Posted on 09/29/2004 9:10:47 AM PDT by nypokerface
At one point, it seems, Sen. Robert Byrd wasn't such a big fan of John Kerry.
In 1971, soon after Kerry returned home from Vietnam, he asked members of Congress, including Byrd, to review his new book, "The New Soldier." According to an article in The Boston Record American that year, Byrd didn't give the book a particularly good review.
Kerry was making a public speech when he told the audience about Byrd's reply: "You wanted to know my reaction to your book. I say most respectfully, I threw it in the wastebasket after leafing through it."
Byrd's attitude about Kerry seems to have changed dramatically since then. He is the co-chairman of Kerry's campaign in West Virginia, along with Sen. Jay Rockefeller. And Byrd is currently appearing in a commercial for Kerry on West Virginia television stations.
The senator's office acknowledged that he threw away Kerry's book in 1971 but said it was just his policy.
"Generally speaking, Senator Byrd does not provide endorsement comments for books," said Tom Gavin, a spokesman for Byrd.
"That was his policy in 1971, and that is his policy in 2004. Because he did not wish to provide a publicity comment, he discarded the review copy of the book after receiving it."
These days, Byrd is going out of his way for Kerry. He praised Kerry during a speech Monday evening in Charleston, even as he blasted Bush's policies in Iraq.
"For America to be believed, it has to have a new face," he told the crowd. "We need a new face, and John Kerry will be that face. He is honest. He is tough. He believes in the Constitution."
Byrd's word could be as valuable as gold this year in West Virginia, a swing state where every vote counts. Four years ago, Bush became the first non-incumbent Republican presidential candidate in a generation to win the Mountain State when he defeated vice president Al Gore.
West Virginia's senior senator is going to keep aggressively campaigning for Kerry, said Amy Shuler Goodwin, the presidential candidate's spokeswoman in West Virginia.
"He's 110 percent behind this ticket," she said. "It's incredible to have Senator Byrd so involved. He's one of the most well-respected public servants the state has ever had. People trust and respect Robert Byrd."
History shows that a boost from Byrd can help.
"An endorsement by Senator Byrd is probably the strongest thing a candidate could wish for in this state, particularly a candidate from out of state or a candidate that is not known," said Robert Rupp, a political science professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
"Byrd doesn't do it very often. When he comes back to give an active endorsement, it becomes an event."
Byrd largely stayed out of the fray when Gore lost West Virginia in 2000. Byrd campaigned for Bob Wise late in 2000 and helped Wise win a close race against incumbent Gov. Cecil Underwood. He isn't almighty, though. He endorsed attorney Jim Humphreys for Congress two years ago, but Humphreys still lost for the second election in a row.
"Although the Humphreys endorsement did not work, Humphreys was already in trouble. He was not running even when the endorsement came. It was kind of a catch up endorsement," Rupp said.
"While the Humphreys endorsement didn't work, the endorsement of Congressman Wise did. It became part of political legend that he helped turn a close race into a Wise victory. That is why it's so valuable since he doesn't spend his political capital on many Democratic nominees. When he does it's at a crucial time."
In a national television interview this year, Byrd suggested that Kerry needs to get some "coal dust" on his hands to win West Virginia. Kerry has endorsed clean-coal technology as a way to boost the industry that carries symbolic importance in West Virginia.
Not everyone believes Byrd's backing will win the day for Kerry, though.
"He came in and did his best for Humphreys, and Humphreys got stomped hard," said Kris Warner, the state Republican Party chairman. "Sen. Byrd has lost his luster in West Virginia. That was shown in 2002."
Warner suggested that Byrd might lose credibility among voters by backing Kerry and slamming Bush.
"I don't think there's much that is going to help resurrect this campaign of John Kerry's in West Virginia," Warner said. "Byrd's getting played like a fiddle. They're going to play him. He is doing the political thing now rather than the right thing."
A long, orange face.
"Mr. Klan Man... where is your sheet? What will you do when John Kerry gets beat?"
The man with the orange face hears from the man with the sweat glands in his lips.....
..."You wanted to know my reaction to your book. I say most respectfully, I threw it in the wastebasket after leafing through it."...
So they spin this to say that Byrd threw all books in the trash arbitrarily?
What an amazing bunch of crap. Yet another democrat doing the flip flop. I can't stand this hateful old buzzard. In fact, hate is about the only thing keeping him alive these days from what I've seen of him.
KKK Byrd
"We need a new face..."
How about a new face that has been a public plague for over twenty years, one that is older than that of the incumbent, one that looks like a study for the Easter Island statues. Yeah, that's the ticket.
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