Posted on 09/11/2004 7:17:03 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) suggested Saturday night that Republicans may attempt to suppress black voter turnout to help President Bush (news - web sites) to victory in November.
"What they did in Florida in 2000, they may be planning to do in battleground states all across this country this year," the Democratic presidential nominee said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Congressional Black Caucus (news - web sites). "Well, we are here to let them know that we will fight tooth and nail to make sure that this time, every vote is counted and every vote counts."
Kerry has a team of lawyers to examine possible voting problems to try to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election disputes. He also has said he has thousands of lawyers around the country prepared to monitor the polls on election day.
"We're not going to stand by and allow another million African American votes to go uncounted in this election," Kerry said. "We're not going to stand by and allow acts of voter suppression."
The Massachusetts senator criticized the president for failing to meet with the caucus since his first month in office and for what he said was a failure to meet the Biblical standard set by the Good Samaritan to help others in need.
Bush-Cheney spokesman Steve Schmidt said the campaign would not respond to Kerry's "baseless, divisive attacks" until Sunday. "Today is a day of remembrance," he said.
Earlier Saturday, Kerry recalled the good works done in memory of those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people.
"While Sept. 11th was the worst day we have ever seen, it brought out the best in all of us," Kerry told families of Massachusetts victims during a memorial at the Boston Opera House. He delivered the same message in the weekly Democratic radio address.
"In the years ahead, we will share its lessons with our children and grandchildren," he said. "We will tell them that on Sept. 11, ordinary men and women became heroes at a moment's notice — and so can you. We will tell them that we were strong because we took care of each other — and so can you."
At 8:46 a.m. — the moment three years ago that American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower — Kerry was visiting a memorial to Massachusetts victims. He laid white lilies at the memorial, located in Boston's Public Garden, then attended a private breakfast with families of the victims before the memorial service.
The two hijacked planes that crashed at the World Trade Center originated at Boston's Logan Airport. Victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites) included nearly 200 people who either lived in Massachusetts or had ties to the state.
Kerry also issued a statement Saturday calling on Bush to release a 2001 report by the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board that reportedly recommended a major restructuring of the U.S. intelligence community, including establishing a single intelligence director.
The board's chairman, retired Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, was national security adviser under Bush's father and President Ford.
"The White House has held this important report under wraps for nearly three years while resisting efforts to strengthen the intelligence services that are essential to preventing terrorist attacks and protecting our nation," Kerry said in the statement. "What is the White House hiding? Why shouldn't the Congress and the American people be able to fully consider General Scowcroft's recommendations?"
Frankly, I think it's more of a case of "A drowning man will clutch at a snake."
It's bad enough that we have the international OSCE people monitoring our election! Now we have to endure Kerry's cronies and henchmen peering over our shoulders in the voting booth??
Can this man never learn when to shut his mouth? He is embarassing himself....oh, wait. That saves us a lot of trouble, doesn't it. Very well. Carry on. (or should I say "Kerry on?")
Just when I think he can't sink any lower..........
BTW, Democrats were very sucessful in 1998 midterms at getting out the black vote. That year Black radio stations riled up their listeners by telling them that that Newt Gingrich's thugs were stationed at polling booths preventing them from voting.
And here's part of an actual ad from '98 : "When you don’t vote, you let another church explode. When you don’t vote, you allow another cross to burn. When you don’t vote, you let another assault wound a brother or sister. When you don’t vote, you let the Republicans continue to cut school lunches and Head Start"
Jean Kerry is Thurston Howell III
Some commemoration of September 11, eh?
Why don't reporters fixate on Kerry's accusation of GOP racism like they did with Cheney's mild statement?
What else could they claim? The GOP has already burnt down all their churches.
By hyping up the info in this little clip:
Katherine Harris should be in jail
Funny how the democrats ignored the protesters from FL after the 2000 election drama.
He's right. For example, Kerry, Daschle, et alia sat around not knowing what to do for 40 minutes, until WH aides told them to evacuate.
And that's the best Kerry can do.
I read all the posts before replying. Nobody seems to see what is perfectly obvious to me.
The reason for this claim is very simple. It is a pre-emptive Democrat strike against any Republican attempts to control voter fraud.
Any attempt to ensure that all votes are legal will be called "suppressing the black vote." Also look for lots of keeping the polls open late, and so forth, in black neighborhoods.
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