Posted on 10/18/2004 7:27:18 PM PDT by nypokerface
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, condemned by some Republicans as "French looking," promised on Monday to help Haitian immigrants in Florida, saying: "Je vais aider les Haitiens."
The Massachusetts senator, who has French relatives and is fluent in the language, has rarely spoken it in public on the campaign trail.
His political adversaries have tried to capitalize on anti-French sentiment created by Paris' staunch opposition to the Iraq war and to portray Kerry as aloof and opposed to U.S. interests.
But in Florida, a critical battleground state in the Nov. 2 presidential election where many many Haitian immigrants have settled, Kerry sought to communicate directly with them by lapsing ever so briefly into French.
His opponent, Republican President Bush, the former governor of Texas, often sprinkles Spanish phrases into his speeches to Hispanic audiences.
One of the last times Kerry spoke French publicly was at a rally in Louisiana in March when he proclaimed: "Laissez les bon temps rouler!" ("Let the good times roll!").
Man, I hope somebody gets this on video!!!
Translated: "I'm going to give everyone a flying red fire truck."
Governsleastgovernsbest Appeals to Kerry in French
"Foutez-moi la paix, espece de connard."
John Kerry as Christopher Walken as the French guy?
Did he also surrender?
That seems like kind of an upbeat message to send the Haitians considering Kofi Annen accused Kerry of causing the deaths of at least 50 of them by saying that if he were president he would back the Presidency of Aristide.
The message does not match the situation.
'In yet another article, The Washington Post notes that there are shifting loyalties among Florida minority groups. On the one hand, Bush is slipping among Hispanics overall because of the influx of Democrat-leaning Puerto Ricans. He is also slipping among Arab-Americans. But he seems to be gaining among...Haitian-Americans?! Believe it, says The Post. It is all about religion:
"Jeb Bush drew cheers this weekend at a rally when he talked about the U.S. government's efforts to stabilize Haiti. He also promised to discuss with the president a long-stalled request for "temporary protected status" for Haitian immigrants, which would end the Bush administration's policy of automatic deportations on the grounds that Haiti allegedly harbors terrorists.
Such entrees are increasingly gaining support for Republicans among Haitians, Celestin said, and are building on the appeal of the party's conservative social platform --such as opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage -- in a community that is almost universally Catholic."
A commentator to this blog posting says: "Great Blog! I was one of Joe Celestin's (the Haitian GOP Mayor of North Miami quoted in the post article) consultants when he was first elected. He has significant influence in that community and will deliver Haitian votes to GWB as he did for JEB.
But what the Post article missed is the erosion of Dem support among Jewish voters in South Florida. There are articles in the Palm Beach Post and Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel over the last few days indicating Bush will get 30% or more of the Jewish vote in those counties. That is an increase of almost 50% over 2000 and almost wipes out any erosion in the Central Florida non-Cuban Hispanic bloc.
Also note that GOP efforts in Florida will be boosted in a big way by the military overseas vote. This elected Connie Mack in 1980. We went to bed down almost 20,000 votes and won by at least 10k on the overseas military vote (I assisted one of the media guys for Mack in that race). Florida should not be a problem. The GOP learned a hard lesson on GOTV in 2000 where we were outclassed. In 2002 we turned that around and crushed the Dem nominee for governor and all of the down-ballot races."
http://jaycost.blogspot.com/2004/10/real-news-for-10-12.html#comments
Kerry is a conasse. If he tries hard maybe in his next life he can work his way up to coonass.
Many Haitians do really seem to hate Bush... Oh well.
See my comment #10. The dynamic in FL is the Cuban-American vote for Bush is decreasing while the Haitian-American vote for him is increasing. That's why Kerry is wooing this bloc two weeks before the election because his voter base is degrading.
That's Great!!! LOL
Looks like we're going to have to have the Cuban Americans talk to the PRs.
What about the comment in some of the news today that John Francois Kerry is blamed for the violence in Haiti? Oh yes, sorry, I forgot, most of them will not hear it on the *news* (and I use that word loosely)
The Haitiens speak Haitian Creole, a patois that's a mixture of French and other African dialects. John Kerry's Parisian French is a far cry from Haitian Creole. The Haitiens would understand his French, but it's not their everyday dialect.
Exactly. Although, not likely they'd understand him at all (who does), as Haitian Creole and French aren't "mutually comprehensible."(saxakali.com) La Flip. Le Flop.
Wonderful!!
Well, the Haitians in Boston hate Bush with a vengeance.
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