Posted on 08/01/2004 2:34:26 PM PDT by kattracks
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) - John Kerry is talking more openly about his personal connection to God and guns as he kicks off the general election campaign asking for support from conservative-leaning independent voters.As his post-convention bus tour rolls through blue collar and Republican-leaning districts, Kerry has repeatedly described how he began a lifetime of hunting and fishing as a young boy. And lately he's been speaking in more detail about a faith that he and running mate John Edwards share in God.
"We're running to be lay leaders, but there isn't any way that you're not affected by your fundamental values, the faith that brings you to the table," Kerry said Sunday to worshippers at Greater Grace Temple in the heart of the presidential campaign battleground in Ohio.
With his political enemies trying to portray Kerry as an aloof Boston Brahmin, Kerry's campaign is putting a bigger focus on common values that he shares with average Americans - fishing and hunting, family and faith.
"I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve, but faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday," Kerry said as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday.
Kerry didn't mention his interest in hunting in that speech, but he has been describing it on his post-convention bus tour through more conservative areas. In Greensburg, Pa., on Saturday, Kerry pointed out a small group of men wearing bright orange shirts that said "Sportsmen 4 Kerry."
"I've been a fisherman since I was about three years old, four years old," Kerry said. "Flung my first line out with my dad. I've been a hunter since I was about 12 years old, and I went through the whole progression, you know, BB gun to .22s to .30-30, you name it."
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, said the gun vote could make the difference for Kerry in Pennsylvania.
"The fact that he is a hunter and handles guns so well, I think, is also very, very helpful," Rendell said as he accompanied Kerry on stops in three Pennsylvania counties that chose George Bush in 2000. "I'm cautiously optimistic. I think we should wind up winning by about 4 or 5 points."
Kerry will face opposition from the 4-million-strong National Rifle Association. A quarter of NRA members live in West Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania, all potential swing states.
The NRA says Kerry usually votes against gun rights in the Senate. Kerry supports extending the ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows. He opposes granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits.
Kerry touts his love of fishing and hunting amid his call for environmental conservation, a position more popular with his Democratic base.
"I understand something about hunting and fishing," Kerry said in Wheeling, W. Va., Saturday "In the United States of America today in 28 of our states, ... you're not allowed to eat the fish if you're lucky enough to catch them in the waters of those states because of the level of mercury, the level of toxics and pollution. We have an obligation ... if we want to hunt and we want to fish to make sure it's there not just for us but for future generations."
Kerry's talk of God also could help him shore up part of his base, especially as he spends his Sundays worshipping at largely black churches. Sunday, Kerry told the mostly black congregation at the non-denominational Greater Grace Temple that he and Edwards, who lost his son in a car accident, survived personal tragedy through faith in God.
"I was at war, lost some of my best friends, those I grew up with and those I fought with," Kerry said. "And I sort of questioned, why does this happen, why did this happen, what's going on? We all question. And we learn that even though suffering, through loss, we get in touch with power, with the being, with the almighty."
Even among the scientists and technicians at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, Kerry paid tribute Monday to "the higher power.""More physicists and more and more scientists, the more they learn in some ways the less they know about some things and the more they believe in that power," Kerry said.
Kerry tries to distinguish himself from President Bush on religion. On CBS'"Face the Nation" program broadcast Sunday, Kerry said Bush occasionally has crossed a line between church and state, although he said he doesn't know if it's intentional or inadvertent.
"I'm Christian, I'm Catholic, it's important to me," Kerry said. "It has served me through my whole life. But as I said in my (convention) speech, I'm not going to say God is on my side and I'm not going to go out and divide people. I want to pray that we are on God's side."
Or was something important left out of what Kerry said?
The liar is really stretching this one!!!
Name those states Dickhead, that ban eating the fish you catch.
A person who fishes pays attention to advisories that one ought not to eat fish from a polluted source.
"not allowed...????
Keep on rocking Johnny. You are killing me!
Thank you very much!
Phony Faith + Sleeve = JFnK
YOU VOTED TO BAN THE .30-30 AMMUNITION!!!!!! The NRA says Kerry usually votes against gun rights in the Senate. Kerry supports extending the ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows. He opposes granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits.
He also voted to BAN .30-30 AMMO!
Hey dj, pacifists as the yoyo's that stand on the corner and observe genocide for some higher principle which has never, and will never, be made clear to me. His statement is right on the money.
Senator...the Second Amendment has NOTHING...NADA...ZIPPO... to do with hunting...It has to do with deposing an abusive government if the need arises.He could've fooled me!!! :)
Yes, his "faith" has served him well whenever he feels the need to fool somebody that he is a believing catholic. Funny, but I have thought that WE are supposed to serve our God and faith, NOT that IT was supposed to serve us. Oh well, I must have that wrong because Kerry would never be wrong on matters of faith. /sarcasm
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the above has to be one of the most stupid comments ive ever seen.. this makes me doubt seriously whether you actually finished high school on a certain level.. comparing pacifists to three dictative regimes which have done horrendous things makes me doubt whether you have a total lack of logical reasoning or maybe you've been part of a psychologic experiment? your vote is wasted for the concerns of normal people..
He wasn't directly comparing pacifists with Stalinists, Maoists and Ba'athists; it was simply a comment that they're often "on the same side". History provides examples of this, time and again.
Now, do you have a substantive argument with which to refute xm177e2's comments? All I see so far is a personal attack. Poor form, especially on your first day.
One thing I'm sure of, is that you signed on today. I wonder why.
Say...isn't that the cartridge that your buddy, Teddy the Swimmer, wants to ban?
Typical lamestream reporting. First, his votes have been 100.000 % anti-gun, every time; he has never voted for gun rights. There is no "usually" about it. He hasn't made many votes this last year, but he took time from his busy campaign schedule to vote against gun shows and against cosmetically different firearms. Second, typical lamestream writing is evident with the "NRA says" throwaway line, apparently designed to color the following assertion. Kerry's antigun voting record is clear, but the reporter can't bring herself to simply say so outright.
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