Posted on 07/31/2004 8:11:26 AM PDT by 7.62 x 51mm
Thousands Crowd Capitol To Listen To Kerry Lucy Barnett, Staff Writer
POSTED: 11:09 am EDT July 30, 2004 UPDATED: 10:20 pm EDT July 30, 2004 HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A crowd of 25,000-30,000 people came out to the state Capitol Friday night to hear what the Democratic presidential ticket had to say.
Sen. John Kerry thanked his supporters for coming out. He spoke about his wife, running mate and family.
Kerry talked about funding schools.
"We're going to fund 'No Child Left Behind,'" Kerry said.
He spoke of his time as a prosecutor, saying that he never met a child who was in the system because adults were not in their lives.
"What does it mean to a country when we're content to spend $50,000 a year to send one of those young people to prison for the rest of their life when we ought to be investing $10,000 in Head Start, Early Start, Smart Start, the best possible start for those children?" Kerry said.
Slideshow
Harrisburg Rally Scranton Rally
He talked about water quality and air quality.
"We need to preserve the habitat. We need to pass it on to our children in better shape than we were given it by our parents," Kerry said.
Kerry criticized the war the Iraqi war, but said he supports our troops. He said he knows how to deal with the situation with Iraq as it is now, to live up to the Unites States' responsibility, but he said it is necessary to work with other countries to do so.
"Working with other countries and sharing responsibility is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength," Kerry said.
On a lighter note, Kerry wished his running mate and his wife a happy anniversary.
Before introducing Kerry, Sen. John Edwards talked about Kerry's track record, from his military service, to his work as a prosecutor and a U.S. senator.
Actor Ben Affleck and Gov. Ed Rendell had a chance to speak at the beginning of the program, and then both Teresa Heinz Kerry and Elizabeth Edwards spoke about their husbands.
Video
Scranton Hosts Kerry/Edwards Campaign Earlier Friday in Scranton, Kerry hit many of the same points as he spoke to crowds of supporters.
Kerry said he is currently working on a health care bill that he promised to submit to Congress on his first day in office if elected president.
"Health care is not a privilege for the wealthy, but a right for all Americans," Kerry said.
Kerry also promised to stop tax cuts for the wealthy.
"The middle class deserves a champion and a fair shot," Kerry said.
Kerry also called for America to become less dependent on foreign oil.
"We're going to do what we need to do to make sure no hostages are killed because of America's dependence on oil in the Middle East," he said.
Previous Stories:
* July 30, 2004: Kerry Comes To Harrisburg * July 29, 2004: Preparations Under Way For Kerry's Visit
* July 29, 2004: Tickets Available For Kerry's Harrisburg Visit
Good.. I hope they use the two Johns as public facilities.
Yep, I'm sure that all of these children were the product of two parent, structured, law abiding homes where they just couldn't protect their children from the evil of the United States.
Basically the content of Kerry's speech was "yada, yada, yada." Same old, same old.
WAIT!!! I THOUGHT DEMOCRAPS HATED THE 'NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND' ACT????
We're gonna F-L-U-S-H them in November!
Same old, same old, all across the 21 state tour, Not an original idea between the two idiots.
LOL!
McGovern use to draw crowds like that as well.
So now he is dredging up his brief experience as a prosecutor 30 years ago. I'm sure NOTHING has changed since then, eh? To my recollection, his time as a prosecutor would have been at the height of the welfare state and Jimmy Carter stagflation. It has ZERO relevance to today's criminals! When will the media start noticing that this guy hasn't done a single noteworthy thing since he came back from Vietnam, except dream of being President???
We have a Democrat in the Govs office so I would presume that any state worker who values his or her job was in attendance. That alone could account for several thousand.
Police estimated the crowd at 8000. dims would never lie, and certainly not the trustworthy media... NOT!
LLS
This kind of turnout worries me. Has GW ever drawn that many? 10,000 is the most I've heard. Of course it could be just the reporting, duh.
I saw some *long faces* in the TV coverage of the crowd, as if they were ordered to be there, or else.
Last month, I was at the Expo Center/ York Fairgrounds in York, for W's rally, and there wasn't a frown in the crowd of 10,000+.
Easily. In Cincinnati a couple months back I tried to get in duirng his visit at the Cincinnati Gardens. It normally holds 12,500. It was obvious they allowed more in than the normal capacity, and I estimate there were 5 to 8,000 of us did not get in.
Only saw about 200 protestors.
On the other hand the public can't use the two John because they're already "full of it".
In 2000, we had a rally for George W. Bush that had 20,000 people. Our liberal rag of a paper called it "several thousand". Do NOT believe what you read, friend! They overplay Kerry crowds and underplay the President's crowds. I have seen it over and over and over again.
"WAIT!!! I THOUGHT DEMOCRAPS HATED THE 'NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND' ACT????"
Well of course they hate it- but they never saw a federal program they won't fund. In the meantime...the BS about Bush not funding No Child Left Behind act...much of it HAS been funded...but the money is sitting in state coffers ...it's the STATES who've not sent the money where it's supposed to go. But...you won't hear that from the donkeys...
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