My Open Letter to the Kerry/Edwards Campaign

[cenacle]

Dear Ms. Cahill,

Why is that half a million people filled the streets of New York City yesterday to protest President Bush's administration, and yet Senator John Kerry's website does not mention a single word about them? Why is it that the Kerry/Edwards campaign is afraid to truly engage the uprising spirit of protest in this country and around the world? Do you know why Kerry has only half the people behind him in current polls? It is because like Humphrey, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, and other wishy-washy Democratic presidential candidates before him, he is too establishment, too embedded within DC beltway politics to have any clue what real progressive political activism is about.

People came from all over the nation to protest the RNC, and yet Kerry/Edwards just goes on smiling and gently losing the chance to engage the very people who would, if summoned, raise the money and the votes they need to win. I don't fear for Kerry/Edwards if they lose in November; I fear for the poor, the minorities, the women, the outsiders they will have let down in their current anemic bid for power. Kerry/Edwards had better get a clue soon or they will be writing books on what might have been as the little Emperor takes the rest of the world down the flaming road to a lunatic's paradise.

Sincerely,
R. S.

PS--You want money from me and poor working class people like me? You better tell your bosses to grow something resembling backbones!

[dennis4868]

1. well said....

:-)

[veteran_for_peace]

2. GREAT!!!

I love it

[mmonk]

3. now there's a letter

[Hoping4Change]

4. You are ignoring the fact that agent provocateurs could incite

violence at any of these demonstrations. If that happens and Kerry is seen as being associated with mayhem it could be diasterous.

[cenacle]

5. here's the thing...

we've seen this all before...the Republicans campaign like fists, the Democrats like flowers...the one appeals to power, the other to mercy...in an event treated more like a sporting event than a collective intellectual decision, power often wins, nearly always...even Clinton won by the power of his charisma as much as anything else...i dont disagree with the agent provacateur possibility, but DAMN, it was HALF A MILLION people there, putting their time and energy and money to get there and so on, on the line for all of us...risking possible riots, police violence, abuse from hecklers, having their photos taken by the FBI, all that...i look at the photos and think i love you all, thank youi for doing this for yourselves and millions like me who can't be there today but in spirit...

Kerry/Edwards non-response doesn't surprise me, they are part of the choreographed dance that elections have become where non-issues are played out for months til most can be made to forget these are OUR legislators of OUR nation who are vying for the power to influence OUR lives...it's not about a fucking boat in viet nam and what a boy named john kerry did, yet months of that talking puke as though it matters...the closer the election gets the more i worry some people will not vote because the differences between kerry and bush will have been blurred too much for it to seem to matter...like this all is some kind of reality show where one guy wins, yknow? i never thought dean had much of a chance to truly upend the machine running this would-be empire, but it was damned fun to watch someone say something for real...

i just think this Anybody But Bush mentality rampant these days is going to bite us all in the ass in November...it's so cynical, so despairing of hope or even the will to find a way back to hope...i hope things come around, that somebody gets a convincing word to Kerry: speak your heart out, man, it's not about you, it never was, stop running low and put your head up and sniff the danger on the wind, and TELL OF IT...don't be another coward full of regrets for the moment you had in the sun when you did not say what so obviously needed to be said...

[no name no slogan]

6. You forgot: ANSWER is run by COMMIES

You get provacateurs at almost any kind of street rally-- right-wing, left-wing, non-violent, etc.

The Iraq War is quickly turning into THE issue of this race, and yet Kerry/Edwards fail to even ACKNOWLEDGE the fact that over 1/2 of all Americans now oppose the war-- not to mention 85% of Democrats.

Despite their IWR votes, Kerry/Edwards is missing a golden opportunity to truly connect with the voting populace on a "white elephant" that's in the living room. But instead, they mutter platitudes about "winning the war" and "finishing the job", which gets less and less possible every hour we continue the occupation.

Even staunch Kerry supporters like Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN) have not only called for an end to the occupation, but have proposed workable plans to make it so. And yet Kerry's handlers won't even let him NEAR the issue.

Kerry seems to think that he "deserves" all the left-leaning votes, and that he's got them wrapped up. If that were the case, he'd be up by double-digits on Dubya. Instead, he's within the margin of error.

If Kerry somehow loses to the inept fool who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, he'll look even WORSE than Mondale did in 1984. Especially since this race was practically his to lose.

[Dawgs]

7. What!!

"The Iraq War is quickly turning into THE issue of this race, and yet Kerry/Edwards fail to even ACKNOWLEDGE the fact that over 1/2 of all Americans now oppose the war-- not to mention 85% of Democrats."

Can you explain how he fails to acknowledge you and others. Contrary to those that can't think here, John Kerry is and always was against the Iraq war.

Remember, this is Bush's war not Kerry's.

[Upfront]

8. Great post

Howard Dean would not walk away from this wonderful effort of progressive Democrats. It brought tears to my eyes to watch. It was just great! Oh shit, I mentioned Dean and I know we are not supposed to go there. Give me the Democrats who are not hiding under there desks. Kerry better wake up and I mean now! We need to fight these bastards all day, every day!

[seabeyond]

9. yes trust in us

what would have happened if kerry had gone to mainstreet in new york yesterday.,

that would have been something

what a wonderful whole new angle to see this. very good