Kerry - Memory Lane (Peter Yarrow on the trail)

[sandnsea]

This is really a great piece. I hope people will take a couple minutes to read it.

"Now, having shed half of his debate costume -- the navy trousers and blue button-down shirt remain, but the suit coat and red tie are gone -- he can relax. As he washes down a slice of chocolate cake with a Budweiser, Kerry has but one request: "Pedro, sing us a song," he beckons to his friend of 30-plus years, folk singer Peter Yarrow." ~snip

"As young parents, the men would write goofy children's songs. Here on the bus, in his baggy brown corduroy pants and fur-lined boots, Yarrow sings a few lines of a ditty about a scary, poisonous monster that Vanessa Kerry helped craft at age 4. "I can't believe you remember that," the senator says, marveling." ~snip

"I hear all these pundits, all the Washington folks sit around and say, 'Oh gosh, if George Bush has a great economy it's gonna be impossible to win,' " Kerry says. "Wrong, wrong. I hope we have a great economy, and if we do have a great economy then a lot of people will be thinking about the future."

In rapid succession, he runs through the litany of Democratic complaints -- a degraded environment, low-performing schools, 43 million uninsured Americans, traffic jams, Osama bin Laden, North Korea, AIDS and nuclear proliferation.

"There's work to be done in America," he cries. "That's what you tell them!" ~snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60297-2004Jan6.html

[flpoljunkie]

1. Kerry should be very pleased. Stirring. Worth reading in its entirety.

I do differ with the author on the Iowa polls. Internal polls have the race as very fluid-- with Dean in slight lead, but it is really up for grabs among Dean, Gephardt and Kerry. Dean does have a strong, but not insurmountable lead in New Hampshire--with 36%, but there are 29% undecided--even at this late date.

It looks as if the voters are taking a second look at Dr. Dean before they cast their votes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

[sandnsea]

2. There's work to be done

I really had hoped he would go with that kind of slogan early on. There is alot of work to be done and every day Americans can get behind that. Get busy and get to work so we can protect the country and change the dynamics of the planet. I'm not worried about the polls. There's college kids and firefighters and veterans and union workers and women and legislators, all working to get the message out for Kerry. I have every confidence these great people will sway the caucus vote and Kerry will turn up a big surprise!

[kerrygoddess]

3. Yarrow's endorsement of Kerry

Peter Yarrow has been a longtime anti-war activist who has endorsed Kerry many, many times through out their 30 year friendship that started with protesting the Vietnam War.

That Peter Yarrow can stand up and say "I did not agree with John's war vote", but "I am endorsing John Kerry"

It's time for all those who have decried Kerry's war vote to lok at the big picture and understand that Kerry has a large contingent of Anti-War Democrats supporting him.

Those anti-war Democrats who have fallen behind Dean's innuendo's about Kerry have been duped by a candidate who displays one duplicity after another.

The claims that "I can not support John Kerry" because of the war vote and weak and have no place in an election that places so many important issues on the table.

We are not facing an election that is one issue election. And John Kerry is offering a one issue platform. Peter Yarrow is but one of the many wise Democrats who see the big picture!

*************************
Pleasant Hill, Ia. - Folk music legend Peter Yarrow campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in Iowa on Saturday, excusing the Massachusetts senator's support for the Iraq war, which the 1960s protest singer adamantly opposed.

"He was, like everyone else, lied to by people who have no honor," Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, told reporters after Kerry spoke to about 50 Des Moines-area firefighters and their families Saturday.

Yarrow said he has supported Kerry since they met during a protest of the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C.

Kerry, a decorated combat veteran of Vietnam, was a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Yarrow was performing at the 1971 protest.

Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, was among the four Democratic contenders for president who voted in 2002 to authorize President Bush to order the attack in Iraq.

Kerry has been forced repeatedly to defend the vote to Democrats while campaigning for Iowa's leadoff caucuses.

Kerry's chief rival, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, opposed the war and has accused his rivals who supported it of handing Bush a blank check.

Yarrow said the vote has hurt Kerry politically, but only because primary voters generally have not fully examined Kerry's position.

"This was a reasonable choice, considering what he knew," Yarrow said. "John is not for this war. He was for allowing an action to take place with the United Nations, with the understanding that the reason for it was credible." - http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/...4/23165873.html

[sandnsea]

4. Kerry is actually anti-war

Not just anti-Iraq war. It occurs to me that's why I support him. I know he isn't going to take us into a war unless there really is no other option. I also know he has the diplomatic skills to keep a war from happening in the first place. He is the true anti-war candidate because he has those skills. And, he knows the benefit of threatening force or using limited force in order to prevent the need for overwhelming force later.

[kerrygoddess]

5. Exactly

sandnsea,

Your reasons are the reasons why many support John Kerry. It's time to dispell the rumors perpetuated by Howard Dean and the Republicans who pad Dean's funding!

[newyawker99]

13. Hi kerrygoddess!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

10. "I did not agree with John's war vote", but "I am endorsing John Kerry"

that's a keeper.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

6. Great article

I, like Peter Yarrow, did not agree with JK's vote. But also like Peter Yarrow, I have the utmost confidence that with Kerry as President the US will not be running helter-skelter to war, that Kerry understands, through his own bitter experience, how important it is not to send troops into conflict unnecessarily.

And Kerry certainly is no one-issue candidate. He understands the big picture and his plans for environmental protection and energy independence, his skill and debate and negotiation, and his thoughtful and sober temperment will make this country safer and allow him to go head on at Bush on the national security issue or any other.

He'll be a great President.

[silver]

7. Fantastic Article

If people actually took a moment to know who the real John Kerry is, as opposed to what the pundits feed them, they will see why he has so many lifelong friends with him on this campaign trail.

I was in Iowa last week volunteering for the campaign. Its refreshing to see that the media is finally beginning to pay attention to him again. Hopefully, he usurps Gephardt and comes out in a clost second.

Go JK!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

8. Look for an upset.

Kerry will win Iowa.

[silver]

9. Let's keep it our little secret

We don't want the word to get out - a Kerry win in Iowa would completely reshape this race. Completely unexpected.

But to be honest, it doesn't seem realistic - the labor unions are huge in Iowa and are beginning to come out for both Dean and Gephardt. I saw some scary mailings while out there. Kerry has got the message and organization to make it close. I hope he wins.

[blm]

11. What kind of mailings?

.

[silver]

12. Glossy Union Funded Literature

I saw some preliminary mailings from the SEIU and AFSCME - clear, concise reasons on why Dean is the best choice. There's also been some negatives recently sent out on Kerry.

I'm not sure whether these will stick but both Dean and Gephardt have more funding via Labor and resources. But Kerry probably has the most aggressive schedule and organization of the three.

[kerrygoddess]

14. Interesting viewpoint

I found this link to an interesting viewpoint on the subject of Kerry's war vote and the media hype for Dean on the Kerry Forum -
http://forum.johnkerry.com

*****************************
Media:
The media thinks that if they put Howard Dean on enough magazine covers, Senator John Kerry will be irrelevant. It is really a huge joke isn't it? Howard Dean is getting all this media attention because he opposed the war against Iraq? Do you get the irony, or has it gone over your head, simply because the media is hiding the real story?

The real story is that the media is blaming John Kerry because the Bush Administration lied to secure a blank cheque to wage an unprovoked war, and John Kerry is fighting mad. In the meantime, the only obsession of the partisan media is to blame John Kerry for Bush's deception.

Lightweights like Howard Dean get a free ride from the media, because he does not threaten George Bush's re-election prospects. When was the last time the media gave a peace candidate so much attention? Remember John Lennon, he wasn't even a politician, and reporters spent most of their time trying to ridicule a man who promoted peace. Why is the media giving Howard Dean so much attention and publicity? Why don't they ridicule Howard Dean?

Reality:
The reality is, the media knows that John Kerry has the power to pulverize the Bush candidacy, and they also know that peace activists like Howard Dean are irrelevant until the shooting stops. Face it, the media is trying to lynch John Kerry, and if you do not believe that, just think back to the Clinton impeachment --another attempted lynching that failed, because Clinton's grass-root support, came through. Ironically, the assertion that Howard Dean has more grass-root support than John Kerry is the biggest joke since the failed impeachment. The other big joke is that the media is giving Al Gore publicity for inventing the claim that Howard Dean's grass-roots supporters control the Internet.

Did you know that Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. and Senator Edward Kennedy have endorsed Senator John Kerry or is the media too busy promoting Howard Dean's supporters? Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. is a good, intelligent supporter, but Senator Kennedy has arguably given and sacrificed more for his country than any living American, and if that is not the most significant endorsement thus far, it is probably because the mainstream media is too busy trying to find another way to create the impression that Howard Dean merits more publicity.

The mainstream media clearly understands the process. Salivating reporters failed to successfully impeach President Clinton because the people are smarter than the reporters, and now, the reporters are playing hardball. They suddenly think that if they tell all the people that Howard Dean is the grass-roots candidate, the people will believe them. Make no mistake about it, this report will not receive the light of day in the mainstream media because it's about the candidate who is the most progressive and most qualified to be the President of the United States, and that is what you call a grass-roots campaign. Howard Dean's grass-roots act is merely a matter of using blowhards to claim that the Internet is supporting Howard Dean. Very crafty, aren't they?

How many reporters does it take, to throw John Kerry off his feet?

If you watch CNN, the media is ignoring John Kerry, except when the media seeks to prosecute Kerry because he voted for the Iraq War Resolution. That is the only time that the media promotes John Kerry, and it is not to applaud his decision but to create the impression that Howard Dean, who did not even have to agonize over the vote because he is not a Congressman or a Senator, is a peace activist who merits constant, media publicity. Funny, isn't it, the media is giving Howard Dean millions of dollars worth of free publicity for doing nothing. Compared to the do-nothing, say-anything, Howard Dean, Senator John Kerry's progressive record is unrivaled, amongst all the Democratic candidates, and the media thinks that if it puts Howard's face on enough magazine covers, he will be more relevant that Senator John Kerry is. It's a great, mainstream media promotion, but the truth of the matter is, the media knows that John Kerry has the power to change the regime in Washington, Howard Dean does not --and that is the only thing that is driving this charade. Reporters are very crafty, aren't they?

The media thinks that it can make John Kerry irrelevant because he voted for the war, but he did not vote for Bush's war. "This was the hardest vote I have ever had to cast in my entire career," Kerry said. "I voted for the resolution to get the inspectors in there, period. Remember, for seven and a half years we were destroying weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In fact, we found more stuff there than we thought we would. After that came those four years when there was no intelligence available about what was happening over there. I believed we needed to get the weapons inspectors back in. I believed Bush needed this resolution in order to get the UN to put the inspectors back in there. The only way to get the inspectors back in was to present Bush with the ability to threaten force legitimately. That’s what I voted for."

Senator Kerry Senator Kerry has repeatedly said, "if you truly believe that if I had been President, we would be at war in Iraq right now, then you shouldn’t vote for me" and he means it because Bush promised to work with the international community and that war would be an absolute last resort. The media is essentially blaming John Kerry because Bush lied and that clearly betrays everything. And in the final analysis, all those reporters who support the war and who are endorsing Howard Dean will have a whole lot of explaining to do, when John Kerry is the President of the United States.

The media is trying to lynch Senator John Kerry because it wants George Bush to be "re-elected" and that is not the role of a free press. Get the message?

Face it, John Kerry and John Edwards make an unbeatable ticket, and the media barons think that if they put Howard Dean on all the covers of all their magazines, George Bush will finally discover the opportunity to win an election. There is nothing wrong with endorsing a candidate, but this sly effort to bury the candidacy of John Kerry is not right.
http://www.geocities.com/bobeshope/kerry.htm

[oasis]

15. "Send them a president" kick