Kerry impresses Tallahassee as "extremely presidential"

[NewYorkerfromMass]

John Kerry took his campaign to Tallahassee, Florida yesterday, and he "wowed" 'em:

State Rep. Curtis Richardson: "Senator Kerry looked extremely presidential. He articulated the issues very well, and he certainly has a presidential look about him."

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox, a former Tallahassee mayor, said Kerry was "extremely presidential" in his remarks.

Even Republicans were impressed:

Republican Ed DePuy, a former Leon County commissioner who is running next year for the commission, also praised Kerry.

"Obviously, I'm supporting President Bush for re-election," DePuy said. "But I'm glad we have someone on the Democratic side with some military background."

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/local/7314051.htm

[JI7]

1. Democratic side with some military background.

<Republican Ed DePuy, a former Leon County commissioner who is running next year for the commission, also praised Kerry.

"Obviously, I'm supporting President Bush for re-election," DePuy said. "But I'm glad we have someone on the Democratic side with some military background.">

but the moron you support has no military background. he should support kerry or clark instead since that issue seems to be important to him.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. Cracks in the citadel

Kerry will work his way into the hearts of some of these Republicans- especially if he goes one on one with Bush- whereas Dean would just drive them closer to Bush.

[blm]

6. Exactly. Kerry will have a truly unifying effect on this nation

and Dean will further the polarization giving Bush a cakewalk.

[JI7]

2. he knows the issues well

i like it best when he discusses foreign policy and the environment. he really gets into it and gives a lot of information. that's why bill clinton consulted kerry on many of these issues. and you know how intelligent bill clinton already is.

[loyalsister]

24. His biggest downfall

"he really gets into it and gives a lot of information."
Most people get very bored listening to people talk about policy after awhile. Kerry's explanations seem endless to the ears of a public that is accustomed to soundbites. The kind of endless where people have lost interest by the time he is finished. People will prefer Bush to him just because he doesn't bore them.

[sandnsea]

4. "He showed great depth"

"...Kerry said North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is more dangerous because of American policies on nuclear arms and intervention abroad that "make the world more dangerous."

"This administration is developing, funding and researching a new nuclear weapon - the bunker-buster nuclear weapon," Kerry said. "So North Korea says, 'George Bush has a pre-emptive policy, he's invaded Iraq and he's developing nuclear weapons - maybe we ought to do something...'"

"If elected, Kerry said he would cut the deficit in half over four years by ending tax breaks that allow corporations to move jobs overseas. As "an entrepreneurial Democrat," he called for tax credits to encourage job creation, such as removing the capital-gains tax on investments that are held for five years in 26 "critical technology" fields - including communications, robotics, artificial intelligence and life sciences..."

"...Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox, a former Tallahassee mayor, said Kerry was "extremely presidential" in his remarks.

"I thought he showed great depth on the issues of national defense and the economy," Maddox said."

Exactly. The Real Deal.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. and he is rewarded with $200,000 in donations

"Kerry fundraising officials said Thursday that the pulled in about $200,000 after just two days of events in Miami and Tallahassee -- a surprisingly high total, they said, equal to more than one-fourth the amount he raised in the state as of the end of the third quarter, Sept. 30.

Strategists said Kerry's decision to invest his own money is giving some donors more confidence...."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7313995.htm

[helleborient]

7. Nice hyperbolic thread heading...

Now he's "wowing" an entire city?

The article is titled "Kerry Brings Campaign To Town"

[NewYorkerfromMass]

8. That type of journalism is for LBN

and you're welcome to go find your own stable of elected officials who refer to Dean as "Presidential".

[sandnsea]

9. "Support your own candidate"

Even when people try to do that, they're beat up on. And why is it always a Deanie? I thought we were supposed to take it to Bush.

[helleborient]

10. I'll be extremely happy to watch you take it to Bush!

And ignore Howard Dean...we're waiting!!!!

[sandnsea]

14. Whenever Dean does

But since he's made a career of berating Democrats in Vermont, I doubt it will happen.

[helleborient]

15. Here it is, since you asked!

The first one out of the box to respond to Bush's ads...

http://www.deanforamerica.com/

[NewYorkerfromMass]

16. It makes Dean look paranoid, egotistical, and self important

Chalk it up to low self esteem.

[helleborient]

17. You missed "short" (n/t)

[sandnsea]

18. It continues divisiveness

I really wish he just would have went after Bush's failed Iraq policy and failed attempts at actually getting Osama or Saddam. This kind of ad just keeps the anti-war & IWR vote argument going. He's got to realize he has the entire Democratic Party to deal with and candidates who are running for reelection who voted for that war. If he really wants to lead the party, he has to put the anti-war stuff to the side, whenever possible, for the benefit of those running for office. Continuously beating up on Washington Democrats is just going to cause people to vote Republican. Maybe that's why Vermont got a Republican governor after Dean stepped down, he beat up on Vermont liberals for so long that nobody trusted them anymore.

[helleborient]

19. Where did you get that?

I looked over the page, and I don't see where he mentions any other candidate, and this is what he says about Iraq:

"This is the same State of the Union address in which Bush misled Congress and the American people with the false claim that Iraq had attempted to buy uranium in Africa -- the famous sixteen words that helped drive our country into an unnecessary war. And the war with Iraq had nothing to do with the terrorists who attacked the United States on 9/11. We can’t let them get away with this.

The ad urges viewers to tell Congress “to support the president's policy of pre-emptive self defense." But the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war is wrong for America. It is costing us in blood and money, and in our nation’s standing around the world.

But the facts have never gotten in the way of the Bush administration’s agenda -- and the facts aren’t going to get in the way of their reelection strategy. This ad is about distorting Howard Dean’s opposition to the war with Iraq. They say that those who opposed the war oppose defending our nation from terrorism. But the war in Iraq had nothing to do with al Qaeda or the war on terrorism. The president’s misleading statements -- and the war they led us into -- are making us less safe."


This sounds almost exactly like what Wesley Clark said on Fox News the other day...I think it sounds more like closing ranks, putting the Iraq vote behind and talking about the war being unnecessary. I thought that's what Kerry has said, too...he wasn't supporting war without strong international consensus.

[sandnsea]

20. This is different than what I saw

I saw a post that was more about just being against the war, rather than taking on Bush policies as a whole. This is more of what I was talking about, something the whole party can get behind in one way or another. That way we can stay on focus against Bush policies which always drives his numbers down. I really think Bush's ad was intended to start the candidates bickering about whether the war vote was right or wrong again and I really think we need to avoid that. At least the candidates themselves need to avoid it, it ain't gonna' stop around here!

[helleborient]

21. I see your point, but

I would have thought if there was a significant complaint about the Dean text...it would be that he is co-opting the attacks from Bush as specific attacks on him and ignoring that it might be a generalized attack on Democrats. Looking again like he's ignoring other candidates...although that is a common approach for someone perceived as a frontrunner. That was Kerry's approach early on.

[sandnsea]

22. No, they're trying to paint the whole party

We've got Dean, Clark and Kucinich as anti-war; Edwards and Kerry voting against the $87 billion; and Gephardt's "miserable failure"; this is against the whole party. The trick is to respond as a whole party and not go back into bickering amongst ourselves. If we come back against Bush policies and with a strong solution, we win because every time people see Bush's ads they'll hear the pre-emptive part and realize that's not American. That's the best part of Dean's comments and I hope he focuses on that and solutions in whatever ad he decides to run.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. Innocent question.

I thought the $87B was a voice vote. Totally anonymous. Were the votes revealed somewhere?

It's instructive, though, that opponents of the occupation weren't exactly clamoring to be recorded against it either. Only old Robert Byrd stood on the Senate floor and shouted no when the vote was taken, but Byrd has been casting recorded votes since the waning days of the Roman Republic, and it's a hard habit to break.
http://www.commoncause.org/action/action.cfm?artid=118&topicid=17


• RASPBERRIES to and the "wimps of the week" award to everyone in the U.S. Senate except Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.

Byrd was the lone dissenter in Monday's Senate vote approving the $87 billion appropriations bill for continuing the rebuilding of Iraq. But it was not for his vote that he is noted; it is because he had the courage to show up for the vote and say it out loud.
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2003/11/07/news/opinion/1rsrz117.txt





What gives? Did I miss the announcement of the names of those who voted "yea" or nay?" Anyone could say they voted "nay," of course.

[sandnsea]

26. Two votes

There was one vote on record and one a voice vote. It doesn't have anything to do with my post though, Edwards and Kerry have said they didn't support it. The Bush ad is broadly worded to sweep up anybody who expresses criticism of the war. It's not an attack against just Dean.

[polpilot]

23. Pro War Kerry v. Pro War Bush. and what are the differences???????

Dean '04...

[sandnsea]

27. The Title Commander in Chief

And the final authority to decided if, when and how military troops are deployed after he has done everything in his power to not deploy those troops. Bush abused this power and failed in his duties as Commander in Chief.

[blm]

28. Kerry was pro-IWR, just like Dean was pro-IWR with Biden-Lugar amendment.

Why pretend that Kerry was prowar and Dean antiwar? Why play GOP simplistic word tricks on fellow Democrats? It's insulting to their intelligence, as if they only think in black and white and not nuance. Republicans are the ones who have no brains for nuance.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

29. Pro War Dean v. Pro War Bush. and what are the differences???????

As is well known to everyone on DU, Dean is not anti-war.

Dean:Saddam must be disarmed, but with a multilateral force under the auspices of the United Nations. If the U.N. in the end chooses not to enforce its own resolutions, then the U.S. should give Saddam 30 to 60 days to disarm, and if he doesn't, unilateral action is a regrettable, but unavoidable, choice.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/02/20/dean/index2.html


Dean:"In Iraq, I would be prepared to go ahead without further Security Council backing if it were clear the threat posed to us by Saddam Hussein was imminent, and could neither be contained nor deterred."
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/dean/dean021703sp.html



Dean:"never been in doubt about the evil of Saddam Hussein or the necessity of removing his weapons of mass destruction."
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/000395.html

[helleborient]

11. Hmmm...I thought that was Kucinich supporters posting...

American Spectator garbage trashing both Kerry and Dean...

And a Kerry supporter posting Solomon's words in left-wing journals to attack Howard Dean...not realizing the same writer speaks of Kerry talking with an "oily tongue."

[blm]

12. tsk...tsk....

Kerry supporters are used to Kerry being mischaracterized in the media. It started in Nixon's White House and that same crew have kept on spreading memes about him for over 30 years. Sometimes even Democrats spread those same memes.

[helleborient]

13. Just pointing out the obvious lie...

"Why is it always a Deanie?"