IPW Daily Report – Friday, March 19, 2004
"I had a choice to make: either to take the word
of a madman or take such threats seriously and
defend America. Faced with that choice, I will
defend America every time,"
President Bush
said.
John Kerry said:
"We are still bogged down in Iraq and the
administration stubbornly holds to failed policies
that drive potential allies away."
"That attack showed, once again, the cruelty of
our enemies. The terrorists and Baathist holdouts
know that a free and stable Iraq will be a major
defeat to the cause of hatred and terror,"
President Bush
continued.
"They can't stand the thought of a free society.
They know that the rise of democracy and hope in
the Middle East will mean the decline of their
appeal and influence,"
Bush said.
"The United States is committed to defeating
terrorism around the world. It's a solemn
commitment. We lead in this cause. We're fighting
in this cause. And we are sacrificing in this
cause," Bush
said.
"Kerry sounds defensive. He has to understand when
not to respond to the attack. He needs to go back
and put Bush on the defensive. He has to remember
to stay on message,"
said Michigan
Democratic campaign pollster Ed Sarpolus.
"Obviously, any day that we're not talking about
the sluggish economy is a day that John Kerry is
not talking about what he wants to talk about,"
Democratic
consultant George Shelton said.
"So there has been a spike in attacks,"
Colin Powell
said in Iraq. "We have seen these spikes
before and I hope it won't stay at this level and
we'll work to get it down as soon as possible. "
"This is not the time to say, 'Let's stop what
we're doing and pull back.' It's time to redouble
our efforts ... and not run and hide and think it
won't come and get us,"
Powell said.
Kerry: assassination scandal
The NY Sun reports that the Kerry campaign has
reversed itself on the question of whether Kerry
was present in a Kansas City meeting where Vietnam
Veterans Against the War (VVAW) plotted to
assassinate U.S. Senators. However, on Wednesday a
top aide to Kerry said that the Massachusetts
senator and presumptive Democratic presidential
nominee was "absolutely certain" he was not
present when the assassination plan, known as the
"Phoenix Project," was discussed.
Gerald Nicosia who is an author and expert on
activism against the Vietnam War was the source
for much of the Sun’s story. He referenced FBI
informant documents that placed Kerry at the 1971
Kansas City, MO, meeting:
"It’s kind of unmistakable to see a pattern. All
four of them were out the door, bingo, the morning
after" the so called Phoenix plot was discussed,"
Gerald Nicosia is quoted.
This references Kerry’s distancing himself from
the organization. However, Kerry made himself
available for some events with VVAW.
Kerry: doesn’t fall down
Sen. John Kerry is vacationing in Idaho and he
made it clear that he doesn’t fall down after
bumping into a Secret Service Agent.
When asked about the mishap a moment later, he
said, "I don't fall down," then used an expletive
to describe the agent who "knocked me over."
Details of Kerry's Idaho home are that Le Chateau
Kerry is no ordinary cabin in the woods. It was
built from imported stone and timber from a
15th-century English barn, which was flown over
with a master carpenter to reconstruct it. I is
nestled among huge birch trees and spruces with
commanding sweeping mountain views. Its
7,749-square-foot interior contains seven
bedrooms, six bathrooms and a screening room where
the Kerrys can enjoy the latest Hollywood hits.
Battleground update
The LA Times covers the battlefield states and
prognosticates about Kerry and Bush’s chances by
region.
The Democrats' focus appears to have moved from
Southern states that Gore fought for but lost
in 2000 toward other possible
pickups: Southwestern states — especially Nevada
and Arizona — and states that have lost jobs under
Bush, such as Ohio, West Virginia and Missouri
And:
Bush advisors
see states with large numbers of rural and
culturally conservative voters — principally
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and
Oregon — as their best opportunities to capture
electoral votes Gore won in 2000.
The Times reports that the ‘new Florida’ may be
switching to Ohio. That state’s difficult economic
times could create difficulties for the Bush
campaign.
The Jobs Issue is continuing to loom as a key
factor in Bush’s reelection:
Indeed, the Kerry aide predicted that job gain and
loss statistics would heavily influence the
campaign's choices this fall. Of the states the
two campaigns have identified as clear or
potential battlegrounds, 13 have lost jobs since
Bush took office, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Kerry: No foreign leaders
Sen. John Kerry’s campaign spokesman Rand Beer,s
who is Kerry’s foreign policy adviser, sought to
put behind Kerry’s comments regarding foreign
leaders according to the Washington Times:
"This election will be decided by the American
people, and the American people alone," said Mr.
Kerry's foreign policy adviser, Rand Beers. "It is
simply not appropriate for any foreign leader to
endorse a candidate in America's presidential
election.
"John Kerry does not seek, and will not accept,
any such endorsements."
…"John Kerry rejects any association with former
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an
avowed anti-Semite whose views are totally
deplorable," Mr. Beers said. On Wednesday, Spain's
prime minister-elect urged Americans to vote for
Mr. Kerry during an interview on Spanish radio.
Kerry is loved in France
Paul Pruden of the Washington Times reports that Kerry is loved
in Europe:
The chairman of Democrats Abroad, who seems to
have been abroad too long, agrees. Kerry "is the
closest thing that you will have to a French
politician, with a certain diplomacy, a certain
elegance," she says. "He is more like a leader
would be in Europe. He doesn't look like a Texan."
Dean’s new organization
Howard Dean launched his much expected
organization yesterday. In his speech announcing
Democracy for America, he called for a
populist uprising.
“We will begin with this proposition. In 2004, to
start taking back America, we must take back the
White House. We must expose and defeat George W.
Bush and his radical agenda. Our new enterprise
will help in every way possible. We intend to
focus on key battleground states, mobilizing our
national network of supporters and the
groundbreaking organizing tools we developed
during our campaign. We will help some with
support through our political action committee. I
will travel to speak on behalf of candidates. We
will put to work our national grassroots network
and organizing tools to help candidates win," Dean
said.
In his remarks at the Westin Hotel's Cascade
Ballroom, Dean laid out the four founding
principles for Democracy for America: (1) a
commitment to a strong, sustained grassroots
involvement in democracy; (2) a commitment to
promoting an America where candidates and office
holders tell the truth about policy choices and
stand up for what they believe; (3) a commitment
to fighting against the influence and agenda of
the two pillars of George W. Bush's Washington:
the far right wing and their radical, divisive
policies, and the selfish special interests who
for too long have dominated politics; and (4) a
commitment to fighting for progressive policies,
like health care for all, investment in children,
equal rights under the law, fiscal responsibility,
and a national security policy that makes America
stronger by advancing progressive values.
"It's clear that George W. Bush is a failed
president. On George Bush's watch, America has
lost three million jobs, including many good
manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas. There
are solutions to this challenge. But George W.
Bush shuns the labor and environmental standards
that would make global trade work better and
protect more American jobs," Dean said, in remarks
as prepared for delivery.
"The first round of Bush television ads was widely
condemned for seeking to exploit the 9-11 tragedy.
But what was also troubling was the effort in
these ads to blame the weak economy on someone
else-maybe President Clinton, but not George W.
Bush. He's been President for three years and two
months, and yet the weak economy is someone else's
fault. That's not leadership; it's abdication," he
continued.
"I will do everything I can to help John Kerry
beat George W. Bush in 2004, to revitalize
grassroots democracy, and to move America in a
better direction," Dean said. "To defeat George W.
Bush, we must stand up strong for our principles,
not paper over our differences with the most
radical Administration in our lifetime. To win, we
must aggressively expose the ways in which George
W. Bush's policies benefit the privileged and the
most extreme ideologues. To win, we must
confidently advance a policy agenda rooted in hope
and real American values--opportunity, integrity,
and community."
Dean explained that Democracy for America would
have five goals:
1. Recruit and encourage progressive candidates to
run for office at every level. We will help them
find the resources to campaign successfully with
small donations from grassroots supporters, to
begin to break the stranglehold special interests
have on the political process.
2. Raise funds for Congressional candidates for
whom financial support could be the key to
winning, and whose election will be key to winning
back a House of Representatives that has become
the tool of the Republican right wing.
3. Develop strategic partnerships with other
progressive organizations to maximize resources
for candidate recruitment, training, and
organization.
4. Build relationships with other political
initiatives to focus on the failed, destructive
policies of the Bush administration.
5. Harness the power of the Internet to enlarge
and support our grassroots organization committed
to taking back America from special interests that
control the right wing leadership of our Congress
and the White House.
Dean explained that he also hoped to encourage
supporters to continue their efforts through Dean
Corps, the former campaign's grassroots community
service effort, and to get involved in local
politics. He also thanked the more than 600,000
Americans who had supported his presidential bid,
saying, "We may not have won the nomination. But
you changed the debate in 2004. You toughened the
Democratic message and readied this Party to
challenge George W. Bush. And you have changed
politics forever, showing that a campaign that is
truly powered by ordinary Americans can emerge
from nowhere and build support."
New Bush ad
A television commercial is slated to run on cable
stations across the country. It includes a clip of
Kerry telling an audience on Tuesday, "I actually
did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted
against it."
The ad closes with the words: "John Kerry: Wrong
on Defense”
homepage
