makes you wonder

when they are ever going to let that one rest. I mean, Russert has already asked Kerry these questions repeatedly. Tim was really "loaded for bear" Sunday, but I suppose that makes for a good interview. I just wish he had more imagination with the questions.

You know whose questions I really like: Ed Shultz's. And he really listens to the answers. Russert often looks like he's just reading question after question and not listening much to the answers. Ha--it's like the Washington Journal hosts who never are supposed to react to comments.

[ginnyinWI]

11. yes, you need to see it to get the full impact.

He spoke in such a heartfelt way, the way he does whenever he's talking about the troops, looking very directly at Russert, when he spoke, from under those brows.

[europegirl4jfk]

12. OMFG! Just watched the MTP appearance online

JK is just perfect! Clear as someone can be, 100% logical in everything he said. Russert tried all the traps possible and Kerry didn't fall into a single one of them. Just told the truth and nothing but the truth. I don't think I've ever seen a politician talking like that before. Not in Europe and not elsewhere. If my admiration for this guy can get any higher it did today. :loveya: :loveya:

[ginnyinWI]

23. I was also thinking lately of the debates. Similar performance.

I re-watched the first one, and was thinking of debates with previous presidential candidates, with their canned answers and little jokes--it seems all so shallow and phoney when compared to the Kerry debates. His intensity got several levels higher than anything I'd ever seen at a debate--because of who he is, and how strongly he feels his principles.
I think it's that intensity that really inspires people to see him as a leader and to believe in him. Whometense has a quote about that--how he sees himself as being more intense than normal. And he's right.

[politicasista]

14. Nice interview, but why did they have to say voted "for the war"?

It makes people think that Kerry was a "warmonger" and went along with something that we thought was wrong all along. I thought IWR was a vote for diplomacy or something else. Am I missing something?:shrug:

[Dr Ron]

16. It's easier

I think he realizes that any discussion of his reasons for the vote will just drag out and appear too "nuanced" for those who don't already understand.

He's now seen as an anti-war leader by most. Saying he regrets his vote, without going into details, just lets him get past it.

It makes sense on a brief interview, but it sure would be nice if everything was explained.

[ginnyinWI]

24. the only people with patience for the complete answer

are people like us--political junkies with a wonky bent. ;) Now that the election is over, anyway.

[wisteria]

19. Senator Kerry did well - very well indeed.

I was away this weekend and tried to watch this under distracting circumstances on Sunday. I just watched it entirely in peaceful surroundings and in my non-professional opinion- he did an exceptional job. I just admire this man so much.