Posted on 03/22/2005 8:05:46 PM PST by RWR8189
It seemed as if the campaign had never ended. There was John Kerry standing on a chair in a blue neighborhood of Atlanta, in the Democrat-friendly tavern Manuel's, speaking to 100 folks, many of them wearing Kerry-Edwards T shirts. The Massachusetts Senator insisted that he wasn't "one to lick wounds," but then he did: he noted that Bush had won with the smallest percentage margin ever for an incumbent and complained that the Republican team had six years to develop its electoral strategy while his had only eight months. And although he claimed that "my focus is not four years from now," he made sure his audience knew just how viable a candidate he had been--and could be again. "We actually won in the battleground states," Kerry said, adding that his loss in Ohio was so close that if "half the people ... at an Ohio State football game" had voted differently, he would be in the Oval Office now.
Kerry's words and moves suggest that he thinks Nov. 2, 2004, was merely a detour on his road to the White House. He has been holding private dinners with potential fund raisers and policy advisers, signaling he might run again and blaming his political strategists for many of the mistakes his campaign made last year, such as not responding swiftly to ads attacking his Vietnam service. He has set up a political-action committee to finance his travels around the country, which will include stops in 20 cities over the next two months to give speeches and headline fund raisers for other Democrats. And he is constantly e-mailing his list of more than 3 million supporters to promote causes he championed as a candidate, like expanding health insurance to all children and preventing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Kerry plans to write a book on his views on national security.
Besides stumping and writing, Kerry is hoping to curry favor within the party by donating some of the $14 million left over from his campaign fund. He offered a vote of confidence to former rival Howard Dean, giving the national party $1 million when Dean took over as chairman. He donated $250,000 to the recount effort of Christine Gregoire, who eventually won a very close Governor's race in Washington. Venturing into local politics, he will probably endorse Antonio Villaraigosa in a runoff election for mayor in L.A., choosing a loyal supporter over incumbent James Hahn. "He gets to travel and gets to pick up IOUs," says former party chairman Steve Grossman, a Boston fund raiser who served as Dean's campaign chairman.
Kerry is also embracing the Senate with new fervor. Derided as an absentee Senator by Bush and other critics in 2004, Kerry seems almost everywhere on Capitol Hill these days, introducing bills to expand health care to all children, enlarge the military by 40,000 troops and rewrite election laws to allow any citizen to register to vote on Election Day. "I'm in a position to be more effective on these issues," he says. But some of his powerful colleagues disagree. In a meeting with labor leaders, Kerry questioned whether Democrats had a coherent message opposing Bush's Social Security plan, annoying Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who told Kerry not to lecture him on strategy, considering his failures in the presidential campaign. And some Democrats on Capitol Hill privately scoff at the idea that Kerry--never particularly popular in the Senate--can expect a leadership role just because he won 59 million votes last year. "In terms of having a louder voice in the Senate," says a Senate Democratic staff member, "I seriously doubt that."
In addition, Kerry faces an also-ran problem. "It's been a long time since the Democratic Party gave somebody a second chance," says Grossman. "That's a big challenge to overcome." But it might not be the biggest. Kerry may find that there is little he or any other contender can do to get his party's nomination if Hillary Clinton decides to run. The New York Senator holds a commanding lead in every poll of Democratic voters, and some major party fund raisers are saying they expect her to have a huge financial advantage over her opponents. "She'll crush them all," says a lobbyist who plans to raise funds for 2008 candidates.
But Kerry, for now, doesn't seem daunted. Discussing his health-care bill at a town-hall meeting in Atlanta, he offered advice on how to get it passed that seemed a nod toward his future. "We had a very, very close race," he said. "I've learned in politics that you don't stop. You've got to keep going." •
That's if he doesn't get booted in Massachusetts by a good local candidate. The local already has a good campaign message. "You forgot about us here at home. We elected someone to fight for Massachusetts, not Washington"
How about that ole' form 180 John?
SKERRY ALSO SHOULD OF SAID IF THE QUEEN HAD BALLS SHE WOULD BE THE KING
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Considering he's been planning to run for president since birth, that doesn't say much about his leadership abilities. Did he just wake up the day after winning Iowa, slap himself on the forehead and say "Damn, if I get the nomination, I have to run a campaign!"
Give it up Horseface. Get some therapy and take some meds. Get over the power obsession. You're not going to be the next JFK, much less the next president. America weighed you in the balance and found you wanting. Go back to being what you do worst, being a do-nothing back bencher junior senator. As George Soros loves to say "move on."
"...he noted that Bush had won with the smallest percentage margin ever for an incumbent"
And the largest vote count ever for ANY presidential candidate. Sorry Moron John, it was still enough of a margin to send your idiot butt back to Mass. to fester and obsess about being denied the power your pathological mind craves and can think of nothing but.
"Kerry may find that there is little he or any other contender can do to get his party's nomination if Hillary Clinton decides to run. The New York Senator holds a commanding lead in every poll of Democratic voters, and some major party fund raisers are saying they expect her to have a huge financial advantage over her opponents. "She'll crush them all," says a lobbyist who plans to raise funds for 2008 candidates."
Run, John, run...if not for the comic relief, it will burn up some of Hillary's time, money and energy in getting rid of you. Democrats feeding on each other was a big help in the lead up to last year's election.
Plus, you know Hillary is not above seeing to it that the info in your sealed military file is 'accidentally' left lying around where some former Clintonite can stuff it down his pants and...cough...leak it to some reporter.
Alas if only he would GO to Mass. And stay there so they can see what a pitiful excuse for a politician he really is....
He dreams of power, but just look at his lifestyle. He doesn't want that to change. I proposed here during the election that Kerry doesn't want to be president; he wants to run for president and have it "stolen" from him ala Al Gore...and that's just what he's been claiming happened.
He's a playboy, and both parts of that word are very indicative of what kind of person he is. He's not a serious adult.
J F'n K was robbed, run John run.
He's wasting his time, because he will get destroyed, not just politically but personally by the Clinton machine. There is a possibility he could be Her Majesty's running mate.
Man this guy is an idiot. The only reason he got half the votes that he got was because of voters who would have voted for Satan rather than Bush. He suffers from McCain-in-the-Membrane disease, where you think your popular because the media that nobodys that no one watches say you are!
XD
Yeah, he lost twice too. I remember Adlai Stevenson. He was bald and an egghead, but at least he wasn't a phony.
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