The NY Times reported on how Sen. John Kerry and Sen. John Edwards rile against lobbyist and special privileged interest and then take their money:

While Senator John Kerry regularly promises to stand up to "big corporations," his campaign has taken money from executives on Wall Street and those representing the telecommunications industry, which is under his purview in Congress. Mr. Kerry denounces President Bush for catering to the rich, but he has depended more heavily on affluent donors than the other leading Democrats except for another populist, Senator John Edwards. Mr. Kerry's spokeswoman, Stephanie Cutter, said the contributions had no effect on his votes.

Edwards’ special interest of choice is his fellow trial lawyers:

Mr. Edwards, a former trial lawyer, received $7.5 million from members of the legal profession through September 2003, the analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics shows. That was half the money he had raised to that point.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said while visiting N. Carolina, “[John Edwards] gets 40 percent of his campaign contributions from trial lawyers at the same time he is blocking tort reform and medical liability reform legislation."

Although Edwards criticized Kerry for taking money from lobbyists, the North Carolina senator accepted one donation in 2002 directly from a lobbying firm and collected more than $80,000 from people who aren't formally registered as lobbyists yet work for lobbying firms in Washington. Edwards also has accepted more than $150,000 worth of flights aboard the corporate jets of special interests.

"I don't mean to sound holier than thou about this. Every presidential candidate has to raise money to run a serious presidential campaign. That includes me. But I have drawn lines that are voluntary, that the law permits contributions from those people and I've decided not to take money from those people," said John Edwards.

Kerry tends to favor large corporate financial interest that he oversees in his commerce committee:

Mr. Kerry is an experienced fund-raiser, having worked to raise money while on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and for his own campaigns. In his campaign for the nomination, he has collected more than $1 million from employees of securities and investment businesses. He took in $70,000 from employees of Citigroup and $62,500 from workers at Goldman Sachs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign finance trends.  (2/3/2004)

More Money

Money is the necessary ingredient to continue to win delegates. At this point there is some good news in the Howard Dean camp. It is reported that fundraising is coming in at around $10,000 per hour. Not enough to match Kerry or get Dean back into the Feb. 3 round, but it will set Dean up for Michigan (Feb.7) and Wisconsin (Feb. 17).

Meanwhile, Kerry has dragged in over $500,000 since New Hampshire’s election. He has raised $1.6 million online since the Iowa Caucuses.

Bad news came in for Sen. John Edwards and Wesley Clark.  They have opted into the public financing of elections program. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is not able to pay 100 percent of the money owed. So, They will be paying out 43 to 45 cents on the dollar. Rep. Dennis Kucinich had been expecting $2.4 million in his February check; Wesley Clark, $1.4 million; Joe Lieberman, about $389,000; and John Edwards, about $302,000.

Candidates normally borrow against the money owed by the FEC.

Howard Dean

Howard Dean got some good news and some bad news in the poll numbers. The good news is that Sen. John Edwards is now 4 percentage points ahead of Sen. John Kerry in S. Carolina. The bad news is that Kerry is solidly in the lead in five of the other six states and has pulled within 3 percent of Clark in Oklahoma. Dean needs Clark and Edwards to slow Kerry’s gathering of delegates. His best hope is in these words from pollster John Zogby:

"Edwards moved up a couple of points over Kerry in South Carolina, is running respectably in Oklahoma and is within striking distance of achieving delegates in Missouri," Zogby said.

"Clark appears poised for a solid second place showing in Arizona. If Clark can couple that with a victory in Oklahoma, he will certainly make this pollster look twice."

If Kerry continues to build momentum, Dean will have a very difficult time creating a firewall. One of the big problems facing Dean is the latest USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll that has Kerry beating President Bush 53 percent to 46 percent. In the same poll Dean loses to Bush 45 percent to 53 percent. The other problem is that the number one factor for Democrats voting for a candidate is the question of who can beat Bush. The other candidates fail to beat Bush in the latest poll. The CNN poll also showed Edwards beating Bush, 49% to 48%.

Wesley Clark

Clark needs the second place finish in Arizona and the win in Oklahoma just to stay in the race. Edwards has to win S. Carolina to stay in the race. Money will dry up for both of them if they do not make a decent showing.

"Our intention and our focus is to go forward," said Chris Lehane, a senior campaign strategist for Clark.

As of Monday the poll numbers showed that Clark could still be in the race. We will see if the numbers translate to voters today. One of the factors for Arizona is the fact that half of the votes in that state have already been cast prior to today’s primary. Many of the votes were cast before the New Hampshire Primary.

Another factor is that Arizona is having bad weather today and polling places will be hard to find because they are only using 1/3 of the number of polling places than usual today.

McAuliffe asks for Unity Pledge

Democrat National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe is asking candidates to sign a unity pledge he has mailed out, "Another four years of a George W. Bush presidency would be a disaster for the nation and the world. I pledge to stand with the Democratic Party and support the Democratic nominee for President in 2004. I will do everything I can to help win back the White House for America."

What happens after today…

After today’s election results, there will be candidates who have run out of money and hope and the pledge will be important.

Also after today’s election we may still see John Edwards, Howard Dean and Wesley Clark creating such scenes as envisioned by ABC’s The Note, “…we can look forward to several weeks of attacks on special interest ties; comparisons of life experience; accusations of a do-nothing Senate record; talk about a French castle, off-shore tax shelters, the Big Dig, voting rights for felons, and the death penalty; and Roy Neel blog postings.”

However, if Kerry moves forward as the inevitable nominee, The Note suggest that we can look forward to: “tax cuts for the wealthy; Iraq credibility; Halliburton; manufacturing job losses; the Texas National Guard; Maverick Media finally doing something visible for all that money; several weeks of attacks on special interest ties; comparisons of life experience; accusations of a do-nothing Senate record; talk about a French castle, off-shore tax shelters, the Big Dig, voting rights for felons, and the death penalty; and Chris Heinz and Laura Bush blog postings.” (2/3/2004)

Kerry gets NY Attorney General

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer traveled today to New Mexico to announce his support for John Kerry at a rally in Albuquerque. Since becoming Attorney General in 1999, Spitzer has worked to make New York a national leader in investor protection, environmental stewardship, labor rights, personal privacy, public safety and criminal law enforcement.

"With his long record of standing up for all Americans against special interests, John Kerry is the best candidate for President,” said Attorney General Spitzer. “He and I have fought together against the violation of clean air laws and to resolve the mutual fund scandal and other corporate wrongdoings. I know that he will help small investors and consumers. John Kerry has a real plan to end the era of special interests and I am convinced he is the man to take back the White House from President Bush and his corporate allies.”

“I am proud to have Eliot Spitzer's support in my campaign.” said John Kerry. “He's been leading the fight for investor and consumer fairness for years in New York. His work has set the standards for the rest of the country. America's small investors and consumers want fairness; an economy where they can succeed and build a better life; a country that rewards what's right; a government that is on their side. That's what I'm fighting for.”

With investor confidence still rocked by corporate scandals and charges of illegal trading practices, John Kerry has taken aim at the mutual funds scandal and developed a plan to restore ethics, integrity, and honesty to business and government by holding corporate America accountable. His plan will stop unfair trading practices, protect shareholders, and assure that all investors get a fair deal. His three-point plan includes:

·        Ending Market Timing and Late Trading. John Kerry will put a stop to practices that allow big investors to get deals not available to average investors, curbing late-trading and market-timing abuses by fully prosecuting Wall Street insiders that steal from American investors.

·        Protecting Shareholders with Independent Oversight and Strong Penalties. John Kerry will develop an independent board to ensure that mutual funds are protecting their shareholders, and increase penalties for defrauding investors. John Kerry will help investors recover their losses by applying racketeering laws to late trading schemes.

·        Assuring Everyday Investors Pay Fair Fees. Kerry will make sure that mutual funds charge fair fees to all shareholders and disclose any significant relationships with companies that receive contracts.  (2/3/2004)

Poll watching

Zogby tracking polls as of Monday:

Arizona, 55 delegates: polls open at 8:00 am ET and close at 9:00 pm ET.

John Kerry 40 (36)

Wesley Clark 27 (24)

Howard Dean 13 (14)

Joe Lieberman 6 (6)

John Edwards 6 (4)

Dennis Kucinich 1 (3)

Al Sharpton less than 1 (less than 1)

Undecided 5 (13)

Missouri, 74 delegates: polls open at 7:00 am ET and close at 8:00 pm ET.

Kerry 50 (43)

Edwards 15 (14)

Dean 9 (8)

Lieberman 4 (3)

Clark 4 (3)

Sharpton 3 (3)

Kucinich less than 1 (1)

Undecided 11 (22)

Oklahoma, 40 delegates: polls open at 8:00 am ET and close at 8:00 pm ET

Clark 28 (25)

Kerry 25 (23)

Edwards 21 (18)

Dean 8 (8)

Lieberman 7 (8)

Kucinich 1 (1)

Sharpton 1 (1)

Undecided 9 (16)

S. Carolina, 45 delegates: polls open at 7:00 am ET and close at 7:00 pm ET.

Edwards 31 (30)

Kerry 24 (23)

Clark 11 (12)

Sharpton 10 (10)

Dean 9 (9)

Lieberman 4 (3)

Kucinich 1 (1)

Undecided 10 (12)                     (2/3/2004)

• The Wall Street Journal notes that anti-Bush bankroller George Soros "said in an interview that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's foreign policy best reflects his own global thinking."

• … another Kerry adviser was more blunt. 'This is not the Dukakis campaign,' the adviser said. 'We're not going to take it. And if they're going to come at us with stuff, whatever that stuff may be, if it goes to a place where the '88 campaign did, then everything is on the table. Everything.'"  (2/5/2004)

Kerry gathers delegates & trouble

DELEGATES:

Kerry won 119 delegates on Tuesday to take a lead in the delegate race with 262. Dean is in second overall with 121, while Edwards has 97 and Clark 80, according to tabulations by MSNBC. Here's the ABC News Political Unit tally of the 269 delegates that were parceled out for the Feb. 3 election:

Kerry: 128

Edwards: 61

Clark: 49

Dean: 7

Sharpton: 1

ABC has the count at: Kerry: 246 (roughly 11 percent of the total delegates needed to secure the nomination) -- Remember: 2,161 is the number needed for the nomination:

Dean: 118

Edwards: 100

Clark: 81

Sharpton: 4

Kucinich: 2

Kerry also won the teachers union endorsement. The union represents 1.3 million-members in the  American Federation of Teachers. The union represents teachers from mostly urban schools as well as some public employees and health care workers.

Kerry is also likely to pick up a lot of the 128 delegates in Michigan as well. A Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby

Michigan poll found Kerry with 47 percent, Dean with 10 percent, Edwards with 8 percent, Clark with 4 percent, civil rights activist Al Sharpton with 2 percent and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich with 1 percent. Twenty-three percent of likely voters were undecided. Kerry has won the endorsement of Gov. Jennifer Granholm in that state as well. One thing to remember is that many ballots have already been cast in Michigan and they are allowing Internet voting.

Kerry’s momentum is so overwhelming that it seems to trump money and organization and with it pulls those two ingredients into it. The LA Times puts it this way:

The wave propelling Kerry is so powerful that it threatens to overwhelm one of the most reliable laws of modern presidential campaigns. Since 1984, the candidate who raised the most money in the year before the voting has won each major party's presidential nomination. But Dean now appears a long shot despite collecting about $41 million in 2003 — the most by any Democrat in the year prior to primary season.

TROUBLE:

Documents obtained by Associated Press detail Kerry's effort as a member of the Senate Commerce Committee to persuade committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., to drop legislation that would have stripped $150 million from the Big Dig project and ended the insurance funding loophole.

In 1999, Transportation Department auditors discovered that Big Dig managers had overpaid $129.8 million to AIG for worker compensation and liability insurance that wasn't needed, then allowed the insurer to keep the money in a trust and invest it in the market. The government alleged AIG kept about half of the profits it made from the investments, providing the other half to the project.

American International Group paid Kerry's way on a trip to Vermont and donated at least $30,000 to a tax-exempt group Kerry used to set up his presidential campaign. Company executives also donated $18,000 to his Senate and presidential campaigns, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

McCain's legislation said, "Any refunds of insurance premiums or reserve amounts, including interest, that exceed a project's liabilities shall be immediately returned to the federal government."

The line of attack will most certainly be Kerry the Senator of Special Interest. Dean has already been using the line that Kerry was the top beneficiary of special interest money for the last 15 years. The story broke in the NY Times.

Edwards remains a threat. ABC’s The Note reports that Edwards’ strengths are Kerry's weaknesses: Southern roots, likeability, and an absence of Washington insider-status, and humble origins.

The NY Post columnist affirms that Kerry is no populist:

ONE of the surest ways to get the phones ringing on any Massachusetts talk-radio show is to ask people to call in and tell their John Kerry stories. The phone lines are soon filled, and most of the stories have a common theme: our junior senator pulling rank on one of his constituents, breaking in line, demanding to pay less (or nothing) or ducking out before the bill arrives.

The tales often have one other common thread. Most end with Sen. Kerry inquiring of the lesser mortal: "Do you know who I am?"

And now he's running for president as a populist. His first wife came from a Philadelphia Main Line family worth $300 million. His second wife is a pickle-and-ketchup heiress.

There were of course the years when he was not married to someone worth $300 million:

Of course, in 1993 he was between his first and second heiresses - a time he now calls "the wandering years," although an equally apt description might be "the freeloading years."

For some of the time, he was, for all practical purposes, homeless. His friends allowed him into a real-estate deal in which he flipped a condo for quick resale, netting a $21,000 profit on a cash investment of exactly nothing. For months he rode around in a new car supplied by a shady local Buick dealer. When the dealer's ties to a congressman who was later indicted for racketeering were exposed, Kerry quickly explained that the non-payment was a mere oversight, and wrote out a check.

The column relates about a caller to a station:

The caller, Jay, said he began heckling Kerry and his wife as they attempted to enter the theater. Finally, he said, the senator turned to him and asked him the eternal question.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," said Jay. "You're a gold-digger."

The NY Post has a story that shows that the NY State’s Attorney General might not know who Kerry’s contributors have been:

Spitzer, who endorsed Kerry earlier this week for the nomination, has crusaded against financial shenanigans on Wall Street. And some of his investigations have targeted the same firms that made big contributions to the Kerry campaign.

Citigroup, which gave Kerry $71,500, paid $400 million in penalties as part of a settlement with regulators. Goldman Sachs, which gave Kerry $62,600, and Morgan Stanley, which gave him $40,000, were party to a $1.4 billion settlement with Spitzer over charges that their analysts gave investors bad advice to win investment banking business. FleetBoston Financial, which gave $32,050, suspended a trader last April when the New York Stock Exchange launched a probe. (2/5/2004)

Kerry and gays

Sen. John Kerry is going to have trouble with a capital T with his state’s Supreme Court ruling for gay marriage. Kerry has been trying to have it both ways on gays. His position has been very similar to President Bush’s --  civil unions could be all right, but marriage is for the churches to decide. Now, as the NY Daily News reports, he will have to make a more definitive statement:

White House strategists, however, say yesterday's ruling makes it harder for Kerry to have it both ways politically.

"He'll be explaining how he voted one way but actually believes another way, and he'll look pretty craven," a senior GOP strategist said, adding that Kerry will now be forced to say whether he supports an amendment to his state's Constitution undoing the ruling.

Even if Kerry wiggles off the hook, Bush strategists are counting on the court's support for same-sex marriage - which polls say is opposed by two-thirds of Americans - to energize millions of Republicans who did not vote in 2000.  (2/5/2004)

Who is the Southerner?

With Senator John Edwards and Wesley Clark still both in the race, the question of who is the person who can win in the South remains contested. They are both concentrating on Southern states. So, we will know which one stays in the race and which one is out of the race soon. The best bet is that Clark is already done and doesn’t know it.

However, Edwards cannot have a chance at winning the nomination with another pretender to the throne dividing the vote in the South. Kerry could be perceived as not being electable in the South. This could provide Edwards with votes he needs to challenge Kerry for the nomination. Edwards needs to defeat Clark in two upcoming states.

Clark has become more strident in his campaigning. His latest statement expresses his tone:

"I'm not part of the Washington problem. I'm part of the solution," Clark said during a stop in Jackson, Tennessee. "There are some people in this race that are part of the problem. The people I am talking about are John Kerry and John Edwards."

"General Clark is not a Washington politician, but it's questionable whether he's a Democrat either," replied Kerry   (2/5/2004)

Gephardt throws support behind Kerry

Former presidential candidate Dick Gephardt has officially endorsed John Kerry for President, throwing his considerable congressional credentials and union backing into the already formidable number of Kerry endorsers. Will this 'civil union' become permanent down the road? Could be.  (2/6/2004)

Kerry -- the Special Interest Senator

Documents obtained by Associated Press detail Kerry's effort as a member of the Senate Commerce Committee to persuade committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., to drop legislation that would have stripped $150 million from the Big Dig project and ended the insurance funding loophole.

The line of attack will most certainly be Kerry the Senator of Special Interest. Dean has already been using the line that Kerry was the top beneficiary of special interest money for the last 15 years. The story broke in the NY Times.  (2/6/2004)

• "Kerry has the momentum because he looks like a winner. He looks like a winner because he's been winning," said Ron Kaufman, former adviser to former President George H.W. Bush.

• "I look forward to that debate when John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL in the Alabama National Guard," Democrat Chairman Terry McAuliffe said. "George Bush never served in our military in our country. He didn't show up when he should have showed up."

• "This week George Bush and the Republican smear machine have trotted out the same old tired lines of attack that they've used before to divide this nation and to evade the real issues before us," said John Kerry.

• "I was one of millions who asked him to lead us wisely and well, and he abused the trust of the people by exploiting the fears of the American people in order to take this nation on an adventure that had been preordained before the attacks of Sept. 11 ever took place," said Al Gore.   (2/7/2004)

End days

The American public is watching the phenomenon of what effect a crammed short schedule of primaries and caucuses has on the Presidential nominating system. Revelations of Sen. John Kerry’s improprieties of being the largest recipient of special interest money and a quid pro quo exchange of legislation in a questionable action on the Big Dig have done nothing to slow his momentum. Today, Kerry is likely to take nearly all the delegates from Michigan and possibly Washington State as well.

In part, Kerry’s opponents’ lack of funds has lessened the potential damage from the recent negative revelations. Another factor is that the national media has recognized the other candidates’ shortcomings and are now anxious to get to the main event of Kerry vs. Bush.

Regardless, the only place we may see the last battle for the nomination may be in Wisconsin on Feb. 17. On that day, everyone left standing will focus on what they can accomplish in the cheese head state. Dean reports that he has raised $400 thousand of the $700 thousand he needs to make his last stand. It is in Wisconsin that we will see whether Kerry’s past indiscretions will have any effect on his gaining the nomination.

Rep. Dick Gephardt threw his weight behind Kerry this week. It is nearly certain that the unions that backed Gephardt have pre-approved the endorsement and the unions will soon follow in endorsing Kerry as well. The unions who backed Gephardt have a good reason to come on-board so they can still have a strong position in their own union against the service unions who backed Howard Dean. 

Edwards dismissed Gephardt's endorsement, saying, "if you look at the history of endorsements in this campaign, they haven't had a lot of sway with voters, which is understandable. Voters make their own decisions."

Michigan’s Gov. Jennifer Granholm and husband Dan Mulhern with a click of the mouse voted for Kerry in Michigan’s Primary that ends Saturday. The Governor’s endorsement is just one of many endorsements that Kerry has been winning in the last few days.

Even Southerners have been endorsing Kerry. Rep. Denise L. Majette (Georgia) stated:

“John Kerry has his priorities straight. He understands that to ensure the long-term prosperity of our country, we must empower our children with a first-rate public education today. He understands that we need to restore America’s moral credibility across the globe and lead the nations of the world into an era of security, freedom and peace. And most importantly, he understands that fiscal prosperity and economic opportunity come when we balance our budget, cut taxes for the middle class and put Americans back to work. “

“Unlike the Bush Administration’s hollow rhetoric on these important issues, John Kerry is a proven leader and determined fighter who has what it takes to turn this country around.

“The bottom line is that Americans simply cannot afford another four years of the Bush Administration’s failed policies. John Kerry is the best man to take back the White House and I am pleased to support him.”  (2/7/2004)

Kerry takes big lead in Michigan

According to the Associated Press, John Kerry has taken a big, big lead heading into the Michigan caucuses, easily outpacing rivals Edwards, Clark and Dean. According to the article, Kerry is focusing on Bush, and not his Democrat opponents:

"This week George Bush and the Republican smear machine have trotted out the same old tired lines of attack that they've used before to divide this nation and to evade the real issues before us," the Massachusetts senator said in remarks prepared for a Democratic Party dinner in Richmond, Va.

"They're extreme, we're mainstream and we're going to stand up and fight back," he said. Aides said Kerry's speech was designed to reassure the party faithful he would fight far harder against GOP attacks than Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor who led the party to defeat in 1988.

Returns from 21 percent of Washington's precincts showed Kerry with 52 percent of the vote to 28 percent for Dean. The other candidates were in single digits.

"This administration is busy trying to paint everybody else as out of touch, out of synch, somehow out of the mainstream," he said in Nashville. "But let me tell you something, I'm not worried about coming down South and talking to people about jobs, schools, health care and the environment.

`I think it's the president who ought to worry about coming down here."   (2/7/2004)

Delegate Counts

As of Saturday, February 7: John Kerry 274 delegates, Howard Dean at 121, John Edwards at 110 and Wesley Clark at 82. It takes 2,162 to win the nomination.

Upcoming delegates to win: Michigan had 128 delegates at stake in caucuses, and Washington offered another 76. Maine, with 24 delegates at stake, was holding caucuses on Sunday.   (2/7/2004)

Money check

John Kerry's campaign said it had raised $4.5 million since his come-from-behind win in Iowa on Jan. 19. John Edwards’ campaign said it had raised about $200,000 online in the first 24 hours after his win in South Carolina, and Howard Dean's aides said they had raised about $400,000 on Thursday after his dramatic e-mail plea for help in Wisconsin.   (2/7/2004)

"George Bush's days are numbered — and change is coming to America." said John Kerry.

"I think John Kerry will do the job," said Robert Poli, 81, a retired Boeing worker in Washington. "I think he can beat the hell out of Bush."

"I have asked people to send in checks," Torricelli said in a phone interview. "I have raised some money for John…” – former senator Robert Torricelli, ruined in 2002 by his own fundraising actions.   (2/8/2004)

Kerry wins Michigan & Washington

 John Kerry rode to easy victories in Michigan and Washington yesterday, according to an AP story . Fresh faced with victory, and celebrated by attacking President Bush:

"This week George Bush and the Republican smear machine have begun trotting out the same old tired lines of attack that they've used before to divide this nation and to evade the real issues before us," the Massachusetts senator told a Democratic Party dinner in Richmond, Va.

"They're the ones who are extreme. We're the ones who are mainstream."

He added, "George Bush's days are numbered — and change is coming to America."

Aides said the speech was designed to reassure the party faithful he would fight far harder against GOP attacks than Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor who led the party to defeat in 1988.

Interestingly, Howard Dean gave his best performance so far by coming in second place in Washington. He gained 30 percent there. He also came in a very distant second in the Michigan contest. The once hot Howard has yet to score any win.

Here are the AP’s numbers from Saturday’s contests:

Returns from 97 percent of Washington's precincts showed Kerry with 49 percent and Dean with 30 percent. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio had 8 percent; Edwards had 7 percent and Clark had 3 percent.

With final returns from Michigan, Kerry had 52 percent, Dean 17 percent, Edwards 14 percent, Sharpton and Clark at 7 percent, and Kucinich at 3 percent.

Sharpton finished a close second to Kerry in caucuses in and around Detroit, qualifying for at least seven convention delegates.

Delegate counts now show John Kerry with two times as many delegates as his closest rival:

Kerry's victories left him with more than twice as many delegates as his closest pursuer. His overall total swelled to 412, with Dean at 174, Edwards at 116, Clark at 82 and Sharpton at 12. It takes 2,162 to win the nomination.

Next in line in the delegate battle is Maine, holding caucuses today (Sunday). Maine has a total of 24 delegates to be won. Tuesday is primary day in Virginia and Tennessee – where both Wesley Clark and John Edwards have campaigned hard and hope to win big as “true Southerners.” Howard Dean is still holding out hopes for a win, aiming at the following Tuesday primary in Wisconsin (Feb. 17th). But overclouding all rivals, John Kerry’s support continues to mushroom – he shows leads in Virginia, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Thus far, Kerry has won nine of the 11 primaries/caucuses.  (2/8/2004)

Kerry gets VA Guv endorsement

Virginia Governor Mark Warner is slated to announce his official support of John Kerry’s candidacy for president today. Warner presided over a party dinner Saturday night attended by several of the candidates.  (2/8/2004)

Kerry won’t do a “Dukakis”

Front-runner John Kerry sought to position himself as a fighter, claiming he’ll fight the GOP and not give a weak showing as Michael Dukakis did back in his 1988 ill-fated matchup against George H.W. Bush. According to an AP story , Kerry is determined not to repeat Dukakis’s mistakes:

"This week, George Bush and the Republican smear machine have trotted out the same old tired lines of attack that they've used before to divide this nation and to evade the real issues before us. Well, I have news for George Bush, Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie and the rest of their gang: I have fought for my country my whole life. I'm not going to back down now," Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, said in remarks prepared for delivery Saturday night to Virginia Democrats in Richmond.

"This is one Democrat who's going to fight back, and I've only just begun to fight," he said. "George Bush, who speaks of strength, has made America weaker — weaker economically, weaker in health care and education. And the truth is George Bush has made us weaker militarily by overextending our forces, overstraining our reserves, and driving away our allies."

Kerry is still trying to deflect criticism of his stance that a Democrat doesn’t have to win a Southern state in order to win the election. He’s taking lots of heat on that one… the numbers may back him up, but offending the South is just not smart campaigning. It seems Kerry’s efforts to contain fall out from this are centered on deflecting attention onto the GOP’s attacks – real or imaginary. Kerry’s kleptomania-prone campaign (he’s taken the best from his rivals and used it for himself), takes from Dubya as well, droning “Bring it on” in every campaign stump speech:

"We all saw George Bush play dress-up on an aircraft carrier. Well, I know something about aircraft carriers for real. And if George W. Bush wants to make national security the central issue in this campaign, I have three words for him I know he understands: Bring it on."

Right now, it plays well. The folks gathered seem to relish the oft-used phrase. And as President Bush’s poll numbers show further drops, Kerry continues to grow in popularity.  (2/8/2004)

Kerry & Torricelli

A former senator, ruined in 2002 by his own fundraising actions, has raised money for John Kerry’s presidential campaign according to an AP story.  Robert Torricelli was formally rebuked after a Senate investigation of his fundraising. He is no longer a senator. But apparently, he’s raising money for Kerry:

"I have asked people to send in checks," Torricelli said in a phone interview. "I have raised some money for John. I have known him for many years and probably have contributed to most members of the Democratic caucus."

Torricelli denies any official role in Kerry’s campaign and claims not to know how much money he has raised for him. Is Kerry aware of Torricelli’s endeavors on his behalf. You bet he is:

"John did a briefing last night with 150 people, made a brief appearance and thanked me for the help," he [Torricelli] said. Torricelli said he did not know how much money in all he raised for Kerry because checks were still flowing in.

Seems conflicting? Kerry’s ongoing claim to have fought valiantly against the dirge of special interest money in his political career would certainly put this in a less than flattering light – something not lost on Kerry’s New Jersey co-chair Rep. Bill Pascrell, who clearly tried to put some distance on the issue:

"What Bob Torricelli does is his business, but he has nothing to do officially with this campaign," Pascrell said.   (2/8/2004)

• "There has not been enough time for the challengers to raise enough money, spend time on the ground, or build upon free publicity because they could not cover enough states in a short time span," – pollster Zogby, commenting on John Kerry’s success.

• “Kerry thinks people are dying to hear his economic plan. In fact, the only economic plan most male voters want to hear about is how Kerry snookered two babes worth hundreds of millions of dollars into marrying him….Kerry may as well start giving out dating tips. He's running out of other ideas.” – Ann Coulter (click here for column)

• "No one would argue that John Kerry doesn't have a great deal of momentum right now… at some point -- I know from my own experience because I had all that momentum in December -- people are going to say, 'Now, wait a minute. Let's take a closer look." – wishful words by Howard Dean.  (2/9/2004)

Kerry re-hashes Bush interview

Here are some quotes by John Kerry regarding President Bush’s “Meet the Press” interview aired yesterday on MSNBC:

On Iraq:

President Bush said that his decision to go to war with Iraq when he did was because Saddam Hussein had "the ability to make weapons."

This is a far cry from what the president and his administration told the American people throughout 2002. Back then, President Bush repeatedly told the American people that Saddam Hussein "has got chemical weapons." They told us they could deploy those weapons within 45 minutes to do injury to our troops. They told us they had aerial vehicles and the capacity to be able to deliver those weapons through the air. And it was on that basis that he sent American sons and daughters off to war. Now the president is giving us a new reason for sending people to war, and the problem is not just that he is changing his story now.

It is that he, it appears, that he was telling the American people stories in 2002. He told America that Iraq had chemical weapons two months after his own defense intelligence agency told him there was, quote, no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons. I once again call on the president to have a legitimate and immediate investigation into the extraordinary failure of intelligence, or to help explain to the American people whether there was politics involved in the development of that intelligence.

I respect the fact that the president has asked for a commission that will look at all of the intelligence agency. But that's not what Americans asked for. What Americans asked for and what we need is an explanation of what happened to our intelligence.

On President Bush's Military Record:

I have always honored, and I will always honor, anybody who serves anywhere. I've said since the day I came back from Vietnam, that it was not an issue to me if somebody chose to go to Canada, or to go to jail, or to be a conscientious objector, or to serve in the National Guard or elsewhere. I honor that service. But that's not the issue here. The issue here as I have heard it raised is, Was he present and active, on duty in Alabama, at the times he was supposed to be? I don't have the answer to that question. And just because you get an honorable discharge does not in fact answer that question.  (2/9/2004)

Tennessee poll picks Kerry

John Edwards and Wesley Clark may have been staking out Tennessee as their own sacred Southern ground, but Massachusetts’s John Kerry is running away with the holy land. Today’s Reuters, MSNBS, Zogby poll shows Kerry with a 24-point lead over John Edwards. The Tennessee Primary is tomorrow.

Why is Kerry so hot? Consensus seems to be that Kerry’s the guy who can beat George W. Bush. Frequently mentioned in this scenario are Kerry’s Vietnam War medals (the ones he kept when he threw the other guy’s medals over the White House fence, back in Kerry’s Protest Daze…). But a better bet on Kerry’s winning momentum is the layout of the Democrat’s process of selection this election cycle, namely, the condensed time frame of the state primaries and caucuses. Here’s Zogby’s take on the deal, according to Reuters report:

Zogby said Kerry has been helped by the new front-loaded Democratic nominating calendar, which schedules contests in a dozen states right after the traditional openers in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"There has not been enough time for the challengers to raise enough money, spend time on the ground, or build upon free publicity because they could not cover enough states in a short time span," Zogby said.

Other numbers from the Tennessee poll show Sharpton at 2 percent and Kucinich with less than one percent. The poll of 600 likely voters was taken Saturday and Sunday and has a margin of error of 4 percent. (2/9/2004)

Kerry’s 3-state sweep

John Kerry’s had a good weekend – no, make that a great weekend. Winning convincingly in all three state contests (Michigan, Washington and Maine), the Massachusetts senator increased his delegate count substantially as his rivals fell further behind in the count.

With fifty percent of the vote in, the numbers were evident: Kerry 45 percent, Dean 26 percent, Kucinich 15 percent, John Edwards 9 percent and Clark 4 percent. This puts Kerry’s delegate count at 426, and Dean’s at 184. [Maine had 24 delegates at stake.] 

With primaries looming on Tuesday in Tennessee and Virginia, and another on the 17th in Wisconsin, the American Research Group polls show Kerry with strong leads in all three states: 11 points over Edwards and 12 over Clark in Tennessee; 13 points over Edwards and 18 over Clark in Virginia; and 26 points over Clark and 31 over Edwards in Wisconsin. Not to say that Kerry has this nomination totally in the bag, though. With his delegate count at 426 he still has 1,736 delegates to go before he can officially claim the prize. It takes 2s162 delegates to cinch the nomination – out of a total pool of 4,322. But in the first 12 state contests, Kerry has come forth with 10 wins and no strong challengers to his ascension.

Kerry’s rhetoric shows a candidate in full stride – virtually ignoring his Democrat rivals, and instead taking aim at the one rival he hopes to beat… George W. Bush. Bush, on Meet the Press, was questioned by Tim Russert about his supposed lack of show in Alabama while in the National Guard. One could almost hear the voice of Reagan… there you go again… as Bush reiterated his response. “Nooooo…” Afterall, this ground has been covered exhaustively over the years – as Bush himself pointed out to Russert:

"I served in the National Guard. I flew F-102 aircraft. I got an honorable discharge," Bush said. "I've heard this — I've heard this ever since I started running for office. I put in my time, proudly so."

And Kerry, not known for his originality, took up the Meet the Press item shortly after the interview aired:

Kerry said Bush had not fully answered questions about whether he fulfilled his National Guard service in Alabama during the Vietnam War.

"The issue here is, as I have heard it raised, is was he present and active in Alabama at the time he was supposed to be," said Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran. "I don't have the answer to that question and just because you get an honorable discharge does not in fact answer that question."  (2/9/2004)

• "East. West. North. And, today, in the South," a triumphant Kerry told The Associated Press. "It's exciting and gratifying." – Kerry wins in Virginia.

• “A former aide to President Clinton is suggesting that John Kerry and the anti-Vietnam War organization he once led were the real reasons Republicans broke into Watergate in 1972.” – from Inside the Beltway.

• "It's a great people's campaign and it's a hopeful campaign, and when you are fighting for hope and a good image of America around the world ... that's how we fight terrorism; that's how you make friends in the world. And I think that is what America really is," said Teresa Heinz Kerry

• One vice president at the firm told Davis he was "upset because company resources were being used and company personnel were being utilized in order to organize that [John Kerry] fund-raiser," Davis told ABCNEWS. "As an investor, I was concerned because investor money ought to be used to build a company, to develop technology, not to fund a campaign."

• "Typically, a politician says that those who support me just want good government and those who support my opponents are special interests," quipped Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, responding to the John Kerry money controversy.   (2/10/2004)

Kerry leads Wisconsin poll

It’s a week away from voting day in Wisconsin and John Kerry is showing strong. A new poll, used in an AP story and taken by Market Shares Corp. for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel & WTMJ-TV, show Kerry at 45 percent. Kerry was followed by Wesley Clark at 13 percent; Howard Dean at 12 percent; John Edwards at 9 percent, Al Sharpton at one percent and Dennis Kucinich at one percent with 17 percent undecided

The Wisconsin primary is February 17th. The poll of 666 likely Wisconsin voters was conducted by Market Shares Corp. for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and WTMJ-TV, from Wednesday through Saturday. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

According to the AP story, of Wisconsin voters who said they were likely to vote for him, two-thirds said they decided to do so in the weeks since Iowa.  (2/10/2004)

Kerry takes illegal funds?

"We're coming, you're [special interest] going, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!" John Kerry said the night of his New Hampshire victory.

ABC News reports that Sen. John Kerry not only took funds from a private special interest company, but that the company illegally used its resources to raise money for Kerry who passed legislation that benefited the company.

ABCNEWS has learned of a story involving Kerry taking legislative action that benefited a campaign contributor: Predictive Networks, a Cambridge, Mass., tech firm co-founded by Paul Davis, although he is no longer directly associated with the company.

"It absolutely is a special interest," said Davis, a Democrat who generally likes Kerry. "Make no mistake about it — we were in that business to make money, not to perform any kind of social service."

Predictive Networks — now under new management and called Predictive Media — monitors what Internet and cable consumers are viewing and targets advertising accordingly. This is done with “cookies’, which are HTML code placed on individuals’ computer hard drives that make it possible to track everything viewed. Kerry helped push legislation that would have made it so Predictive could automatically to keep track of viewers and the individual would have to ask to be removed. Before the legislation, the cable or Internet user had to voluntarily agree (called “opt-in”) to allow Predictive to spy on them. The company was unable to achieve everything they wanted, but Kerry was helpful to their cause.

Besides the hypocrisy of Kerry to suggest that he is against special interest even though no Senator has taken more special interest money than him according to a Washington Post survey of federal election reports, there is the problem that the Federal Election Laws do not allow corporations to contribute to candidates’ campaigns. ABC News reports on one company employee who raised concerns at the time:

One vice president at the firm told Davis he was "upset because company resources were being used and company personnel were being utilized in order to organize that fund-raiser," Davis told ABCNEWS. "As an investor, I was concerned because investor money ought to be used to build a company, to develop technology, not to fund a campaign."

Most of the company executives deny that company resources were used in the Kerry fund-raisers.

Much of why Kerry gets away with having even more special interest tied to him is the art of ‘bundling.’ This is where you get a number of individuals to write checks and put them together to the candidate. Here is what ABC reports about Predictive Networks' CEO, Devin Hosea:

But all together, Hosea "bundled" more than $100,000 for Kerry. Bundling is the process through which an individual — usually a lobbyist or company CEO — collects many lawful individual campaign contributions and bundles them together, giving them en masse to a campaign for maximum impact.

The story is adds fuel to the fire Kerry himself set when he declared “war” on special interest and the grip it has on Washington. It looks like Kerry's caught with his hand in the special interest cookie jar.  (2/10/2004)

Kerry wins Virginia & Tennessee

John Kerry has won convincingly in Virginia and Tennessee. with over half the vote in Virginia and 41 percent of the vote in Tennessee, according to the Associated Press story, making him the victor in 12 of the first 14 contests:

"East. West. North. And, today, in the South," a triumphant Kerry told The Associated Press. "It's exciting and gratifying."

With 69 percent of the vote, Kerry had 50 percent, Edwards 26 percent, Clark 9 percent, Dean 7 percent, Al Sharpton 3 percent and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio 2 percent.

Kerry’s fellow candidates had little to nothing left to cling to after tonight. The numbers, according to the AP story are:

With 99 percent of the vote in Virginia, Kerry had 51 percent, Edwards 27 percent, Clark 9 percent, Dean 7 percent, Al Sharpton 3 percent and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio 1 percent. In Tennessee, with 92 percent reporting, Kerry had 41 percent, Edwards 27 percent, Clark 23 percent, Dean 4 percent and Sharpton 2 percent.

Clark, who almost ended his campaign last week, seemed destined for quits-ville after tonight, with the dismal show of support for his candidacy. A Clark aide, speaking under the cover of anonymity, told AP political reporter Ron Fourier that the former general is indeed ending his candidacy, but will announce that formally tomorrow from Little Rock, Arkansas.

A question mark remains concerning John Edwards. Within this party torn with strife and infighting, Dem leaders call for laying down the hatchets. According to the article, former Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta said, “I think Democrats need to unify behind John Kerry and refocus on winning in November.”

But Edwards has not indicated any end yet to his efforts to secure the nomination, saying he’ll be in through March 2nd – the Big 10-state election day.   (2/10/2004)

• “Democrats are finding virtues in John Kerry that not even his mother knew about, ” – says syndicated columnist Mark Shields.

• "My fear is that he [Kerry] actually won't be the strongest Democratic candidate." – Dean in a CBS interview.

• “I’m an internationalist,” John Kerry told The Crimson Tide [Harvard’s newspaper] in 1970. “I’d like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations.”

• John Kerry vanquished his Dixie-bred rivals in Virginia and Tennessee on Tuesday, all but unstoppable in his march toward the Democratic nomination with a Southern sweep that extended his dominance to every region of the country. -- writes Ron Fournier of the Associated Press.

• "At some point, perhaps sooner rather than later, I think Democrats need to unify behind John Kerry and refocus on winning in November," said Leon Panetta.

• "I think it [photo with Jane Fonda] symbolizes how two-faced he is, talking about his war reputation, which is questionable on the one hand, and then coming out against our veterans who were fighting over there on the other," said Rep. Sam Johnson, Texas Republican.

• "On Sunday, Senator John Kerry said America needs to be able to trust their president. To which Hilary Clinton said, 'Huh, tell me about it," offered Jay Leno, on the Tonight Show.    (2/11/2004)

The Southerner is?

There was a question as to who the Southerner was between John Edwards and Wesley Clark. The answer is neither -- the Southerner is John Kerry, the Northern Yankee. With Kerry’s wide victory in both Virginia and Tennessee the two Southern candidates’ argument that they are the only ones who can beat Bush in the South becomes invalid.

Clark will announce his withdrawal from the race in Arkansas around noon.

CBS News polling showed that the two Southern states held jobs and the economy as the number one issue and the desire to beat Bush as the number one qualification among voters. Health care was number two followed by the War in Iraq.

Kerry offered the following prepared speech upon his victories:

Once again, the message rings out loud and clear. Americans are voting for change – East, West, North – and today in the South.

Thank you, Tennessee; thank you, Virginia.

You showed that the mainstream values we share – fairness, love of country, a belief in hope and hard work – are more important than boundaries or birthplace.

America is coming together – and together, we will move America forward.

Now, our campaign moves forward. We will fight for every vote – and carry our cause all across this land.

Once again, I express my special thanks to the veterans, the same band of brothers I depended on more than thirty years ago. As I have said before, we may be a little older and little grayer – but we still know how to fight for our country.

The voice of this campaign is the voice of people I have met in living rooms, on factory floors, in VFW halls and coffee shops from coast to coast. The voice of workers without work; of families and small businesses whose health care costs are out of control; of parents who want to hand on to their children a better future, not the heavy burden of federal deficits and national debt.

I have heard your voices. And if I am President, your voices won’t be ignored anymore.

And I ask you to make your voices heard tonight. Go to johnkerry.com, share your ideas, join us. Not just to win an election, but to give America back its future and its soul.

Our vision is prosperity and opportunity – not just for some, but for all.

From Missouri to Wisconsin to Ohio, from the heartland to both coasts, the wreckage of the Bush economy is all around us. In the places where so many jobs have been lost, people who are living through the Bush economy are now being told there’s a turnaround – that things are better – but they don’t see it in their own lives, their jobs, or their paychecks.

For more than three years, this Administration has failed to tell the truth about their economic record. Today, in a rare moment, they actually admitted what they are doing. They said that shipping American jobs overseas is good for America.

Let them tell that to a 45 year old worker with three children who’s worked hard – played by the rules – now seen the factory closed and has nowhere to turn.

We will stand and fight for that worker.

While George W. Bush may believe the job of a President is just to drive up the stock market, we believe the job of a President is to put America back to work.

Here’s what we will do.

Repeal every tax break and every loophole that rewards any Benedict Arnold CEO or corporation for sending American jobs overseas.

Provide new incentives for manufacturing that reward good companies for creating and keeping good jobs here at home.

Put worker and environmental protections in every trade agreement – because on a level playing field, American workers can out compete anyone in the world.

And a plan for energy independence that will create 500,000 new jobs – so America’s sons and daughters will never have to fight or die for Mideast oil.

And we won’t stop there. We will stand up to the HMOs and the big drug companies to make health care affordable and available for every American – a right and not a privilege – because your family’s health care is just as important as any politician’s in Washington.

So we will stand up for our values – on jobs; on health care; on education, the environment and a woman’s right to choose.

We will stand up for civil rights and civil liberties and for an Attorney General whose name is not John Ashcroft.

And we will stand up for a stronger America.

George Bush, who speaks of strength, has made America weaker – weaker economically, weaker in health care and education. And the truth is – George Bush has made us weaker militarily by overextending our forces, overstraining our reserves, and driving away our allies.

Our opponents say they want to campaign on national security. Well, I know something about aircraft carriers for real. And if George Bush wants to make national security the central issue in this campaign, we have three words for him we know he understands: Bring it on.

In closing, let me thank Teresa and our family.

In Tennessee, thank you to Stephen Lindsey. And here in Virginia, thank you to Larry Framme and Susan Swecker.

And I thank all who have become part of the family of this campaign. I will never forget what you have done. And I will always work to earn your trust.

To all of America, we say tonight: Get ready – a new day is on the way.   (2/11/2004)

Photo of Kerry with “Hanoi” Jane?
The photo Dems fear most??

According to NewsMax.com, Democratic candidate John Kerry is caught on film at a 1970 Vietnam War protest in Valley Forge, PA, with “Hanoi” Jane Fonda.

Click here to view the photo

The ensuing NewsMax.com article covers much ground on the event photographed and none of it is the kind of stuff a fella wanting to be President would like to have publicized. But the photo is particularly damning. And history has proven well that one photo can be a career’s undoing.

It was a photo of Michael Dukakis, grinning inside a tank (helmet and all) that squashed his presidential bid, it was a televised image of Richard Nixon all sweaty and sick looking that put the kabosh to his 1960 presidential bid, and it was a photo of Gary Hart with Donna Rice seated on his lap and the boat “Monkey Business” in the background that sunk his presidential bid

What can one photo do? Obviously, a lot.

So, it would be wise to take a look at this photo that’s surfaced of Kerry with the lovely “Hanoi” Jane Fonda. Let’s get to know this John Kerry. With all the scrutiny being applied to President Bush’s national guard service during the Vietnam War, it would be prudent to scrutinize this part of Kerry’s life as well. As for the medals and bravery while fighting in the War, Kerry is to be honored most certainly. But what about John Kerry’s actions after he returned from Vietnam?

Michael Moore has called President Bush a traitor. Al Gore has said that Bush has “betrayed his country.” But what about John Kerry – after Vietnam? Read some of these excerpts from the NewsMax.com article:

"Scores of newspaper articles about the march" exist, according to Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley.

Dubbed "Operation RAW" (Rapid American Withdrawal), the September 1970 march featured Fonda, Kerry and a motley band of anti-war vets in an 86-mile trek from Morristown, N.J., and Valley Forge, Pa. – two Revolutionary War sites.

Douglas Brinkley's biography "Tour of Duty" chronicles Kerry's exploits at Valley Forge, where he reportedly followed Fonda onto the back of that pick-up truck to deliver his own diatribe against the war in Vietnam.

"We are here because we above all others have earned the right to criticize the war on Southeast Asia," Kerry shouted into the microphone, as Fonda and the crowd cheered wildly.

"By the time [Kerry] hopped off that pick-up truck to thunderous applause," writes Brinkley, "he was the new leader of the VVAW by popular default."

The Massachusetts Democrat's speech also cemented his alliance with Fonda, and the two traveled to Detroit to organize a January 1971 event they called the "Winter Soldier Investigation."

At a Detroit motel, Kerry and Fonda assembled a myriad of disgruntled witnesses claiming to be Vietnam vets, each with his own story of American atrocities.

According to Jug Burkett, whose landmark Vietnam war history "Stolen Valor" chronicles some of Kerry's anti-war misadventures, Fonda played a key role at the Detroit event.

"There's no doubt that Jane Fonda financed the Winter Soldier hearings," Burkett told NewsMax on Monday.

He said that several of the witnesses who testified at the protest's "hearings" later turned out to be complete impostors.

The event prompted "Hanoi Jane" to "adopt" Kerry's group "as her leading cause," writes Brinkley. It was at Kerry's Winter Soldier protest that the anti-American actress met her future husband, Students for a Democratic Society radical Tom Hayden.

The next year Fonda was off to Hanoi, where she mounted an anti-aircraft battery and pretended to shoot down American pilots.

Of Kerry, Burkett told NewsMax, "Any Vietnam veteran who knows what Kerry did after he came home from Vietnam is definitely not a fan of John Kerry."

The Washington Times is also carrying a report on the photo of Kerry attending the Vietnam War demonstration with Jane Fonda:

A photograph of John Kerry together with Jane Fonda at an anti-Vietnam War rally in 1970 in Pennsylvania has surfaced on the Internet, angering veterans who say his association with her 34 years ago is a slap in the faces of Vietnam War veterans.

Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter responded, "John Kerry and Jane Fonda were just acquaintances," Ms. Cutter said. "What's important to understand here is two things: He met her before she went to Vietnam, and he did not approve of her very controversial trip."

But those reading and understanding the full extent of Kerry’s actions during his anti-Vietnam War protesting can see through Ms. Cutter’s slick statement. Glossing over Kerry’s own culpability is an insult to the American people and an outrage to folks watching this election year process. John Kerry is not above scrutiny… and his favorite “Do you know who I AM?” retort (spoken to mere plebian citizens, away from the media’s listening ears), seems the implication in Ms. Cutter’s response. This is not a time for hautiness, Senator Kerry. It is a time for answers – real answers.

There is much more covered in the article, which can be read in its entirety by clicking on one of the above links. But let us contemplate for now the favorite campaign trail taunt of John Kerry: “Bring it on!!” Kerry has been bashing Bush for days over the media’s whoopla about his military service during Vietnam. Let’s take a look at Kerry’s Vietnam years, too – ALL of them. As Paul Harvey would say, let’s look at the REST of the story of John Kerry and the Vietnam Years.

Yes, Senator Kerry, let’s bring it on.   (2/11/2004)

Who is telling stories?

The Washington Times Inside Politics reports on Kerry’s calling President Bush ‘a story teller’:

"Democratic front-runner John Kerry's response to President Bush's 'Meet the Press' interview Sunday was as predictable as it was disingenuous," the New York Post says in an editorial.

" 'It appears that he was telling the American people stories in 2002,' said the junior senator from Massachusetts.

" 'Back then, President Bush repeatedly told the American people that Saddam Hussein "has got chemical weapons." ... And it was on that basis that he sent American sons and daughters off to war.'

"Yes, that's what George W. Bush was telling the American people.

"Then again, so was John Kerry," the newspaper said, quoting from an Oct. 9, 2002, speech on the floor of the Senate in which Mr. Kerry said in no uncertain terms that Saddam Hussein "has chemical and biological weapons" that are "a grave threat to our security and that of our allies in the Persian Gulf region."   (2/11/2004)

ABC’s delegate count

Kerry has 512 overall delegates and has nearly three times as many delegates as Howard Dean, who places second in ABC’s estimate with 179 delegates. Edwards has 159; Clark, 94; Sharpton, 11; and Kucinich, 2.  (2/11/2004)

Poll watching

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel gives Kerry 45 percent in the Wisconsin primary, Clark 13, Dean 12 and Edwards 9, with 17 percent undecided."  (2/11/2004)

• "The Army's here," said Wesley Clark in endorsing the former navy lieutenant Sen. John Kerry.

• "If anything, there may now be a greater appreciation for the trouble you can get into for certain behavior," Kerry said in the statement at the time. "More parents are teaching their children about lying, about humiliation, about family hurt, about public responsibility, than before we ever heard the name of Monica Lewinsky," commented John Kerry about President Clinton’s affair.

• “… the real reason former Dem presidential nominee Al Gore did NOT select Kerry as his veepmate was because of allegations of women problems, or marital infidelity involving Kerry's marriage to Heinz…” – writes Chicago Sun columnist Michael Sneed.

• “John Kerry was a guest this morning on talk radio show host Don Imus’ show this morning and officially denied having an affair, saying there was nothing to report.” – from DRUDGE.

• “There is no evidence the pair had an affair, but her father Terry, 56, said: “I think he’s a sleazeball…” – quote on John Kerry in The Sun/UK

Kerry response to Bush ad

The Kerry campaign released the following response to the Bush ads that show Kerry as the leading member of Washington receiving special interest money. Stephanie Cutter issued the following statement:

"In another attempt to avoid an honest discussion of the issues, George Bush has chosen to make his first campaign message to the American people a misleading, negative attack on John Kerry before a Democratic nominee is chosen.

"We haven't been able to trust what George Bush has told us about the war or about the economy-- we certainly can't trust what he has to say about the special interests.

"We welcome a debate on special interests because there's nobody more vulnerable on this issue than George Bush. The fact is, George Bush has taken more special interest money than any person in history. He couldn't even put this ad on television, because he knows he can't appear in it to back it up.

"After turning over our environmental laws to big oil and the nation's worst polluters, after handing our Medicare system to the big drug companies and the HMOs, after helping companies ship jobs oversees to 'strengthen our economy,' it takes a lot of nerve for George Bush to attack John Kerry on the special interests.

"John Kerry has a proven record of standing up to the very special interests George Bush caves to. As president, John Kerry will continue to fight polluters who are trying to rewrite our clean air laws, HMO's who put profits before patients, and the big oil companies who are trying to drill in the Alaskan Wilderness.

"George Bush has no more credibility on taking on the special interests than he does on creating jobs."  (2/13/2004)

Why Clark is endorsing Kerry

The Washington Post reported on the reasons why Clark was going with Sen. John Kerry and not the other guys:

Sources close to Clark in Little Rock said the former NATO commander values Kerry's experience in the Vietnam War -- in which he was wounded and came out a decorated Navy officer -- and his years of work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Those factors, they said, outweighed the issues on which Clark had criticized Kerry during the campaign: the senator's support of the resolution authorizing President Bush to use force in Iraq and his votes for the Bush education measure -- the No Child Left Behind Act -- and the USA Patriot Act, which expanded the government's anti-terrorist surveillance powers.  (2/13/2004)

Kerry’s weekend schedule

Kerry is not doing any Sunday shows, but will be at the two big Wisconsin events of the weekend: the Democratic Party dinner tomorrow night and the debate on Sunday, both in Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee Kerry laid in some new bash lines against Bush:

"I mean, if you were CEO of a company, you'd be fired immediately," Kerry said. "The arrogance, and the sheer sort of, almost stupidity of it, is stunning."

And:

"What's astonishing about the failure of this administration is that there is a very, very powerful, legitimate argument for Europe not wanting a failed Iraq on its doorstep or for the Arab countries not wanting a failed Iraq as a neighbor," he said.

Kerry plans to use star power surrogates in Wisconsin to campaign for him. Kerry's camp announced that several notables would stump for him in the state leading up to the primary. They include Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia and musician Carole King.

Kerry's wife, Teresa, also will visit the state, his press secretary, David Wade, said, as will several other relatives. (2/13/2004)

Kerry’s response team

Sen. John Kerry’s Nevada chairs responded to Ed Gillespie’s charges that Kerry will run the dirtiest campaign in history:

"…this is the dirtiest, most ruthlessly political White House since Richard Nixon, and they're desperate to hide the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. So they've been working overtime to smear decorated war veterans John Kerry and Max Cleland - and have even sunk so low that they're attacking John Kerry's wife for making charitable contributions to conservation groups." (2/13/2004)

Clark’s aide & sex story

It seems Clark's top aide, Chris Lehane (who was Gore's campaign press secretary in 2000) has long been shopping the Kerry sex story. Washington insider Craig Crawford of the Congressional Quarterly said in a widely circulated e-mail that Lehane had been "shopping" the story to reporters for a long time.

It is also reported that the Kerry camp has long expected to deal with this, and have assured party leaders they can handle it.  (2/13/2004)

Kerry pushes alliances

Sen. John Kerry Presidency would move the country into more alliances with foreign governments. Kerry has criticized the Bush administration for not gaining greater international cooperation after Kerry voted to go to war.

"Intoxicated with the pre-eminence of American power," the Bush team has abandoned fundamental tenets like "belief in collective security, respect for international institutions and international law, multilateral engagement and the use of force not as a first option but truly as a last resort," Kerry said.

Kerry has had a mixed and somewhat strange and inconsistent record on foreign affairs in his House and Senate career. He supported efforts to gut the nation’s intelligence apparatus. He voted against major weapons such as the Patriot missile and the F15 jet fighter.

Reuters reports that his advisor are saying:

Kerry would reconsider Bush's decision to deploy a missile defense system and produce a defense budget that "would be different but might not necessarily be smaller," said foreign policy adviser Rand Beers, who resigned last year as Bush's counter-terrorism special assistant to join Kerry's campaign.

In addition to Beers, Kerry's foreign policy braintrust includes: former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Sen. Gary Hart, retired Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, Senate aide Nancy Stetson and several former Clinton administration officials.  (2/13/2004)

Kerry on Imus: No affair

John Kerry was a guest this morning on talk radio show host Don Imus’ show this morning and officially denied having an affair, saying there was nothing to report. News of a Kerry/intern romance was reported on DRUDGE yesterday, though as yet there is no way to prove the accusation. Today DRUDGE is carrying links to articles in the British (and Australian) media – widely covering the story – and name the young woman. They also have interviewed the woman’s parents. The father is calling Kerry a ‘sleazeball.” Here are some excerpts from the British news:

[in The Sun/UK]

“Alex Polier, 24, was named as the woman at the centre of a scandal that threatens to damage Democrat Kerry’s bid for the White House… Her mother Donna claims Kerry, 60 — dubbed the new JFK — once chased Alex to be on his campaign team and was “after her”.

There is no evidence the pair had an affair, but her father Terry, 56, said: “I think he’s a sleazeball. I did kind of wonder if my daughter didn’t get that kind of feeling herself…
“He’s not the sort of guy I would choose to be with my daughter.”

Terry, of Malvern, Pennsylvania, added: “John Kerry called my daughter and invited her down to Washington two or three years ago. He invited her to be on his re-election committee. She talked to him and decided against it.”

One of Kerry’s former rivals, General Wesley Clark, told reporters earlier this week that Kerry’s campaign would “implode” over the issue. Another Kerry rival, Howard Dean, has reversed his decision to quit the race because of the scandal.

Journalist Alex was in Kenya last night refusing to comment ‘

Talon News has been told “A source at one of the major television networks told Talon News that they are specifically forbidden to talk about this story on the air until one of the other major television networks reports on it first.”

However, Michael Sneed, a columnist for The Chicago Sun, has written about the Kerry situation and identifies the woman as having worked for the Associated Press. This is the only U.S. newspaper currently carrying the story. And according to MensNewsDaily, Google News has removed a story on the Kerry affair that had been posted last night. Here are excerpts from the Sneed/Chicago Sun article:

It's no secret Kerry dated alotta women after his divorce from first wife Julia Thorne in 1988 and before he married Teresa Heinz in 1995.

But the first salvo in an alleged sexual drama came via Internet columnist Matt Drudge, author of the "Drudge Report," (which broke the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky mess) who claimed Thursday a Kerry scandal may be erupting. It allegedly involves Kerry's marital infidelity with a woman who once worked for the Associated Press -- and has reportedly fled the country at the prodding of Kerry.

True? Well, Sneed is told the real reason former Dem presidential nominee Al Gore did NOT select Kerry as his veepmate was because of allegations of women problems, or marital infidelity involving Kerry's marriage to Heinz, heiress to the Heinz Ketchup fortune, whom he met in 1990.

A top source tells Sneed Gore was talking about Kerry's sexual baggage "with a young woman" as recently as late last week!

"Kerry was the favorite to be Gore's veep, but they worried a female problem could erupt, so U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman was selected instead," said the source.

"In addition to Gore backing Howard Dean for president, because he wanted access to the cadre of Dean youth called the "Deanie babies" when he runs for president again and goes up against Hillary Clinton, Gore chose Dean because he feared the Kerry female mess would rear its ugly head," the source added.

The big question: Did Dean opt not to pull out of the race after the Wisconsin primary because he was waiting for the Kerry scandal to erupt?

Also, according to MensNewsDaily, Rush Limbaugh is cautioning against jumping on the story, “Don't Jump Too Soon on Kerry Hit, Interns Only Enhance Democrat Resumes.”  (2/13/2004)

• "Instead of attacking America's problems, George Bush has decided to play attack politics," Kerry said in the prepared text for the Democratic Party dinner on Saturday night.

• “With George Bush's bad record -- with his lack of vision -- he has no choice but to resort to attack politics," John Kerry said. "Maybe we can't blame him, but come November, we can replace him."   (2/14/2004)

Kerry’s valentine

Sen. John Kerry is having to dodge questions regarding an affair on Valentines Day. Yesterday the NY Post cover was of Kerry saying there was no affair. Of course, the whole country is recognizing that we have all heard that before with Bill Clinton.   (2/14/2004)

Kerry signs up Wilson

Sen. John Kerry’s campaign has brought on-board Joseph Wilson, former ambassador and Clinton appointee, whose unsubstantiated charge that senior White House officials leaked the identity of his CIA officer wife and prompted a grand jury probe, has taken a prominent role in Kerry’s presidential campaign.

Wilson, speaking in Washington state, said:

"We went to war under false pretenses and that is becoming abundantly clear to the American people," he told hundreds of students during a foreign policy forum at the University of Washington. "I don't care who you vote for, but get out there and caucus. Don't leave it to the neoconservatives and evangelical Christians."

Kerry campaign spokesman Dave Wade commented on Wilson’s role in the campaign, "I think his support speaks volumes about this administration's blustering foreign policy as well as about the breach of trust they've had with the American people."   (2/14/2004)

Kerry main page