Posted on 01/13/2005 8:40:48 AM PST by KidGlock
Kennedy Warns Democrats Not to Be Republican Clones
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: January 13, 2005
ASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - Senator Edward M. Kennedy warned Democrats on Wednesday not to become "Republican clones" in response to the party's setbacks in November, declaring that President Bush's victory was narrow and did not provide him with the mandate the White House has claimed.
In a defiant speech ushering in what is shaping up as a contentious legislative year, Mr. Kennedy accused the White House of using scare tactics to try to push through changes in Social Security, and pledged to fight them.
"The biggest threat to Social Security today is not the retirement of the baby boomers - it's George Bush and the Republican Party," he said.
"Never before until now has any president, Republican or Democrat, attacked the basic guarantee of Social Security," Mr. Kennedy said in a speech at the National Press Club here. "Never before until now has any president, Republican or Democrat, proposed a cut in Social Security benefits. Yet President Bush is talking not just about a cut, but an incredible 33 percent cut. We must oppose it."
His remarks underscored some of the Democratic resistance Mr. Bush is facing as he tries to push through what is shaping up to be an extraordinarily ambitious legislative agenda. Mr. Kennedy, the face of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, urged his colleagues not to accommodate the election-year defeats by moving to the center.
"In the face of their tactics, we cannot move our party or our nation forward under pale colors and timid voices," Mr. Kennedy said. "We cannot become Republican clones. If we do, we will lose again, and deserve to lose. As I have said on other occasions, the last thing this country needs is two Republican parties."
The senator offered what he called a progressive agenda for a Democratic Party seeking a message, and at times, his remarks sounded like an early speech by someone working out the themes for a race for president.
And the proposals he discussed were in keeping with his wing of the party. He called for expanding Medicare to provide health care coverage for all Americans, raising the minimum wage and expanding tuition assistance for students, particularly those who major in mathematics and science.
But the speech was more striking for the extent to which it sought to push back Mr. Bush's claim for a mandate and its warning to Democrats not to respond disproportionately to Republican victories.
Mr. Kennedy said he was particularly concerned with "the contentious and difficult issue of abortion," an apparent reference to Democrats who have said that their party needs to reduce its emphasis on the issue in future elections.
"In this land that cherishes individual rights and liberties," he said, "a woman has the constitutional right to make her own reproductive decisions, and I support that right wholeheartedly."
He added: "But there is a way America can find common ground on this issue. Surely, we can all agree that abortion should be rare, and that we should do all we can to help women avoid the need to face that decision."
Mr. Kennedy recalled delivering a postelection speech after the 1994 elections, when Republicans captured control of both houses of Congress for the first time in nearly 50 years. He said this latest presidential election "was nothing like that."
He called it a reprise of 2000, saying: "This time, a switch of less than 60,000 votes in Ohio would have brought victory. Unlike 2000, it would have been a victory against an incumbent president, and in a time of war."
"We have an administration that falsely hypes almost every issue as a crisis," the Massachusetts Democrat said in a speech prepared for delivery at the National Press Club. "They did it on Iraq, and they are doing it now on Social Security"The manslaughtering lush goes on to tout the Democratic Party's theme on "hope and unity:"
"I do not retreat from the view that Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam....The administration turned away from pursuing Osama bin Laden and made the catastrophic choice instead to bog down American forces in an endless quagmire in Iraq..."The has-been who lost a primary to Jimmy Carter also presses the Democrats not to become too much like Republicans:
"We cannot become Republican clones," he said. "If we do, we will lose again, and deserve to lose. As I have said on other occasions, the last thing this country needs is two Republican parties."Newsflash to Sen. Glenfiddich - the Democrats did NOT lose the election because they were acting like Republicans. They lost the election because they ran a far left liberal who LIED about his positions while the Party itself had only a single uniting theme - their hatred for President Bush. Sen. Kennedy should not be lecturing Democrats to stop acting like GOP clones, he should tell them to stop acting like a bunch of a*sholes!
'Tis a pity this country no longer has two major pro-American political parties. There remain but the pro-American (conservative) party and the anti-American (liberal) party. This is not the "two sides to every issue" we wish to establish in this country.
Okay, then how 'bout Sanford for President in '08?
Scotty needs to beam Teddie up, quick.
LOL!
Translation - Republicans don't stick together like the Demoncrats do.
Governor Mark Sanford would be great! So far he is the best choice out all the RINOS and spinless Pubbies running.
I have a Sanford for President ping list if you're interested. Do a search for "Sanford" and you will find a few good threads on him.
"...declaring that President Bush's victory was narrow and did not provide him with the mandate the White House has claimed."
I wonder if Teddy would have considered his brother to have had a mandate in 1960 when there is even more convincing evidence then the DUmmies can muster this year that the election was stolen?
Don't bet on it. Lower life forms like TK and cockroaches can live through just about anything.
Don't bet on it. Lower life forms like TK and cockroaches can live through just about anything.
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It always seems like the good people (eg Reagan) pass away and the gutter scum like Kennedy seem to stick around. Hmmm -- maybe earth is something other than what we think it is --- like HELL, for instance??
(chuckle) :-)
...urged his colleagues not to accommodate the election-year defeats by moving to the center....
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Oh Yeaaahhh!!! Keep it up Teddy, we love you. Keep all your bottom-feeders on the HARD LEFT...yes, that is what won the last election for us, NOW LET'S DO IT AGAIN IN 2008. Keep it up Teddy and I will send you a case of gin, on me!!!!
Teddy, say HI to Hitlery for me! -- she will make a great MARXIST candidate, just like Kerry...
Yeah, life can be hell, too. Who knows if Ted Kennedy's demons are alive and kicking him when he's alone...and conscious.
"To bad teddy didn't open this big mouth and yell this loud when his car went in the canal. Mary Jo would still be alive today."
True, however, there have been a lot of helpers keeping old Teddy where he is, and they will have some accounting to do as well.
What a POS... Everyone here should send this guy a half pint of some cheap booze... Prolly never see him again...
Hey you drunk BLIMP MAN do us all a favor and STFU.
May Teddy's words turn out to be prophetic.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=407844&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
To wit:
Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, calling him "Osama bin … Osama … Obama."
How old is Ted? Shouldn't he be retired? What's wrong wwith these people.
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