Posted on 04/03/2003 4:03:44 AM PST by RJCogburn
PETERBOROUGH — In a campaign appearance in the Monadnock region yesterday, U.S. Sen. John Kerry brought a basic reason why he should be America’s next President: We can do better.
“Just because the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision in its selection, and an error in its decision in the year 2000, doesn’t mean we have to live with it for six more years,” he told an overflow crowd at the Peterborough Public Library.
Kerry, 59, appeared at the behest of former state Sen. Mark Fernald of Peterborough, who said he has not made up his mind about who he is supporting for President in 2004.
“I’ve invited other candidates to town, and I hope they come,” he said. “But today I think Senator Kerry did a good job. He handled some tough questions, and I’m impressed.”
Kerry’s comments ranged over a wide field, from the economy, to the environment, to the war in Iraq and its aftermath.
“Ultimately, we have to let the Iraqis run Iraq,” he said. “Now that we have put lives on the line, the only exit strategy is victory. The troops are doing an extraordinary job.”
Kerry also said he would appreciate it if those who criticize the military for its conduct thus far keep quiet for a while. He is a Vietnam veteran.
“War is tough,” he said. “Trust the process for a few days. We’re achieving our goals, but war is unpredictable.”
While he voted for the legislation that is allowing the Bush administration to conduct the war, Kerry said that President Bush broke a number of promises he made in order to get that support.
“I voted to give the President to have a legitimate threat of force for the reasons he gave: to go to the United Nations and form a coalition. This President failed. It was a failure of diplomacy,” he said. “We need not only a regime change in Iraq, but also in the United States. We need a President who will respect the institutions we have built up over many years.”
A new President is needed, Kerry said, to restore American credibility.
“A new President has to declare a new day,” he said. “I won’t cede the right of the United States to defend itself, but America will be a leader in the world.”
On the economy, Kerry said that President Bush’s tax cuts, as structured, were doing more harm than good, and that he’d try something else: encouraging investment in technology, encouraging more responsible development to demonstrate to other countries how development can be done, and a one-time tax cut to the middle class.
“We are faced with the challenge of stimulating the economy in the face of massive deficits,” he said.
Kerry had prostate cancer surgery earlier this year, and said his health was fine.
“Some people are worried about having a President without a prostate,” he said. “The problem is, we’ve had too many Republican Presidents without a heart.”
Nell Conkright, of Greenfield, is part of a recently formed Democratic organization that is examining the candidates.
“Senator Kerry did pretty well,” she said. “We had (former Vermont Gov. Howard) Dean here recently. I think Kerry’s a middle-of-the-road candidate, and he’ll go far. But Dean gave concise answers to questions, and I like that.”
Money-hungry pols pander to select groups making promises to them to the exclusion of the rest of us.
Does anyone besides me think that the Iraqi's will pick up on this remark and use it against the Bush administation. In my heart of hearts I hope they do. And I can see Kerry's political career light dimming very fast if they do.
Terp
These leftists still don't get it. The public is sick to death of them carping about their failure to steal the 2000 election by disenfranchising the very troops they now "claim to support".
Face it Senator Heinz, you and your party are becomming more irrelivant every day.
To shore up the Democrat nutcase vote, Sen Kerry
will announce he has found his long-lost twin brother.
The implication that our President has no heart, no credibility, is a diplomatic failure and used deception to obtain congressional approval for war in Iraq really makes my blood boil.
He wants to discuss credibility???? Did he ever bring that up while BJ was in office? He wouldn't know good/bad, right/wrong if it snuck up and bit him on the rear.
LIEberman is to be memorialized in the Chia Hall of Fame.
After surgery for cancer of the prostate, you get a hormone shot to shrink and slow down the disease. It affects your mind, your libido, and your energy level.
That is why Rudi Guilliani didn't run against Hillary: too tired.
So my question is: Did Kerry really have prostate cancer, or just a biopsy of a benign nodule? He lied about being Irish, so one wonders if he is lying again...
John "Kennedy" Kerry undermined U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War on Dick Cavett's TV show and with the Communist John Lennon.
Not sure. Although his wife, the ketchup heiress golddigger, has been seen singing the song "Anticipation" quite a bit lately ;-)
Oooooo! LadyD, that is a very interesting speculation.
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