Posted on 09/22/2004 12:19:29 PM PDT by KeyLargo
Arizona Daily Sun Swift Boat vet rallies 'troops' in Flag
By SETH MULLER Sun Staff Reporter 09/22/2004
Retired Navy Capt. Wade Sanders, who commanded a Swift Boat alongside John Kerry in the Vietnam War, came to Flagstaff Sept. 14 to energize local Democrats and talk with the veterans at the American Legion. The second group proved the tougher crowd to win over.
Sanders -- a former Navy undersecretary in the Clinton administration, now a San Diego attorney -- spoke before more than 200 Democrats at Little America before they held a closed-door meeting to discuss their grassroots strategy for the coming weeks of campaigning.
"John Kerry is coming not from fear, but hope," Sanders said. His speech elicited numerous cheers and a standing ovation.
He also told the crowd that presidential nominee Kerry earned the nickname "Seabiscuit," in reference to 1930s race horse that gained most of his ground in the home stretch to win. He said to expect Kerry, who has fallen behind in the polls, to surge in the final weeks of campaigning
Sanders explained that he served as a Swift Boat commander at the same time as Kerry, but that their 40-year friendship began when they met at a bar in New Zealand. For the campaign, Sanders took a leave of absence from work and financed the time off with a personal loan so he could volunteer.
In the past 10 days, he said he had been to nine states. He said he was volunteering because Kerry "was a loyal friend."
Along with Sanders stump speech, Coconino County Democratic Chair Harriet Young said that she's determined to rally enough county Democrats to win Arizona for John Kerry.
She said she wanted to pick up "11,000 votes" compared with the 7,000-vote margin the county gave to Janet Napolitano to help her win the gubernatorial election in 2002.
Sanders left Little America to visit the American Legion on Birch Avenue, where he met with a dozen veterans and Legion members, some of whom were not convinced that Kerry was the right man to ascend to the presidency.
American Legion member Sharon Kohl, who votes independent, said that she did not know what Kerry was going to do that was any different from President Bush. "I want to know, what is John Kerry going to do?" she asked.
The former Swift Boat captain took criticism from some of those who gathered, including a man angered by Sanders' use of the word "orchestration" in reference to the Iraq war effort. He left the room.
Another man took offense to Sanders using the term "chicken hawk" --a war-oriented, non-combat-veteran politician -- in reference to the Bush Administration. He said he respected Bush's honorable discharge.
In an interview after meeting, Sanders said that he enjoyed meeting with the American Legion group and having in what, at some points, became heated exchanges.
"I was very comfortable with that crowd, and I thought they had particular insights to provide," he said. "I love people who give it to me straight."
Sanders' visit to Flagstaff capped off a day in northern Arizona, where he gave similar rallying calls in Prescott and Sedona. First Congressional District challenger Paul Babbitt joined him for part of the day.
The Arizona Democratic Party sponsored the Sanders appearances, which continue today in Navajo County, following vice presidential running mate John Edwards' visit to Tucson on Monday.
The Democrats are pushing to "turn Arizona blue," where the state goes into the win column for Kerry in the November election. However, current polls list Arizona as a Bush-leaning state more than a battleground.
Sanders disagreed with that notion.
"I really think Arizona is a coming state, and, clearly to us, it's a state in play," he said. "(The Democrats) have a vibrant, strong organization here in Arizona."
Reporter Seth Muller can be reached at 913-8607 or at smuller@azdailysun.com.
..."Sanders left Little America to visit the American Legion on Birch Avenue, where he met with a dozen veterans and Legion members, some of whom were not convinced that Kerry was the right man to ascend to the presidency."...
.."Another man took offense to Sanders using the term "chicken hawk" --a war-oriented, non-combat-veteran politician -- in reference to the Bush Administration. He said he respected Bush's honorable discharge.."
"The second group proved the tougher crowd to win over.."
Sounds like the real vets were not impressed with Kerry's drinking buddy.
Well, sKerry DOES have a horse face but he brays more like a jackass.
Apparently the paper wants to get a lot of mileage out of this article and this one veteran supporting Kerry: the article was first published in the same paper a week ago and now it's there as a new article with today's date, but it's the exact same article.
(Pro-Kerry)Swift Boat vet rallies 'troops' in Flag
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1216957/posts
Check out earlier thread. Sanders did NOT serve with Kerry.
"He DID NOT serve alongside Kerry!
See pages 67,68 and 69 of Unfit For Command."
This is false. Sanders never served with Kerry--he predated him in VN.
The paper actually published it twice.
The earlier one has a different article number, and it's an archived article.
Boy, they must really be having a hard time to find veterans supporting Kerry!
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=94256
Swift Boat vet rallies 'troops' in Flag
By SETH MULLER
Sun Staff Reporter
09/15/2004
Retired Navy Capt. Wade Sanders, who commanded a Swift Boat alongside John Kerry in the Vietnam War, came to Flagstaff Tuesday night to energize local Democrats and talk with the veterans at the American Legion.
[ The full story contains 610 words. ]
[ Click here to purchase this archived story for only $2.95! ]
=======
And the current one you saw and posted:
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=94674
Two different story ID-s, but the same article.
But he didn't serve with Kerry, so what the hell does he know?
Thanks.
I am sure that we will continue to see more media rehash & recycle of the same stories, since the Democrats have nothing else.
He also bit the big one as an Under Sec of the Navy. One of the worst I saw in 26 years.
He's probably the guy that cleaned up Sen. Kerry's military records.
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