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."
at: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1320197/posts
The Chappaquiddick kid must have let his flask run dry to be so enlightened.
Of course Kennedy is going to say that -- because, if his party moves right, he'll be left all alone on the left fringe. He realizes that he's irrelevant.
Quick Facts About The Senator
Hometown: Hyannis Port
Born: February 22, 1932; Boston, Mass.
Religion: Roman Catholic
Family: Wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy; three children, two stepchildren
Education: Harvard U., B.A. 1956 (government); International Law School, The Hague (The Netherlands), attended 1958; U. of Virginia, LL.B. 1959
Military Service: Army, 1951-53
Career: Lawyer
Elected: 1962 (7th full term)
Never really had another job during most of his adult life. But he has something like 42 years in the Senate, most places it would be time to send him home with a gold watch.
73 years old next month. He has a serious self-esteem problem and power hunger if he can't "live" without being a senator.
Teddy giving ANY advice to anyone has a severe case of the Mary Jo's. He is in over his head.
What a booze-soaked old sot!
If a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his butt as he jumped!
"Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, calling him "Osama bin … Osama … Obama."
"You know" at this level of liberalville old Teddy may not see any difference in the names or the two people. Neither one are a threat to him or his, only those evil republicans.
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