Posted on 07/30/2004 9:13:54 AM PDT by buzzyboop
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - President Bush (news - web sites) launched his counterattack Friday against John Kerry (news - web sites), saying his Democratic rival spent 18 years in the U.S. Senate with "no signature achievements."
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"My opponent has good intentions, but intentions do not always translate to results," Bush told thousands of supporters who repeatedly interrupted his remarks with standing ovations.
Appearing at a baseball stadium at Southwest Missouri State University, Bush said that during eight years on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kerry voted to cut the intelligence budget but had no record of reforming America's intelligence-gathering capability. Problems with the intelligence agencies have been blamed for many of the failures surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Bush also said Kerry has no significant record for reforming education or health care.
The president said that Kerry and running mate John Edwards (news - web sites) consistently oppose reforms that limit the power of Washington and leave more power in the hands of the people.
"This week members of the other party gathered in Boston," Bush said. "We heard a lot of clever speeches and some big promises. After 19 years in the United States Senate my opponent has had thousands of votes but very few signature achievements."
Bush also mounted a defense of his record, saying that Kerry would erase gains made in the past four years in the economy and U.S. security.
"We are turning the corner and we are not turning back" in the war on terrorism and on issues from improving education and health care to maintaining the tax cuts he has put in place, said Bush, declaring: "Results matter."
"They're going to raise taxes, we're not," Bush said of Kerry.
He said the Bush administration has "a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world."
Bush also contrasted the longtime government service of Dick Cheney (news - web sites) to Edwards, a first-term senator.
"I appreciate my running mate," said Bush. "He's not the prettiest man in the race, but he's got sound judgment."
Offering broad outlines of his re-election agenda, Bush promised better times and fresh ideas, declaring "we have more work to do."
In response to Bush's speech, the Kerry campaign said "results do matter" and that Bush's policies have led to record deficits, skyrocketing health costs, lower quality jobs, a military that is stretched too thin and a nation isolated from its allies.
In his acceptance speech Thursday night, Kerry hit hard at the president's handling of the Iraq (news - web sites) war and the war on terror.
"Saying there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't make it so," said Kerry. "Saying we can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it so. And proclaiming mission accomplished certainly doesn't make it so."
Outside the minor-league baseball stadium where Bush spoke, hundreds of protesters carried signs and chanted.
"I'm so frightened about what's happening to the country," said Joan Wagnon, 72, of Springfield. She held a sign reading, "Don't waive your rights while waving your flag."
Bush did not stay up to watch Kerry's convention address but read and saw reports about it, spokesman Scott McClellan said. Adviser Karl Rove watched the speech, McClellan told reporters.
"I think the senator of Massachusetts is a walking contradiction," McClellan said. Although he called Kerry's speech "nicely crafted," he criticized Kerry's Senate record and said he is "running as fast and as far as he can from that record."
In a trip focused on the Midwest, the president campaigns Saturday by bus in Ohio, the second bus tour he has made in the state in three months. He will wrap up two days of campaigning with a rally Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh, just hours after Kerry speaks in a nearby suburb. It will be his 31st visit to Pennsylvania since being elected.
Bush won Missouri in 2000 with 50 percent of the vote to Al Gore (news - web sites)'s 47 percent, and in Springfield, Mo., the president appeals to some of his strongest supporters in the state.
"This is a turnout game and whoever mobilizes their base most effectively is going to win the state," says political science professor Martha Kropf of the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Missouri has lost nearly 40,000 manufacturing jobs since Bush took office, but the picture has improved markedly in the past year, with the labor force as a whole adding 83,000 jobs.
He divorced a millionaire and married a billionaire. That's almost as a good a return as Hillary got on those cattle futures.
He's also managed to remain in the Senate for two decades with a weather vane for a moral compass. Heck, at least Drunk Uncle Ted is consistent.
That's not a big deal. Morgan Fairchild let Senator Alan Cranston hit it, too. Think about that.
The AP in in spin protection patrol.
Kerry Achievements?
The proper title would be "Bush States Kerry has no Achievements"
The AP, with the title alone, is trying to defend Kerry.
So in other words, you were just carrying water for the enemy by trying to tear down Bush, knowing full well that he had accomplished much as a two-term governor of Texas. How pathetic! A useful idiot for the demonrats!
The difference between Bush and Kerry could not be greater. But an all or nothing whiner and crybaby like yourself, if you don't get everything you want, you take your ball and go home, sniffling the whole way.
Son, you had better get over it, get a backbone, and report back to duty. This is no time for the spoiled kiddie routine!!
Nailing Morgan Fairchild was no great achievement, but it far surpasses anything Kerry has done from a legislative perspective. I kind of figured Ms. Fairchild was doing someone from Hollywood a huge favor when she succumbed to Cranston's advances, either that or she confused him for the actor Patrick Stewart.
I don't carry water for anyone, as I don't consider an American that is running for president as an enemy.
I don't want anything..I take what the country elects, and I live with it.
Now why would you want to do that to my beloved Eighty-Deuce? I don't think we had a chute that would carry his lard-butt to the DZ.
"I don't think we had a chute that would carry his lard-butt to the DZ."
If you rig the chute right you won't have to worry about him after the first jump, right? Just clear a large area for the spatter zone.
John Kerry: Working Together with Albanian-Americans
Senator John Kerry issued the following statement:
I am proud to receive support from Albanian-Americans. For generations, Albanians coming to America have assumed eagerly the responsibilities and opportunities of citizenship. The newest generations of Albanian-Americans have carried on this tradition in a way that makes your ancestors ? and all who love America -- proud. As Americans, you have built our communities, creating economic opportunity and prosperity. You value family, community, responsibility, and opportunity. And many Albanian-Americans have given their lives in our armed forces over the last century, proudly serving our country and protecting our freedoms.
I promise as president to promote policies that protect the communities you have built and preserve the values you have honored. We will take care of our elderly, make health care more readily available, promote education, help small businesses, and provide equal opportunity for all.
I also appreciate the strong bonds Albanian-Americans have with their friends, families, and brethren in South-Eastern Europe. These ties make our strong country a great nation. They remind us of the values that brought us here and of the hope and opportunity that remains elsewhere. They help America build our friendships and forge alliances. It is no accident that Albania has sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, that Albania has been steadfast in the war on terrorism, or that the Albanian people are among the most pro-American people in the world today. It is a tribute to the network of connections that knits together not just governments but people who share the same values. You have done that for both your country today and for the countries of your ancestors.
I believe that stability, democracy and prosperity in the Balkans are in America?s best interest. My administration will re-establish America?s leadership in the Balkans, particularly when it comes to Kosovo. The Bush administration has turned its back on the region, hollowed out our security presence, and left the people of the region without the opportunity to govern themselves.
At a time when the populations of these countries took courageous steps to break from the past and were desperately looking to consolidate momentous reforms, the Bush administration chose to do as little as possible. It has missed an historic opportunity.
My administration will act quickly to address the issues facing Kosovo. Kosovo's future status should be decided as soon as possible. The people of Kosovo must be able to determine their own future, including how they want to be governed. Proposals to change the territory of Kosovo or to partition it along ethnic lines do not help build a multi-ethnic society or prepare the region for its future in Europe. As we pursue Kosovo's final status, we want to work closely with others in the region and engage them in promoting a smooth transition. Continued delay - which is all the Bush administration has offered -- hardens the positions of extremists on all sides. The region is vulnerable to nationalists within and extremists from outside; we must help rebuild the institutions that can protect the people of Kosovo so that they will resist calls for more violence and further calamity. Should the region be allowed to degrade it would return to the lawlessness of the Milosevic era and allow criminals to flourish.
We will need your help. We must approach Kosovo?s status in a way that makes its neighborhood safer and more secure. This will take American leadership, alliances, and effort, as it did with Western Europe at the end of World War II. And it will take time; we cannot walk away from Kosovo and the region.
I will need your help in building the support we will need in Congress and with the American people to carry out this historic task. With your support, my administration will:
Work with our European allies to see that all states of the Balkans are able to take their place as law-abiding members of the key institutions that helped to win the Cold War, including NATO and the European Union.
Assist the governments in the region to increase trade, attract investment, and address corruption, human trafficking, and minority rights.
Pursue individuals indicted for war crimes. All governments in the region must cooperate to achieve this purpose and bring war criminals to justice.
I will also need your help to support more vigorously Albania?s efforts to develop its economy, integrate into Euro-Atlantic institutions, and strengthen its democracy. We will continue to support the efforts of Albanians in Macedonia and Montenegro to become equal citizens of democratic societies.
Not every issue will be easy. America at our best stands for human rights, for everyone. My administration will enlist your support in seeing that the human rights of people throughout the region are respected. This must include the Serbs and other communities of people who want to live in Kosovo. Otherwise, it will be more difficult, if not impossible, to achieve lasting peace and prosperity in the region and to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of all who live there.
I am proud that we will, together, help make real the dream of Albanians, of Americans, of our allies, and of all who care about our security and freedom, of creating a Europe that is peaceful, democratic, and free from fear and from oppression -- a Europe whole and free, from the Baltic, to the Black Sea ? and in the Kerry administration, to the Adriatic.
www.JohnKerry.Com Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc.
The President was being too kind.
"It's not a question of logic, it's simple mathematics."
No, it is a matter of reading comprehension.
"1) MO has lost 40,000 jobs since GWB took office."
That is not what the author says. The author says that Mo lost 40,000 MANUFACTURING jobs. (No indication was given about how these jobs were lost, nor whether any were regained.)
2) MO has gained 83,000 jobs in the past year.
Yes, as in 83,000 total jobs in one year with no mention of how many were MANUFACTURING jobs vs other jobs. This author also, does not indicate what jobs were lost/gained over the prior years under President Bush.
It is not that your math is wrong it is that the author wants you to presume the 2 statements are regarding the exact same subjuect, but they are not. It could be that there were 40,000 manufacturing jobs at $50,000 per year, were lost since Bush has been President, and 83,000 jobs were created this year at $100,000 per year. We simply can not compare the two sentences without much more information.
For your reading enjoyment.
Good sized reply...I promise I'll read it.
And CHALLENGE. Kerry has never attacked Bush, only CHALLENGED him. Caught that lovely in another AP headline.
(Or was it Yahoo? Same diff...)
Kerry had 20 years in the Senate and managed to accomplish nil. That in itself is quite an accomplishment. ;-)
OK, thanks
Couldl not even 'sell cookies' without trying to steal them first.
Like most Left-wing/Libeals; truth depends on so many variables as to make it an impossible value.
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