Response to today's controversy on Kerry

[Dr Ron]

The stir created by that poorly written news report shows the problem caused by those who spread the type of weak argument used by RFK Jr in Rolling Stone and seen on certain blogs. These arguments are totally different than what Kerry is saying, but his message winds up getting confused with theirs.

Full response on this, including response to one of the sites bashing Kerry over this, at Liberal Values:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=197

[ProSense]

1. Isn't

Decision '08 a wingnut site?

Check the "Coalition of the Chillin'" links!

[Dr Ron]

2. I believe so

Unfortunately the confusion on Kerry's position leaves him open to such criticism, which is coming from both left and rigtht.

I linked to them as Memeorandum linked to them along with the article on Kerry. This will drive traffic to them from non-wingnuts as well as wingnuts. Hopefully having my reply and trackback will help get Kerry's position out to the non-wingnuts reading.

[kerrygoddess]

3. It's a wingnut site

I think the nutcases have been relatively quiet today.

[karynnj]

4. I'm not too surprised - they've reported Kerry's comments

on suppression better than the MSM - ridiculing him each time. So it's likely old hat.

Is it likely Kerry's office will put out a statement correcting this - emphasizing the voter suppression that really did occur and which Blackwell was behind.

[Dr Ron]

5. It's not the wingnuts who are the real problem today

It's the liberals who are bashing him more.

Have you checked back at Dembloggers? There's one response to your post which is very hostile to Kerry. I did cross post my post after it.

Needless to say, the wingnuts at Decision '08 had negative responses to my comment, but I expected that. I am only interested in the non-brain dead people who followed the Memeorandum link who might actually consider my response. In a way, the more they pile out against Kerry, the more sensible my response might seem.

[kerrygoddess]

6. On a scale of

1 to 10, there hasn't been much said about this. Not one liberal blog showed up on Memeorandum about the news story except mine, otherwise it was 2 right wing nuts and well... they are right wing nuts.

Maybe I am just beyond getting in a tizzy over this, but I think this email said what it did for a reason and the reaction, good and bad was expected.

[Dr Ron]

7. Underestimating response

Memeorandum has many quirks. On top of that, Technorati has been acting up, which further throws off Memeorandum. Plus Memeorandum totally ignores things such as threads at DU, diaries at Kos, and comments elsewhere as opposed to main blog posts. A huge number of blogs never show up in Memeorandum. Counting posts at Memeorandum is an almost meaningless way to judge reaction.

[ProSense]

8. There is absolutely no reason

to give credibility to a wingnut site. The threads a DU and Kos have nothing to with the controversy over whether or not election fraud impacted the election. Everyone posting comments in these threads agree that fraud occurred. There are those who use the opportunity to attack Senator Kerry with claims of "too little too late." That has nothing to do with any controversy surrounding election fraud.

[Dr Ron]

9. Due to confusion over what Kerry is arguing

Those who believe the more outlandish claims are more likely to think there were illegal acts which Kerry could have fought in court. The problem is that most of what occured was legal under Ohio's laws, and there is little remedy to problems as Republicans dominate the election system. Kerry has been concerntrating on issues such as voter suppression, changing the laws, and taking control of elections away from partisan Republicans. Failure to understand what Kerry is really doing and speaking about leads to much of the misunderstandings and the misconception that this is too little too late.

[ProSense]

10. Media distortion is not

a misunderstanding, it's deliberate. Those few detractors (some are politically motivated on the left and trolls from the right) raising a stink in Kerry threads on DU and Kos don't care what Kerry is saying --- it's not about a misunderstanding --- they simply do not want to see him being lauded for any reason. Even those who are promoting Mark Cripin Miller's lie know the difference between Miller's claims and what Kerry has said, but they are motivated by politics to try to prove that he backtracked.

[karynnj]

11. I agree - and that is why the best response is to make

sure that in any forum where it comes up the email itself is posted. The very first DU thread was posted before the email was out (or at least before I got it). The email is actually very consistent with:

- Kerry's 2005 MLK day commends
- his comments to Boston area kids and their parents in April, 2005 (that Tay heard)
- the comments at the Boston voting rights march (with John Lewes)that Tay and Whome went to
- the comments he made at Kenyon College at their commencement
- the comments at Ohio rallies the weekend of the KC commencement
- the comments he made last month on the Senate floor.

In all these different places with different audiences, Kerry has said precisely the same thing:

- In Ohio, various forms of voter suppression were used to lower his vote - and Blackwell in his dual position was clearly involved. He also notes that this was done without clearly breaking the law.

- He has never said that with 100% certainty, he would have won without voter suppression

This consistancy shows that he is not pandering to anyone on this issue. The RW pieces are trying to say he is now implying fraud, where in 2004 he accepted what they are pretending was a completely honest win for Bush. In fact, Kerry said there was voter suppression from the beginning, but that there was no proof that it changed the result. It is also not contradictory if you believe that the Republicans cheated legally to call on Democrats and Independents to punish Blackwell but to not file charges against Blackwell in court.

The other consistency is that Kerry has always insisted this is an issue that needs to be fixed going forward. He has spoken about it often, even knowing he will be bashed and ridiculed by the FL and FR every time. He is also involved on every piece of legislation to fix this.

Does anyone know of any site that has posted the actual email - even DD seems to have the biased, inaccurate Hammer article - which is debunked only in the comments? It's not on JohnKerry.com (The Liberal Values post referenced in the OP is at least a segment of it)

[kerrygoddess]

12. I have the actual email posted

It's here - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=4023

The fact that Strickland has such a huge lead in the Ohio polls is a clear indicator why the media and the right wing blogs distorted the email, which is more about Strickland than Blackwell.

[karynnj]

13. Oh, I see it - I looked only at the other post - Sorry

This is great. (At least one RW article lied and said it was all anti-Blackwell. It's actually like all Kerry requests - his comments on Strickland are really nice.

[kerrygoddess]

14. Sometimes stirring up some controversy

is a good thing. The article distorted the email to make it ALL about Blackwell, and at the same time it raised awareness that Blackwell was involved with dirty tricks. Granted the article was not flattering to JK in some ways, but it did help to get his message across about Blackwell, which in it self is a good thing. :)

[karynnj]

15. Thanks, KG

That's a good way to look at it. Especially as many persuadable people may remember comments about long lines stc in Ohio. The article was so snarky that the bias was readily apparent. It's funny that it may be harder for us to counter in the far fringes of the LW than among moderates, who would accept an answer that he was not challanging the result - but in 2004, 2005 and 2006, taking Blackwell to task for his bad behavior.

[Dr Ron]

17. Exactly the approach which needs to be taken

"It's funny that it may be harder for us to counter in the far fringes of the LW than among moderates, who would accept an answer that he was not challanging the result - but in 2004, 2005 and 2006, taking Blackwell to task for his bad behavior."

Those who believe both that the election was stolen and that there is obvious proof of fraud will not forgive Kerry. If you accept their premises, then Kerry should have fought the result. It is unlikely they will give up these beliefs.

For moderates, Kerry's approach is much more reasonable. Most of what was done was totally legal in Ohio. Abuse was rampant because someone partisan like Blackwell was in charge of the election--just as in Florida under Katherine Harris. The response to the situation was not fighting after the election but a protracted political effort to 1) reform the election laws and 2) get rid of the scoundrals like Blackwell who were responsible.

[Dr Ron]

16. There are both misunderstandings and deliberate distortions

We all know very well that there is a lot of deliberate distortions, but there is also a large amount of misunderstanding of Kerry's positions also. Since the email was not specific as to the areas of election reform Kerry has been working on it is understandable that some could honestly confuse Kerry's arguments with arguments made by others. Separating what Kerry has actually been speaking out on from what they mistakingly think Kerry has been saying is the best defense of Kerry here.

Some will ignore the defense as they always want to attack Kerry. However there are people of all viewpoints which follow links thru Memeorandum. Getting my response as part of this mix may help keep some from believing the attacks on Kerry related to this.

[ProSense]

18. Agree, but the point is the

misunderstanding isn't being created by the e-mail, but by conservatives relying on wingnuts' conflated presentations. This is the case with every issue, not just this one.

It's more a matter of educating conservatives to not accept wingnut distortions, and that's a problem the entire Democratic Party has to deal with.

[kerrygoddess]

19. Well said.

It's not just this issue.