Celebs back Kerry, lambaste Bush

John Kerry and John Edwards mingled with top rockers and hip-hop artists at a star-studded fund-raising concert last night at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan in an unusual mixture of presidential politics and New York entertainment.

The newly unveiled Democratic team swept into the city by motorcade at rush hour after campaigning in Florida, a potentially decisive state. The glitzy affair was originally slated for last month but was rescheduled when it threatened to conflict with a week of memorial services for Ronald Reagan.

The musical fest came as an Associated Press poll struck a warning tone. It showed Bush opening a slight lead over Kerry, apparently gaining ground on economic issues, while the new Democratic pairing appears to have expanded the ticket's appeal in the South and among low-income voters. The AP-Ipsos poll found Bush eeking out a 49 percent to 45 percent lead over Kerry. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Some 6,200 guests, who laid down anywhere from $250 to $25,000 for tickets to see the Democratic duo, made their way past paparazzi to jam into the storied midtown music hall. High rollers got to attend a post-concert private reception with Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, and Edwards, a North Carolina senator.

The event raised an estimated $7 million to be shared between the Kerry-Edwards campaign and Democratic Party coffers, with the party slated to get the bulk of the take: $5 million, according to the Kerry campaign.

The sold-out event featured singers Mary J. Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, Wyclef Jean and John Mellencamp. A host of marquee movie stars and celebrities also paraded by in high fashion, including Jessica Lange, Paul Newman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Meryl Streep.

Got this in an email -

Worst president in history?

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January.....

In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January.

That's just one American city folks, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.

The following appeared in the Durham, NC local paper as a letter to the editor.

Please forward to all on your list as this will put things in perspective:

Liberals claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war.

They complain about his prosecution of it. One liberal recently claimed Bush was the worst president in U.S. history.

Let's clear up one point: We didn't start the war on terror. Try to remember, it was started by terrorists BEFORE 9/11.

Let's look at the "worst" president and mismanagement claims.

FDR...

led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us: Japan did.

From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.

Truman...

finished that war and started one in Korea. North Korea never attacked us.

From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,333 per year.

John F. Kennedy...

started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.

Johnson...

turned Vietnam into a quagmire.

From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.

Clinton...

went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us.

Clinton was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

In the two years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

Worst president in history? Come on!

The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but...

It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. That was a 51 day operation.

We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!

Our military is GREAT! PASS IT ON.

Make no bones about it, the true face of Kerry and Edwards is unmasked as they embrace the culture of hate who will stoop to base propaganda with no connection to reality:

Lange called Bush administration officials "cronies" and said they're a "self-serving regime ... of belligerence."

Chevy Chase mocked Bush. "This guy's as bright as an egg timer," he said

Whoopi Goldberg said of Bush: "Anyone who would wave at Stevie Wonder is not fully there."

Streep issued a warning, apparently directed at Bush, not to take religion on the campaign trail.

Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman, said Kerry "found time to attend a Hollywood fund-raiser filled with enough hate and vitriol to make Michael Moore blush."

Following the flood of charged comments, Kerry and Edwards embraced all the performers on the stage and sang "This Land Is Your Land." Both recited truncated versions of their stump speeches.

"John and I are determined to bring back what is best in this country," Kerry said, adding that the performers conveyed "the heart and soul of America."

Earlier in the day, Kerry and Edwards campaigned in the pivotal state of Florida. Kerry told the crowd that Edwards' two youngest children, ages 6 and 4, were "good at math ... I've given them a special duty in this election. We're sending Jack and Emma Claire down there to help those Republicans in West Palm Beach count those votes."

"If any American has any doubt about the strength and backbone of this man ... just listen to the men who served with John Kerry in Vietnam," Edwards said.

"The problems of the middle class are multiplying, and it's clear the only way to solve the problem is to subtract George Bush," he said.

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