The Globe today

[Mass]

Considering this is the Globe, not too bad.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/11/02/kerry_voices_regret_stops_campaigning/

However, this will PO me. While I can understand that candidates in red states do not want him, he is the Senator of MA and he should be there. I definitively hope that Kerry will be at the unity rallye Saturday.

Aides said the senator has not decided whether he will attend campaign events in Massachusetts before the election. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick , asked during last night's debate by host Cokie Roberts about Kerry's comments, said, "I think he knows it was a dumb comment and has said so."

[Mass]

1. Also this editorial by Cannellos.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/11/02/after_itching_for_a_fight_senator_gets_battered/

After itching for a fight, senator gets battered

By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff | November 2, 2006

WASHINGTON -- For two years, Senator John F. Kerry has been hungering for a chance to fight back.


...

back.

Democratic congressional candidates, sensing victory next week, simply wanted to steer clear of the mess. Some were angry enough over the 11th-hour distraction to disavow Kerry. And their abandonment made Kerry seem culpable, at the very least, of stealing attention from the real issues.

It also left him in an unenviable political dilemma: keep fighting with the GOP and earn even more enmity from the Democrats, or lay low while Republican heavyweights like Vice President Dick Cheney use him as a punching bag.

"John Kerry needs to learn that the men and women serving in Iraq aren't there because they didn't study hard or do their homework," declared Cheney. "The all-volunteer force represents the very best of this country. They're smart, patriotic, exceptionally well-trained, and dedicated to their mission. They are heroes, and they are the pride of the United States of America."

Cheney's swipe was disingenuous, since Kerry had already declared that his comments were a botched joke aimed at Bush. Kerry also made it clear on Tuesday that he had not intended to criticize the troops.
...

There's plenty of evidence to suggest he's right. Republicans have snatched up sound bites of leading Democrats and used them to impugn their patriotism; when former Vermont governor Howard Dean was leading in many presidential polls, Republicans pounded him with his statement that Saddam Hussein's capture would not make Americans safer.
...
The lesson, according to most Democratic strategists, was to fight back fiercely and immediately.

Kerry, while testing the waters for another presidential run, has sought to atone for his alleged mishandling of the "swift boat" attacks in innumerable ways, most recently by rushing to the side of Democratic House candidates who've had their own military records questioned.
...

[wisteria]

3. Not too bad. I am glad to see there is mention

of his comments being distorted.

[Mass]

2. And this from the Globe editorial staff

First half is a bashing of Kerry and his jokes (with which I cannot disagree, infortunately, ...). Second part is the center of the issue.


http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/11/02/dumb_and_dumb/

...
Meanwhile, Bush and other Republicans were doing their best to convince Americans that Kerry in fact meant to demean the troops. Bush said Tuesday night that Kerry's remarks were "insulting" and "shameful." On "The Rush Limbaugh Show" yesterday afternoon, Bush assented to Limbaugh's assertion that Kerry thinks of the troops as "basically uneducated rubes."

Kerry knows fighting troops far more intimately than either Bush or Limbaugh. Kerry deserves criticism for stepping on his tongue, and then for refusing to apologize promptly. But suggestions that he was questioning the troops are themselves insulting to the public, and shameful.

With only five days left before mid term elections, Republicans are clearly hoping to capitalize on Kerry's speech, but the impact is hard to gauge. The story does keep the focus on Iraq, and, with 105 Americans dead last month and the Iraqi government uncooperative, Iraq may not help the GOP. Also yesterday, Bush vowed to retain Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for two more years. Many Republicans join Democrats in thinking that this is the dumbest move yet.

[TayTay]

4. It was better than I thought it would be

The Globe Editorial staff cuffed the Senator around a bit. They said the original joke was dumb and the delivery flubbed. But it was a Republican Party that was bereft of ideas and issues that resononate with the public that siezed on this minor mistake to may some political hay. The Senator was too aggressive in his response, should have recognized that this issue was being directed at veterans and their families and head it off sooner.

However, the biggest mistake was made by Bush yesterday when he said he would keep Rumsfeld and Cheney with him for the next two years.

The Globe trotted out yet another expert to say that this means Kerry can't run for PRes credibly again. Yawn. Like that hasn't happened before this episode came up. Nobody knows that, least of all the experts who should know that gaffes come and go.

All in all, not bad. I think I exhaled heavily after reading the Globe this morning. Not that bad. Plus, the editorial cartoon was great:

[Democrafty]

8. I'm printing out that cartoon.

It's so perfect.

[TayTay]

5. And, believe it or not, the gloaty snark article was not too bad

It was some gloaty, some snark and some, oh well. All in all, as far as taking your lumps goes, it's recoverable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/us/politics/02kerry.html?pagewanted=print

Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you. I am going to take 'standup comedian' off the list of things that Senator Kerry does well. I think we have all learned that lesson, nost of all Sen. Kerry.

[wisteria]

6. I still think he needed to come out strong against the attacks.

They were going after his integrity and support of the troops. He has been making some strides in this area, and typical of Rove tricks, they always go after your strong points and try and weaken them. To make ab apology over something he did not say, would be wrong and reinforce that republican lies. All the party had to do was back his support of the troops and change the subject. Instead, they reinforced the lies and not only does this do a disservice to Kerry, but the whole party because they lump us all together in one neat little package.
It wasn't Kerry who was wrong, but our party IMO.
That he made the apology as he did, so be it. The Repubs, have however branded him as anti troops and our party as well. Kerry wasn't running for anything this time, you would of thought the other Democrats would have asked why the republicans even went after Kerry to begin with. Why was he targeted.

[ProSense]

7. They tried!

Kerry's actions will speak louder than the RW's distortion. While it played on people's emotions and whipped everyone into an immediate frenzy, the smear was exposed right away. Within 48 hours, the RW launched an attack that resulted in exposing the GOP's desperation and putting the focus back on Iraq. Also, Bush and McCain were exposed for their cheap, sleazy pile-on attacks. When the furor dies down, the fact that the RW launched this attack will linger for a very long time!