Some Call It ‘Botched’ — Kerry Played the GOP

[kerrygoddess]

Some Call It ‘Botched’ — Kerry Played the GOP
November 5th, 2006 @ 2:11 pm

Here we are a couple of days before the mid-terms and the D.C. pundit and consultant society would rather carp about John Kerry’s comment last Monday that created a rather ridiculous firestorm from the right wing. We all know that some in the trade are already lined up with their chosen ‘08 candidates — these would be the same genius pundits and consultants, who in ‘02 believed Democrats needed to take national security “off the table” by voting for the Iraq War. And they are the same people who just a few months ago thought Democrats shouldn’t be debating Iraq and decided a lobbying scandal should be the central issue of the mid-term elections. Well, they are at it again, now attacking John Kerry for joke that was botched but others have noted made a lot of sense.

Let’s get a little perspective here people, this classic inside the beltway story belongs buried in the archives of website, and on the eve of a very real election that will change the political landscape, we should all be forgetting the hype over this by now.

Susannah Meadows claims in NEWSWEEK that Democrats are assessing the damage done to the party (and Kerry’s ‘08 chances) by John Kerry’s ‘botched’ joke. Well, I already noted here the other day day that Kerry was helping the party and polls have shown that there was no damage. In fact, polls show that Democrats are carrying the 50 toughest Republican districts out there and are winning big on the top issue in this election – Iraq. Yes, John Kerry had the audacity and the guts to hold Bush and the GOP accountable for this miserably failed war in Iraq. He pushed the envelope, he pushed the issue to the forefront and he proved what this fight is really about – Iraq. Some call it ‘botched’ but the fact is Kerry helped to push the Iraq issue to the limelight in the final days of this election cycle and he helped to spell out disaster for Republicans in this election.

When all was said and done, Kerry made the selfless choice to put the Democratic party first by deciding to come off the campaign trail last week, simply because he refused to let the Republican Hate Machine (aka the Republican Noise Machine) who Susannah Meadows is shilling for in NEWSWEEK, use Democratic candidates as proxies in their sick, twisted, distorted spin war.

John Kerry refused to be part of any distraction in this campaign, from the issues or from any candidate whose name is on the ballot. This choice, this election is far too important to the country, and this fight is far too important to John Kerry. Period.

Kerry’s early commitment in this critical campaign made a difference to countless candidates. He stepped up and gave so many the resources to compete. Like his fellow veterans — Iraq war vet Tammy Duckworth running in Illinois and Admiral Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania. It was because Kerry donated early and big to these campaigns that these candidates were able to run hard to change the direction of this country. John Kerry’s commitment to his fellow veteran candidates has been unparalleled in our party. Kerry gave over 1 million dollars to Democratic veteran candidates and campaigned longer and harder for them than anyone else out there.

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Even Bill O’Reilly of Fox News got it: “I don’t believe that John Kerry meant to demean any American military member, I just don’t, and I think that fair-minded people know that would be political suicide for the senator and he wouldn’t do it.”

Yes, some Washington Democrats continue to be cautious. And that is why many Democrats from the east coast to the west have worries about the cautious crowd — like Hillary Clinton.

As Joan Vennochi of the Boston Globe wrote in her column yesterday about the Democrats who turned on John Kerry this week, “Kerry’s fellow Democrats… cut and run from their presidential nominee of just two years ago. Democrats are supposedly on the cusp of regaining power in Washington. If it happens, it will be because the public lost faith in Bush and one-party control…The GOP huffs and puffs like the Wizard of Oz. Even after the curtain is pulled back to reveal Karl Rove feverishly revisiting Lee Atwater’s playbook, Democrats are still the cowardly lion. Why make the minor mistakes of a man who isn’t president more important than the deadly mistakes of the man who is?”

Cut-and-run Democrats… The Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial board wrote: “Apologies? Sure, from the cut-and-run Democratic candidates who’ve cancelled appearances with Kerry.”

Here’s a fact — No one in the Democratic party has stood up against this war in Iraq more than John Kerry. Time and time again, John Kerry has called the Bush Administration out for sending young Americans to fight and die in a war, when BushCo and Congressional Republicans have nothing but a stubborn, miserably failed strategy, and no plan for success.

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No one has fought harder for our veterans, troops and military families than John Kerry. For 35 years he has led the fight to keep the promise with our veterans and his brothers in arms. He spearheaded the effort to provide a full accounting of missing US soldiers in Vietnam. He made it among his first priorities after the 2004 election to enact a Military Family Bill of Rights. John Kerry has stood up and led the fight for veterans and the troops over and over again. He fought to help victims of Agent Orange. And now, today he leading the fight to help our troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are suffering from PTSD. PTSD, something the Bush administration would prefer to deny exists.

So, while the shills ask what Kerry’s ‘botched’ joke means for the future — I have a good answer for them.

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While some call it ‘botched’ others see the reality — Kerry opened up the flood gates on Iraq at a critical time right before the election. Anyone who thinks that Kerry is “radioactive among Democrats” can think again. Plenty of activists are standing behind Kerry, plenty of activist still have his back, like Mark Gorenberg, Kerry’s former finance chair for California, who told NEWSWEEK “he would definitely be with Kerry if he ran in ‘08.” That goes for plenty of Democrats I know as well. John Kerry will re-emerge from this tougher, stronger and with more of a fighting spirit than ever — the fact is you can’t keep a good man down — and you sure as hell can’t keep John Kerry down!

Some call it ‘botched’, but some see it for what it really was — Kerry played the GOP and they fell right into his hand.

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