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Kerry Paints Stark Contrast Between Dean And Himself
NY Times ^

Posted on 12/27/2003 5:45:07 PM PST by Paul8148

Senator John Kerry delivered a withering attack Saturday on Howard Dean, trying to frame the presidential campaign in New Hampshire as a two-man race and saying voters here faced a choice between Dr. Dean's "confusion and contradiction" and his own "steady and consistent hand."

With a month left until New Hampshire's primary and his standing in most polls in the state a distant second to Dr. Dean, Mr. Kerry assailed him for several of his more controversial statements about Iraq and for being unclear about what should happen to Osama bin Laden.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; dean; frenchcandidate; howarddean; johnkerry; kerry; monsieurkerry; realestateagent; unfit
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He is fed up. He was suppose to be the Lefty from New England to get killed in a General Election.
1 posted on 12/27/2003 5:45:07 PM PST by Paul8148
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To: Paul8148
it's only 'withering' if coward dean withers
2 posted on 12/27/2003 5:48:37 PM PST by InvisibleChurch ("Has this egg nog been approved by the Nogmaster General?")
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To: Paul8148

3 posted on 12/27/2003 5:50:59 PM PST by Paul Atreides (Is it really so difficult to post the entire article?)
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To: Paul8148
"Senator John Kerry delivered a withering attack"

[Translation from the French to follow]
4 posted on 12/27/2003 5:52:22 PM PST by John Beresford Tipton
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To: John Beresford Tipton
I watched The Beltways Boys, on FNC, deliver their best and worst of 2003. John F'n Kerry was listed as the worst presidential candidate of 2003 and, perhaps, of all time.
5 posted on 12/27/2003 5:56:43 PM PST by Paul Atreides (Is it really so difficult to post the entire article?)
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To: Paul8148
Hatchetface vs. Dr. Demento for the title of Demoncratic Sacrificial Lamb. This ought to be a hoot.
6 posted on 12/27/2003 5:57:12 PM PST by Viking2002
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To: Paul8148; Admin Moderator
1. Why did you excerpt this?

2. Why did you change the title (a FR no-no)?
(Kerry Paints Stark Contrast Between Dean And Himself)

3. Thank you for using the "printer friendly" version of the article.

The rest...

"We need more than simple answers and the slip of the tongue," Mr. Kerry said. "Our world is complicated, and the challenges we face demand a president who knows what he's saying and knows where America needs to go."

He reminded an avid crowd in Manchester that Dr. Dean had commended the capture of Saddam Hussein one day then on the next asserted that it did not make America any safer. "It raises serious doubts about both his realism and resolve," Mr. Kerry said.

"When he spreads unfounded rumors about the administration having prior warnings of Sept. 11 and then passes it off because someone had posted it on the Internet, it leaves Americans questioning judgment and sense of responsibility," Mr. Kerry added.

"After every episode comes a statement trying to explain it away," he said. "So we're left asking, will Americans really vote for a foreign policy by clarifying press release?"

Dr. Dean, the former Vermont governor, declined to respond to Mr. Kerry's comments or to take any questions from national reporters as he campaigned across Iowa with Representative Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the third-ranking Democrat in the House and the only member of the party's leadership who is not backing Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.

But Sarah Leonard, a spokeswoman for the Dean campaign, said, "What you're seeing is a career politician desperate to save his political career."

"How can the governor respond to every attack when they can't even get their attacks straight?" Ms. Leonard said, pointing out that the Kerry campaign had criticized Dr. Dean in recent weeks both for being antiwar and for not being consistently antiwar. "John Kerry says he has the experience to ask the tough questions. Then why didn't he ask the tough questions, why did he just vote for the war?"

In Dr. Dean's latest bit of trouble, a New Hampshire newspaper, The Concord Monitor, quoted him on Friday as saying, "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."

Later Friday, Dr. Dean told The Associated Press: "As a president, I would have to defend the process of the rule of law. But as an American, I want to make sure he gets the death penalty he deserves." Later he issued a statement calling this "exactly the kind of case that the death penalty is meant for."

On Saturday, Dr. Dean's rivals pounced. Mr. Gephardt issued a statement saying those remarks called into question Dr. Dean's electability. "When you're in a debate with the president of the United States, there are no do-overs," he said.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Gephardt added: "I don't see how we can beat George Bush with statements like that — it won't make sense to the American people."

In his speech, Mr. Kerry took a similar tack.

"What kind of muddled thinking is it if you can't instantly say that in your heart you know Osama bin Laden is guilty, should be tried in the U.S., and given the maximum punishment?" Mr. Kerry said. "I tell you, you don't have to listen too carefully to hear the sound of Champagne corks popping in Karl Rove's office. Someone who talks like this is going to have a hard time convincing the American people that he can keep them safe."

Much of Mr. Kerry's speech was a rebuke of Dr. Dean's own attacks on centrists like himself and on Democrats in Congress.

"No, we can't beat George Bush by being `Bush lite,' " he said, using Dr. Dean's own description of centrist Democrats. "But we also won't beat George Bush by being light on national security, light on fairness for middle-class Americans and light on the values that make us Democrats."

Jodi Wilgoren contributed reporting for this article.

7 posted on 12/27/2003 5:58:06 PM PST by upchuck (Encourage the Islamowackos to pretest their explosive devices. A dud will really spoil your day.)
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To: Paul Atreides
"John F'n Kerry was listed as the worst presidential candidate of 2003"

And the competition was, how you say, *TRES FORMIDABLE*
8 posted on 12/27/2003 5:58:51 PM PST by John Beresford Tipton
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To: Paul8148
One word sums up Kerry... PRIG
9 posted on 12/27/2003 6:00:47 PM PST by Porterville (Every time a liberal speaks an angel is shackled in chains.)
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To: Paul8148
Stark contrast:

Kerry = phony jerk
Dean = authentic jerk

Pretty stark, if you ask me.
10 posted on 12/27/2003 6:05:13 PM PST by thoughtomator ("I will do whatever the Americans want because I saw what happened in Iraq, and I was afraid"-Qadafi)
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To: Paul8148
In a pickle, Ketchup mustered his spicy sauce with relish, sensing his buns are toasted anyway.
11 posted on 12/27/2003 6:08:35 PM PST by kcar (A gov't big enough to give you everything, doesn't really care about YOU anymore.)
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To: Paul Atreides
lol! What are you doing posting that disgusting picture??!!
Oh yeah, that's what you do. You're always trying to freak us out with your pictures.
12 posted on 12/27/2003 6:32:01 PM PST by Boxsford
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To: Paul8148
I find it odd that they give the respect of "Dr. Dean and
Mr. Kerry" and not 'Dr. Dean and Senator Kerry".
13 posted on 12/27/2003 6:33:38 PM PST by JBCiejka
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To: upchuck
Is the NY Times on the short list of those we can't fully post?
14 posted on 12/27/2003 6:35:40 PM PST by Boxsford
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To: JBCiejka
Very perceptive of you. That is quite interesting.
15 posted on 12/27/2003 6:37:12 PM PST by Boxsford
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To: Boxsford
I think we have a clue who the NYT will endorse.
16 posted on 12/27/2003 6:38:59 PM PST by JBCiejka
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To: kcar
In a pickle, Ketchup mustard his spicy sauce with relish, sensing his buns are toast anyway, so thinking cheesily,"Lettuce hope this hot dog is too chili for this roll".
17 posted on 12/27/2003 6:42:07 PM PST by kcar (A gov't big enough to give you everything, doesn't really care about YOU anymore.)
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To: kcar
As reported by The Onion.
18 posted on 12/27/2003 6:44:12 PM PST by kcar (A gov't big enough to give you everything, doesn't really care about YOU anymore.)
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To: Paul8148
Kerry is getting serious about this.

Big ad in today's Manchester Union Leader.....serving chili tomorrow to all comers at noon downtown.

Ummmmm....chili.
19 posted on 12/27/2003 6:54:31 PM PST by RJCogburn ("I need a good judge."......Lucky Ned Pepper to Mattie Ross of near Dardenelle in Yell County)
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To: Porterville

20 posted on 12/27/2003 7:00:36 PM PST by Porterville (Every time a liberal speaks an angel is shackled in chains.)
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