Kerry v Bush: The Facts, the Campaigns and the Spin...

Bush's Not-So-Big Tent
July 16, 2004
By BOB HERBERT

Just as George W. Bush is on track to be the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net loss of jobs, he is now the first president since Hoover to fail to meet with the N.A.A.C.P. during his entire term in office.

Mr. Bush and the leadership of the nation's oldest and
largest civil rights organization get along about as well
as the Hatfields and the McCoys. The president was invited
to the group's convention in Philadelphia this week, but he
declined.

That Mr. Bush thumbed his nose at N.A.A.C.P. officials is
not the significant part of this story. The Julian Bonds
and Kweisi Mfumes of the world can take care of themselves
at least as well as Mr. Bush in the legalized gang fight
called politics.

What is troubling is Mr. Bush's relationship with black
Americans in general. He's very good at using blacks as
political props. And the props are too often part of an
exceedingly cynical production.

Four years ago, on the first night of the Republican
convention, a parade of blacks was hauled before the
television cameras (and the nearly all-white audience in
the convention hall) to sing, to dance, to preach and to
praise a party that has been relentlessly hostile to the
interests of blacks for half a century.

I wrote at the time that "you couldn't tell whether you
were at the Republican National Convention or the Motown
Review."

That exercise in modern-day minstrelsy was supposed to show
that Mr. Bush was a new kind of Republican, a big-tent guy
who would welcome a more diverse crowd into the G.O.P. That
was fiction. It wasn't long before black voters would find
themselves mugged in Florida, and soon after that Mr. Bush
was steering the presidency into a hard-right turn.

Among the most important props of that 2000 campaign were
black children. Mr. Bush could be seen hugging them at
endless photo-ops. He said a Bush administration would do
great things for them. He promised to transform public
education in America. He hijacked the trademarked slogan of
the Children's Defense Fund, "Leave No Child Behind," and
refashioned it for his own purposes. He pasted the new
version, "No Child Left Behind," onto one of the signature
initiatives of his presidency, a supposedly historic
education reform act.

The only problem is that, to date, the act has been
underfunded by $26 billion. A lot of those kids the
president hugged have been left behind.

And why not? They can't do much for him. Michael Moore's
"Fahrenheit 9/11" captured a telling presidential
witticism. Mr. Bush, appearing before a well-heeled
gathering in New York, says: "This is an impressive crowd:
the haves, and the have-mores. Some people call you the
elite. I call you my base."

It wasn't really his base. But the comment spoke volumes.


Mr. Bush said he was a different kind of Republican, but
what black voters see are tax cuts for the very wealthy and
underfunded public schools. What they see is an economy
that sizzles for the haves and the have-mores, but a
harrowing employment crisis for struggling blacks,
especially black men. (When the Community Service Society
looked at the proportion of the working-age population with
jobs in New York City it found that nearly half of all
black men between the ages of 16 and 64 were not working
last year. That's a Depression-era statistic.)

In Florida, where the president's brother is governor, and
Texas, where the president once was the governor, state
officials have been pulling the plug on health coverage for
low-income children. The president could use his
considerable clout to put a stop to that sort of thing, but
he hasn't.

And now we know that Florida was gearing up for a reprise
of the election shenanigans of 2000. It took a court order
to get the state to release a list of 48,000 suspected
felons that was to be used to purge people from the voting
rolls. It turned out that the list contained thousands of
names of black people, who tend to vote Democratic, and
hardly any names of Hispanics, who in Florida tend to vote
Republican.

Once their "mistake" was caught, the officials scrapped the
list.

Mr. Bush plans to address the Urban League convention in
Detroit next week. That would be an excellent time for him
to explain to an understandably skeptical audience why he
campaigned one way - as a big-tent compassionate
conservative - and governed another.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/opinion/16HERB.html?ex=1090975525&ei=1&en=f3bea4a7d12c3cef

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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This administration continues to repeat the refrain that Bush has created 1.2 million jobs when in fact there is a net loss of jobs between 2 and 3 million.

He never met with the KKK either.

Sen. John Kerry has chosen his candidate for vice president. Immediately there arose questions whether his choice, Sen. John Edwards, has the requisite national security experience to be president. Some praised the Massachusetts Frenchman for having the courage to pick a fellow senator with so little experience and gravitas. But Mr. Edwards' defense credentials are beside the point. We are not keeping our eye on the ball. Its not that the No. 2 guy doesn't understand defense policy. It's that the No. 1 guy doesn't as well. Now, I know this flies in the face of the commonest assumptions of our nuanced and coiffed pundits, but let's look at the record.
In my years working in the Senate, I was always struck how senators flounder during hearings when they have to depart from the canned speeches prepared by staff. This often occurs during question-and-answer sessions with witnesses. Often, the "real" politician is revealed. As I have highlighted previously, during one 1989 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Mr. Kerry asserted to then-Secretary of State designee James Baker that, as far as right-thinking people went, the issue of global warming was at least as important as the reduction of nuclear weapons.
In 1996 hearings on missile defenses, Mr. Kerry questions the entire premise behind missile defenses by asserting that no one could possibly be concerned because "there are no Russian missiles aimed at the United States." Now it may be that Sen. Kerry, shortly before this important hearing, gleaned such special insights from myriad dinners at some foreign restaurants where he met with a number of "high" Russian "officials," who told him the startling news that the Russians were no longer aiming their strategic rocket forces at any targets in the United States.
Even the committee witness from the Clinton administration was baffled by the claim, responding that such an assertion was not only dubious but also dangerous. Can you imagine our commander in chief conducting foreign affairs under the false assumption that the one country in the world capable of incinerating all of us is really not aiming any of its some thousands of warheads at us?
Mr. Kerry rapidly retreated from this claim only to stumble once again. He next asserted that there really was no reason to think that even if you wanted to build a missile defense for the United States, you would want to protect either Hawaii or Alaska. As he put it, "Why would anyone want to?" To be sure, the senator's fortune was made in ketchup, but he has made much of his supposed knowledge of energy issues, such as global warming. A nice North Korean missile warhead landing in the proximity of the Trans Alaskan Pipeline would cause economic damage far in excess of that caused by September 11.
In fact, the Alaskan legislature was so concerned with this issue that they received a briefing from the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. The briefing noted that the North Koreans had a growing ballistic-missile capability and that an attack against the pipeline would cause some $23 billion in immediate damages and $46 billion over two years just in terms of lost oil supplies. Economic ripple effects would add hundreds of additional billions in damages. The Alaska legislature subsequently passed a resolution calling upon the U.S. government to build a missile defense protecting not only the continental 48 states but also Hawaii and Alaska. After all, the Constitution does call for providing "for the common defense." And last time I looked, these two fine states were part of the United States.
This issue is not only of passing interest. The Clinton administration asserted there was no North Korean ballistic-missile threat to the United States, but forgot to tell Congress that the intelligence community deliberately left out Hawaii and Alaska in their analysis. Since Alaska and Hawaii are closer to North Korean rockets than the West Coast of the continental United States, the Clintonistas could claim ?- however dubiously ?- that whatever threat there was actually farther away than was the truth. It was later revealed that the National Intelligence Estimate had been cooking the books to come up with such a conclusion.
The North Korean ballistic-missile threat now is far more serious than it was in 1995-1996. The Republic of Korea government now claims Pyongyang recently has been testing both medium- and long-range rocket engines, although we had been assured by arms controllers in the Clinton administration that Kim Jong Il and his Communist hoods in North Korea had promised to place a moratorium on missile tests. This was not unlike the claim of the former Soviet Union when they promised not to aim any of their missiles at us.
President Bush is building a missile defense as a sound insurance policy to defend America. Arms control might work, but it might not. Mr. Kerry, on the other hand, vows to cut the funding for missile defense. He apparently believes the North Koreans and the Russians ?- there are no missiles aimed at us, and even if there are, they won't attack us. Which view best reflects a sound defense policy suited for our commander in chief?

link

To think that John Kerry would be a total wuss on defense I think is foolish. At least in his first term he will expect to run for re-election and will give it at least lip service. Can we expect him to give it less than top priority or importance? Of course. As the author of McG's post pointed out, his track record is less than exemplary. Also, we can assume he would follow the policies the last two Democrat presidents followed and would partially dismantle the military complex that now exists.

After he has been so critical of GWB's emphasis on fighting terrorism, I don't see him having any initiatives on that front.

Of course I'm still shuddering to think what might have been done and left undone had Al Gore been elected in 2000.

Bushwacking
"A new poll says that if the election were held today,
John Kerry would beat President Bush by a double digit
margin. The White House is so worried about this,
they're now thinking of moving up the capture of Osama
Bin Laden to next month." -- Jay Leno
President Bush has unveiled his first campaign
commercial, highlighting all of his accomplishments in
office. That's why it's a 15-second spot." -- Jay
Leno

"President Bush says he has just one question for the
American voters,'Is the rich person you're working for
better off now than they were four years ago?'"-- Jay
Leno

"Kerry is well on his way to reaching his magic number
of 2,162. That's the total number of delegates he
needs to win the Democratic nomination. See, for
President Bush it's different. His magic number is
only 5. That's the number of Supreme Court judges
needed to win." -- Jay Leno

"There was a scare in Washington when a man climbed
over the White House wall and was arrested. This
marks the first time a person has gotten into The
White House unlawfully since President Bush." --
David Letterman

"The White House is now backtracking from its
prediction that 2.6 million new jobs will be created
in the U.S. this year. They say they were off, by
roughly 2.6 million jobs." -- Jay Leno

"In Louisiana, President Bush met with over 15,000
National Guard troops. Here's the weird part: nobody
remembers seeing him there." -- Craig Kilborn

"President Bush said he was 'troubled' by gay people
getting married in San Francisco. He said on
important issues like this the people should make the
decision, not judges. Unless of course we're choosing
a president, then he prefers judges." -- Jay Leno

"There was an embarrassing moment in the White House
earlier today. They were looking around searching for
George Bush's military records. They actually found
some old Al Gore ballots." -- David Letterman

"The big story now is that President Bush is coming
under attack for his service in the National Guard.
The commanding officers can't remember seeing Bush
between May and October of '72. President Bush said,
'Remember me? I'm the drunk guy.'" -- Jay Leno

"On 'Meet the Press' yesterday President Bush was
asked what he would do if he lost the election and
Bush said, 'Phhh, you mean like last time?'" -- Jay
Leno

"This week, both John Kerry and Wesley Clark are
making campaign appearance with the guys who saved
their lives in Vietnam. Meanwhile, President Bush is
campaigning with a guy that once took a math test for
him." -- Conan O'Brien

"President Bush released his new $2.4 trillion federal
budget. It has two parts: smoke and mirrors." --
Jay Leno

"Bush admitted that his pre-war intelligence wasn't
what it should have been. We knew that when we
elected him!" -- Jay Leno

"As you know President Bush gave his State of the
Union Address, interrupted 70 times by applause and 45
times by really big words." -- Jay Leno

"President Bush said that American workers will need
new skills to get the new jobs in the 21st century.
Some of the skills they're going to need are Spanish,
Chinese, and Korean, because that's where the jobs
went." -- Jay Leno

"President Bush wants to build a space station on the
moon. And from the moon, he wants to launch people to
Mars. You know what this means. He's drinking
again." -- David Letterman

"Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has written a
book about his years with the Bush Administration. He
said that President Bush while at cabinet meetings is
disengaged, he's uninformed, distracted, he's passive.
And the Democrats are saying to themselves "How can
we possibly beat this guy?" -- David Letterman

"The new Prime Minister of Spain has called the war in
Iraq a disaster, and plans to bring his troops home as
soon as possible. In fact, President Bush is so upset
at Spain that he is now threatening to close down the
border between Spain and the US." -- Jay Leno

"The U.S. Army confirmed that it gave a lucrative
fighting contract in Iraq to the firm once run by the
Vice President Dick Cheney without any competitive
bidding. When asked if this could be conceived as
Cheney's friends profiting from the war, the spokesman
said, 'Yes.' ' -- Conan O'Brien

"Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has unveiled a
new color-coded system to warn the public about
different states of danger. Red is the highest state
of alert, and it means that Dick Cheney is about to
eat a mozzarella stick." -- Conan O'Brien

"Dick Cheney finally responded today to demands that
he reveal the details of the Enron meetings. This is
what he said. 'He met with unnamed people, from
unspecified companies, for an indeterminate amount of
time, at an undisclosed location.' Thank God he
cleared that up." -- Jay Leno

"Plans are being discussed as to who will replace Dick
Cheney if he has to resign for health reasons. It's
not easy for President Bush. He can't just name a
replacement. He would first have to be confirmed by
the oil, gas and power companies."
-- Jay Leno

"President Bush spoke briefly to reporters before
playing a round of golf in Crawford, Texas, earlier
today. This raises the question: Shouldn't the guy
who is really running the country and who has had like
20 heart attacks be taking the vacation?" -- Craig
Kilborn

"The White House has now released military documents
they say prove George Bush met his requirements for
the National Guard. Big deal, we've got documents
that prove Al Gore won the election." -- Jay Leno

"John Kerry told Tom Ridge he was too busy to receive a Homeland Security briefing. I thought that was odd, since you're not supposed to ignore terrorist threats until after you become president." ?-David Letterman

"There was an embarrassing moment at a recent Democratic fundraiser. When John Kerry was handed a $10 million dollar check, he said, 'I do.'" ?-Craig Kilborn

"John Kerry suspended his campaign for five days this week in honor of President Reagan. And right now, he's ahead in the polls. How's that make him feel? Disappears for a week and he's up in the polls. What else can he do now but go into hiding." ?-Jay Leno

"'Shrek 2' made over $120 million during its first week. In a related story, John Kerry asked Shrek to marry him." ?-Conan O'Brien

"John Kerry met with Ralph Nader last week. Both sides of every issue were discussed. And then, Nader spoke." ?-Jay Leno

"This is so weird. I saw the new John Kerry campaign commercial and he says, 'I'm John Kerry and I approve of this message ?- if I have one.'" ?-Craig Kilborn

"John Kerry and Ralph Nader met face-to-face, it was a historic meeting. Astronomers said today their meeting actually created what is called a 'charisma black hole.'" ?-Jay Leno

"Gas prices are up, the stock market is down, Iraq is a mess and John Kerry is saying, 'How am I gonna beat this guy?" ?-David Letterman

"Bill Clinton has a brand new book coming out in a few months and the Democrats are worried that the Clinton book might upstage the Kerry campaign. I'm thinking, hell, day-old meat loaf could upstage that campaign." ?-David Letterman

"The campaign for the White House is heating up with John Kerry taking heat for throwing his Vietnam medals away, getting a $1000 haircut, and wearing a 1970s wig known as 'the Leno.' There are really two sides to this story. And America can't wait for Kerry to present both of them." ?-David Letterman

"President Bush said John Kerry is on both sides of every issue. And Kerry replied, 'No, I'm not ... but there is some truth to that.' " ?-Craig Kilborn

"The prisoner scandal is yet another election year problem for President Bush. And, with the economy still struggling, combat operations in Iraq dragging on, and the 9-11 hearings revealing damning information, even an opponent of limited political skill should be able to capitalize on those problems. The Democrats, however, chose to nominate John Kerry." ?-Jon Stewart

"Insiders have begun voicing serious concerns about how he's conducting his campaign. One aide told the New York Times that while Bush's message of 'steady leadership' has remained consistent, Kerry has gone through six different messages in the 18 months he's been running, including, at one particularly desperate juncture, 'Kerry: Health care jobs for the troops' environment.'" ?-Jon Stewart

"John Kerry spent the day reading to preschoolers ... and the kids said Kerry actually lacked warmth and failed to articulate a clear message." ?-David Letterman

"Lot of people wondering if John Kerry supports gay marriages. Here's a hint ... he gets $1,000 haircuts." ?-Craig Kilborn

"Courtney Love said she once escorted Kerry to a concert. John Kerry once went out with Courtney Love and he's questioning Bush's judgment." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry announced his plan for how to handle those poor naked prisoners. His wife is going to buy them all a $1,000 Armani suit." ?-Craig Kilborn

"Kerry was here in Los Angeles. He was courting the Spanish vote by speaking Spanish. And he showed people he could be boring in two languages." ?-Jay Leno

"President Bush listed his income as $822,000. You know what John Kerry calls someone who earns $822,000? Not even worth dating." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry fell off of his bicycle over the weekend. He went for a Sunday afternoon ride, fell off in front of the news media. Luckily, his hair broke the fall so it's not as serious. ... Thankfully, Senator Kerry was not seriously injured. In fact, when the police arrived, Kerry was well enough to give conflicting reports to the officers about what happened." ?-Jay Leno

"Please explain to me why John Kerry sounds more dickish telling the truth than Bush sounds when he's lying. How is that possible?" ?-Jon Stewart

"John Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz is on the cover of Newsweek magazine this week and they said that if he is elected president, she will be the oldest first lady in American history. But that doesn't bother John Kerry, he said, 'To me, she looks like a million bucks'" ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry reportedly flew in his private hairdresser before his "Meet the Press" interview for a total cost of $1,000. That's $1,000 for a haircut, which sounds like a lot, but have you seen the size of Kerry's head." ?-Jay Leno

"Well the good news for Democrats, now over half the country can identify a picture of John Kerry. The bad news, the majority still thinks he's the dad from 'The Munsters."' ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry had surgery on his right shoulder this week to repair some damage. It was pretty bad, he had no feeling. It was almost like he was a Republican." ?-David Letterman

"John Kerry accused President Bush of catering to the rich. You know, as opposed to John Kerry who just marries them." ?-Jay Leno

"They say John Kerry is the first Democratic presidential candidate in history to raise $50 million in a three-month period. Actually, that's nothing. He once raised $500 million with two words: 'I do.'" ?-Jay Leno

"Senator Kerry recovering very nicely after having shoulder surgery. The doctors said the senator was fully awake, lucid and joking after the surgery was done, but cautioned that that was just the drug. He went back to his boring self soon afterward." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry will undergo surgery to repair his right shoulder. He originally hurt it when he suddenly switched positions on Iraq." ?-Craig Kilborn

"Today, John Kerry announced a fool-proof plan to wipe out the $500B deficit. John Kerry has a plan, he's going to put it on his wife's Gold Card." ?-Craig Kilborn

"We make jokes about it but the truth is this presidential election really offers us a choice of two well-informed opposing positions on every issue. OK, they both belong to John Kerry, but they're still there." ?-Jay Leno

"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why ?- with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry says that foreign leaders want him to be president, but that he can't name the foreign leaders. That's all right, President Bush can't name them either." ?-David Letterman

"John Kerry is busy trying to raise money right now for his campaign. It was reported today that Kerry's hoping to raise $80 million before the Democratic convention. That's a lot of money. Yeah, Kerry has two ways to raise the $80 million: soliciting Democratic donors and going through his wife's purse." ?-Conan O'Brien

"John Kerry says that he wants to debate President Bush once a month until the election. This could be a risky move for Senator Kerry. If Bush doesn't show up for the debates, John Kerry may end up debating an empty chair. And that could be pretty much a toss up as to which one has the better personality." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry described his Republican critics as 'the most crooked, lying group I've ever seen.' Now, that's saying something, because Kerry's both a lawyer and a politician." ?-Jay Leno

"The White House begun airing their TV commercials to re-elect the president, and the John Kerry campaign is condemning his use of 9/11 in the ads. He said, it is unconscionable to use the tragic memory of a war in order to get elected, unless of course, it's the Vietnam War." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry has promised to take this country back from the wealthy. Who better than the guy worth $700 million to take the country back? See, he knows how the wealthy think. He can spy on them at his country club, at his place in Palm Beach, at his house in the Hamptons. He's like a mole for the working man." ?-Jay Leno

"I'm worried about John Kerry, he's so confident now that he's already planning his White House sex scandal." ?-David Letterman

"John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee for president. Democrats finally found someone who is Al Gore without the flash and the sizzle." ?-Craig Kilborn

"Earlier today, President Bush said Kerry will be a tough and hard-charging opponent. That explains why Bush's nickname for Kerry is math." ?-Conan O'Brien

"Kerry has already begun his search for a running mate. They say that because John Edwards still has $50 million in campaign money, Kerry might pick him. Pick him? Hey, for $50 million, Kerry will marry him." ?-Jay Leno

"Yesterday Senator John Kerry changed his mind and now supports the ban on gay marriages. I'm telling you this guy has more positions than Paris Hilton." ?-David Letterman

"During last night's debate, John Kerry and John Edwards were so friendly to each other some political experts think that they may end up running together. In fact Kerry and Edwards were so friendly, President Bush accused them of planning a gay marriage." ?-Conan O'Brien

"It really kind of looks like now that John Kerry is on his way to the presidential nomination. The only thing that can sink John Kerry now is an Al Gore endorsement." ?-Jay Leno

"According to a new study, Botox injections can help back pain. So you see, that's why John Kerry had all that Botox ?- his back was killing him from all that flip-flopping on issues." ?-Jay Leno

"An Internet rumor claims that John Kerry had an affair with a young woman. When asked if this was similar to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, a spokesman said 'Close, but no cigar.'" ?-Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update"

"Over the weekend, John Kerry ?- the big John Kerry juggernaut moves on ?- he won primaries in Washington D.C., Nevada and, I think, Canada. And he's so confident that he's started nailing that intern again." ?-David Letterman

"Presidential campaign getting kind of ugly, did you hear about this? Yesterday, a 27-year-old woman came for to deny rumors that she had an affair with Democratic front-runner John Kerry. The woman added, 'I would never cheat on Bill Clinton.'" ?-Conan O'Brien

"Senator John Kerry released his plan today to eliminate the deficit. He said all we have to do is find a really rich country like Switzerland and marry it." ?-Jay Leno

"The head of the AFL-CIO endorsed John Kerry, saying, 'The time has come to come behind one man, one leader, one candidate.' Then he said, 'And until we find that man, we will endorse John Kerry.'" ?-Conan O'Brien

"The Democrats are all over this. Democratic strategists feel John Kerry's war record means he can beat Bush. They say when it comes down to it voters will always vote for a war hero over someone who tried to get out of the war. I'll be sure to mention that to Bob Dole when I see him." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry said today that he wants to get rid of tax cuts for the rich and his wife said, 'Hey, shut up! What's the matter with you?! Are you nuts?!'" ?-Jay Leno

"They had a profile of John Kerry on the news and they said his first wife was worth around $300 million and his second wife, his current wife, is worth around $700 million. So when John Kerry says he's going after the wealthy in this country, he's not just talking. He's doing it!" ?-Jay Leno

"In a new issue of Esquire magazine, they revealed that before he was married to Teresa Heinz, Senator John Kerry dated Morgan Fairchild, Michelle Phillips, Catherine Oxenberg and Dana Delany. Finally a Democratic presidential candidate with good taste in women." ?-Jay Leno

"It's nine months before the election and Bush's poll numbers have fallen to the exact level that his father's poll numbers were nine months before he lost to Bill Clinton. Today front runner John Kerry said he's not superstitious, but just to be on the safe side, he's going to start f---ing everything that moves." ?-Bill Maher

"John Kerry was officially endorsed by Dick Gephardt, and Kerry said, 'What did I ever do to you?'" ?-Craig Kilborn

"A number of plastic surgeons are claiming that looking at John Kerry now, as opposed to a few months ago, they believe he's had Botox shots. They claim a number of his worry lines have vanished. They haven't vanished, just Howard Dean is wearing them now." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry is finding out that it is no fun to be the front runner, that's when you get all the heat. He had to deny internet rumors this week that he had Botox treatments. The Republicans say Kerry should have a clear, unfurrowed brow the old fashioned way by not giving a sh--." ?-Bill Maher

"In his big victory speech last night, Senator Kerry said that he wanted to defeat George Bush and the 'economy of privilege.' Then he hugged his wife, Teresa, heir to the multi-million dollar Heinz food fortune." ?-Jay Leno

"Political experts are saying the reason John Kerry is doing so well is because he's 'electable.' Hey, so was Al Gore ?- in fact, he even got elected and it didn't help him at all." ?-Jay Leno

"A new poll shows that Senator Kerry's support in the South is strongest amongst blacks. Kerry's appeal to Southern blacks is obvious. He is a white man who lives far, far away." ?-Dennis Miller

"The big winner last night in New Hampshire ?- Senator John Kerry. He won 39 percent of the vote, which is pretty good, and begs the question, why the long face?" ?-Jay Leno

"Real movement in the Kerry campaign now. His poll numbers are moving, donations are moving, endorsements are moving. The only thing not moving is his hair." ?-Jay Leno

"In his speech last night, John Kerry said this was the beginning of the end of the Bush administration. I agree. Sure, it may take another five years, but this is it." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry's victory over Howard Dean has completely changed the presidential race around. Now instead of the rich white guy from Yale who lives in the White house facing off against the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Vermont, he may have to face the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Massachusetts. It's a whole different game." ?-Jay Leno

"A Newsweek poll said if the election were held today, John Kerry would beat Bush 49 percent to 46 percent. And today, President Bush called Newsweek magazine a threat to world peace." ?-Jay Leno

"During the Democratic presidential debate Howard Dean started off by apologizing to the crowd for having a cold. Then John Kerry apologized for once having a cold while serving his country in Vietnam." ?-Conan O'Brien

"John Kerry was the big winner in Iowa. Ted Kennedy introduced Kerry as the 'comeback kid.' That used to be Bill Clinton's name ?- because every time he would come back to a city, he would find out if he had a kid or not." ?-Jay Leno

"These campaigns are getting so nasty. They are going through people's old taxes, coming up with these old quotes. Today, somebody released footage of John Kerry throwing apples at Dorothy. To me he just looks like the tree from 'The Wizard of Oz.'" ?-Bill Maher

"Ted Kennedy is endorsing John Kerry and I'm wondering, do you really want the endorsement of a guy with a Bloody Mary mustache?" ?-David Letterman

"In an interview with Rolling Stone, Senator John Kerry, who is running for president, said that when he voted for the war in Iraq, he didn't expect President Bush to 'f--- it up as badly as he did.' Here's some breaking news, tomorrow former Vice President Al Gore expected to endorse Howard Dean as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States ?- and you thought John Kerry was using four letter words before! Actually, to John Kerry, Dean is a four letter word." ?-Jay Leno

"Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry came down pretty hard on fellow candidate Howard Dean this weekend. After Dean misspoke several times, Kerry said you can't misspeak 15 times in a week and be president. And Bush said, 'You can't'?" ?-Jay Leno

"The Boston Globe is reporting that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry used to date actress Morgan Fairchild but it didn't work out. Apparently she couldn't handle dating someone with bigger hair then she had." ?-Jay Leno

"John Kerry is recovering nicely after having prostate surgery. But the doctors did tell him it would be several months before he could be sexually active again. All the other Democratic candidates have been very supportive. Joe Lieberman called to wish him the best. The Rev. Al Sharpton called to offer prayers. Former President Bill Clinton called Mrs. Kerry and asked if she was lonely." ?-Jay Leno

Extremely interesting article on John Kerry and foriegn policy.

The article basically is complimentaryof Kerry I think. But it definitely illustrates that he will make happy those who don't want the military to do much of anything. Those of us who think a strong and ready military along with a willingness to deploy it is our best hope of peace better look elsewhere for a president.

Truth in Politics...?
Can you ever find any?

Funny, Joe Wilson named his book The Politics of Truth, and has recently been outed as a big liar. Expect the Plame Game to end up with Joe in a bit of trouble. He lied about the validity of Bush's Niger assertion, which turns out to be true--and he lied about the fact that his wife suggested him to be given the assignment.

Thankfully, the truth on this issue, and on Bush's Niger sentence, the 16 words--has indeed come to the surface.

Score a BIG one for the Bush campaign.

Now,we find that Kerry's National Security advisor has removed sensitive foreign policy, and security documents--and did so illegally. Soon after he did, Kerry suddenly began speaking to the same issues that were in the classified documents...

I'll leave it there---but the State Department and the CIA will not.

Looks VERY, VERY BAD for Kerry.

This one has legs.

Oh, yes.

Kerry doesn't need security briefings...? I guess we know why.

There is now a popular cartoon, that josh to Bush and Kerry. After a flash advertising it starts.

http://www.jibjab.com/thisland.html

Samuel L. Berger quits as adviser to Kerry





source

Ewww let's don't schluck up this thread with another Berger 'documents down his pants' thread. Lots of other threads going on that subject.

alright

but there is another again ... http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29452

New Pew poll, only 2,5% MoE


More details here.

However the most recent Rasmussen poll has Bush even with Kerry on confidence in handling the economy. Other numbers are similar as cited.

Looks like Rasmussen is the odd one out, then, compared to the most recent polls by 1) Pew, 2) ABC/WaPo, 3) Fox, and 4) Time/CNN - all of whom have Kerry in the lead on handling the economy.

Could be. I think Rasmussen's track record has been pretty good so far though and we'll see who finishes first on the accuracy meter in November.

One poll can turn out to be pretty good - or not so good. Two polls can still happen to together be wrong in the same way, I guess. When five polls all point a certain direction, its a good time to start paying attention. Even the best of polls can have an off-year; better look at which way the overall cluster of polls points.

Anyway, the only polls we'll be able to check on accuracy in November are the election match-up polls: those will be set in stark comparison to the actual result. Questions like who voters trust on which individual issue cant ever be checked except for by other polls ... people dont vote on individual issues, they vote on the overall picture, and what exactly motivated them to shift one way or another will forever be subject of speculation ... people dont even always vote on the issues. Its pure background info, just so many hints about which way the only numbers that really matter - the match-up ones - will break ...

The reason I trust Rasmussen (and even Zogby who doesn't have as good a track record) is I have not been able to detect any bias re the outcome. I do detect a good deal of bias in all the alphabet news organization who run these knds of polls. All you have to do is check the funding for Pew to know which way the political winds blow there.

Perhaps averages, even by biased organizations, will provide better accuracy than one or two unbiased sources. That I don't know.

It will be interesting to test all their records on accuracy come November.

Hmmm ... havent been able to detect much bias on the part of Pew this election campaign yet, not when it came to the Bush vs Kerry poll, anyway ...

Eg, they've had 6 two-way-race polls out this year thus far; twice, they had a better result for Bush than the other five, resp. seven polls out in the same 10-day period; three times, they had a worse result for Bush than the three-four other polls out around the same time. So mostly, they've just been all over the place ;-)

<checks something else>

Well, those six times their numbers were on average 1,5% worse for Bush than the average of polls in the same timeframe, so perhaps you are a little right <nods>. (I should calculate that for all polls ... although Federal Review already did that once, they just didnt include Pew)