Kerry coming to Cedar Rapids

[IA_Seth]

I was just notified that Kerry will be in Cedar Rapids this Sunday, Oct-09. He is coming in support of Justin Shields, who is running for City Council (a campaign I am assisting with). Just thought I would pass along the info to those that may be interested...

Might I add that this is a hell of an endorsement for a city council candidate?

-------------------


MARK YOUR CALENDAR



Join

Justin Shields

Candidate for Cedar Rapids City Council

(District 5)

And his dear friend,

U.S. Senator John Kerry

During a

Neighborhood “Meet and Greet”

Sunday, Oct. 9

1:00 to 3:00 pm

at

Veterans Memorial Stadium

950 Rockford Road SW

Cedar Rapids, Iowa



THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS

WILL BE PROVIDED BY SHIELDS FOR CEDAR RAPIDS



This email paid for and produced in house by Shields for Cedar Rapids

[Debi]

1. Wow, did Shields support Kerry in the Caucuses? n/t

[IA_Seth]

3. Yep

Justin was a very staunch Kerry supporter from the get-go. From what I know of things, they have a pretty personal relationship and consider themselves "family friends" and not just political associates.

Justin Shields is a hell of a guy, I can see how he pulls this sort of thing off. He is honest (sometimes bluntly so), hard working, and isn't afraid of letting his opinion be known.

He has been involved with the Dem party since Kennedy, worked for Quaker for 40 years, and has been the President of the Hawkeye Labor Council (AFL-CIO) for a while now (not sure on the exact time frame). He does a ton of fundraising for candidates and is not only politically smart, but a genuinely nice guy.

He really represents the "west side" mind set (the district he is running in is one of our two west side districts).

[Debi]

4. The benefits of loyalty! n/t

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. Damn! How can I get Kerry to come to town when I run for Office?

Very cool, very cool indeed.

[Debi]

5. Did you support him early on ?

Before he won the Caucuses? I'm out...I was/am a Dean supporter :thumbsup:

[IA_Seth]

6. Oh, and I thought I liked you!

:silly:

Aaaaargh!




Hee hee. Just kiddin.

[Debi]

8. Yes, I am a full-blooded Deaniac.

No hiding in the closet here!

We would have duked it out on the street-corners and in the shadows had we lived in the same town.

But, alas, now we are one. Supporters of Democrats who didn't quite go all the way.....


So, who are we going to fight about now? :bounce:

[IA_Seth]

11. Hmmm...

Lol, I wasn't as anti-Dean as some in the party by any means, I really thought Dean was ok...as far as the war cry goes, I think it was a simple gesture to fire up the party that was taken out of context. But it does make for a good punch line!

Going forward, I think Wesley Clark is the man, and I am hoping he campaigns here in Iowa..so I suppose if he does and you aren't a supporter I will do my best to sway you that way...including duking it out on the street corners!

[Debi]

13. I'm willing to give any candidate a listen

And we've talked about my past misgivings on Clark (and I told you that I would take the time to listen to him and talk to him if he were to run again - and this time run IN Iowa :7).

Hillary gives me pause....but I will still go to listen to her if she runs here in Iowa.

Our entire family connected personally with Dean and his staff and that won us over in 2004.

What??? You're not automatically caucusing for Vilsack :silly: traitor! You will be dealt with!

[LincolnMcGrath]

7. I lived in Il and worked a bit for Obama.

I moved to the left side of the river in Aug 04.

[Debi]

9. then no, he will not come campaign for you....foreigner...n/t

[LincolnMcGrath]

10. I was born right here in Clinton

A carpetbagger I am not. :rofl:

[Debi]

14. My apologies

[emulatorloo]

12. Wish I could go! Please give us a full report on Monday. . .

THANKS!

[pstans]

15. That's cool

I might make it over to CR on Sunday for this.

How about making a DU Gathering before or afterwards? Head to some sports bar nearby and we can chit chat over some pops.

[IA_Seth]

16. Justin Shields/John Kerry rally

What a day!

First of all, turn-out wasn't quite as high as expected, I believe it had something to do with the frigid tempratures and biting wind we had going in the morning. We still managed to draw probably close to 200-300 people to an outdoor event, and we had a good time with free food and beverages, so it was a success.

Quite a few State Reps and State Senators attended, at least a couple county officials, several candidates for state races, and at least one from a US Rep race. It was a really great setting for a meet & greet and everyone was able to interact with their representatives in a pretty personal setting.

Mr Kerry spoke mostly of leadership and his friendship that he developed with Justin during his time campaigning in Iowa. He tried to keep it pretty non-partisan (Justin is running for a non-partisan city council seat), and actually pulled it off quite well.

Justin told the crowd a funny story about Kerry's time campaigning in Iowa. He was a Kerry supporter from the very beginning and said that after one particular media interview Kerry's people had approached him and said a few of the things he said were "off message" (or something like that) with what they wanted projected. At the time Kerry was running under 10% in Iowa, Dean and Gephardt were fighting it out at the top. Justin said he laughed, brought the numbers to Kerry's people's attention and asked "who exactly was off message?" Everyone got a kick out of that one!

Kerry spent quite a bit of time afterwards shaking hands, signing autographs, and talking to everyone in the crowd.

Overall it was a great event for Justin Shields! If by chance you are in Cedar Rapids and in the 5th district, please remember to vote for him on Nov-08!