John Kerry to South: Drop Dead

Newsmax.com ^

[nospinzone]

John Kerry to South: Drop Dead

Democratic Party presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry is apparently ready to write off a huge chunk of flyover country in his quest for the White House, boasting to a California fund raiser this week that he can lose the entire South and still beat President Bush in 2004.

"Al Gore proved that you can win the election without a single Southern state, if he'd only won New Hampshire," Kerry told a group of San Francisco supporters. The comment left at least one longtime Democratic Party observer aghast.

"That may be true," the Hotline's Craig Crawford told nationally syndicated radio hosts John Batchelor and Paul Alexander late Friday. "But he should not be saying that."

Crawford, who attended the Commonwealth Club fund raiser, chastised Kerry for the reckless remark, saying, "It really allows the interpretation, which I think would be very dangerous for him, that he's going to write off the South."

"I don't believe candidates should ever blow their cover," advised Crawford, a one-time Carter campaign aide. "You don't want to start off looking like a regional candidate," added the Hoover Institute's Bill Whelan, who also heard the Kerry gaffe. "That's just not smart."

*excerpted from original article*

[nospinzone]

If Kerry wants to blow off the South and go for the states Gore won, be my guest. Everyone's been touting that 2000 Electoral map as the holy grail of politics, where all the conservative and liberal states are, not even bringing up the fact that many of these states, particularly on the Gore side, were decided by small margins. There is certainly no guarantee New Mexico will go for the Dem candidate next time, nor Oregon, Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, etc. If this is what the Dems have gone to, they need to ask why their appeal has become so limited.

[Alberta's Child]

You raise good points, but they aren't even the most relevant one. By writing off an entire region of the country, Kerry would effectively be allowing the GOP to concentrate their money and campaign appearances in the toss-up states and even in some states that the Democrats should win.

This was George W. Bush's key to success in 2000. Remember how much time Al Gore had to spend down the stretch campaigning in places like California and Michigan? That itself may very well have cost him Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas.

[randita]

There are a lot of northerners who hail from the south and won't take kindly to Kerry's dismissal of their old stomping grounds.

[Centurion2000]

Someone needs to tighten the bolts on his neck a little more .....

[ml/nj]

Ya mean, these guys know going in that it's not a popular vote contest?

ML/NJ

[LenS]

A very risky and defensive strategy. It requires that Kerry hold every close state. Even Gore couldn't do that in Florida and New Hampshire. Writing off Florida means that he has to bat 1.000. Though it would save resources for the fights in the Northeast, the Pacific Coast and the Midwest.

[jackbill]

if he'd only won New Hampshire

Hey, Live Shot. All he had to do is win his own damned state.

And you might have the same problem except that there are too many idiots allowed to vote in Massachusetts. However, many of them are Irish and vote for anyone who was also Irish. Now that they know that you are Jewish, their latent anti-Semitism might just flower.

Better watch out.

[smokeyjon]

"Ya mean, these guys know going in that it's not a popular vote contest?"

Yes, they do, but studies suggest that losing the Electoral College vote causes temporary amnesia.

[KriegerGeist]

To Mr. Kerry: You probably will before we will!

The South shall rahzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Ah-GINNNNN!

[Dog Gone]

Kerry is a taller Dukakis. I hope he's the Rat nominee.

[timestax]

If Kerry wants to blow off the South and go for the states Gore won, be my guest.

DITTO! He thinks he can win on California and New York alone, what a nut!

[Boundless]

> ...too many idiots allowed to vote in Massachusetts.

Too many idiots, period, speaking as an escapee from
the Peoples State of Taxachusetts.

> However, many of them are Irish and vote for anyone
> who was also Irish.

Fraud alert.
Kerry isn't Irish, but he is willing to let people think so.
His office recently explained-away a proclamation his
"people" had read into the Congressional Record, touting
his Irish ancestry, even though:
a. it wasn't true, and
b. it was never delivered on the floor

[GraniteStateConservative]

Kerry's strategy for 2004:

Keep Bush from winning NH.

That yields:
278-4 = 274 electoral votes.

It takes 270 to win.

Maybe it's that new math.

[nospinzone]

Isn't it inspiring to have a presidential candidate willing to blow off most of the country he wants to lead? His campaign logo should be a giant middle finger.

[Dog Gone]

Shhhh

[timestax]

Isn't it inspiring to have a presidential candidate willing to blow off most of the country he wants to lead? His campaign logo should be a giant middle finger. -----

Typical DemonCRAP arrogance! Prolly thinks he can cheat his way to White House like lyinAlGore tried to do.

[davisfh]

"...boasting to a California fund raiser this week that he can lose the entire South and still beat President Bush in 2004."

He probably can. If you look at the red and blue map that became popular during the last presidential election you can understand how this could happen. The large population centers went overwhelmingly for Al Gore. I don't think that it will happen, but it could happen.

I must say though, that this lends new meaning to the word "cynicism." For a politician who aspires to the presidency of this country to say this is unthinkable.

If this guy is seeking to further fragment this country, he has certainly chosen the correct method. I am a Southerner and know many Southerners who feel that the Southern states would have been far better off if they had failed to regain statehood at the end of Reconstruction. We would still have been under the thumb of the federal government but perhaps said federal government would not have had the opportunity to insinuate itself into our lives as it has.

We need to pay careful attention to the words of people like Kerry. Not that I would ever vote for this guy, but there are a lot of people out there who would

[Jim Dandy]

Everyone seems to assume Kerry has already won the nomination. What do you figure the chances are of him being the demonrat nominee ignoring the south??? OK so he campaigns in the south during the primaries, and ignores them in the general? I don't believe Kerry will be allowed to be the democrat nominee for President in 2004. My major concern is the "senator" from N.Y. being "drafted" in 2004. They were able to manage the N.Y. press coverage in 2000, why not nationally in 2004? With the voter fraud that they got away with in 2000, (what ever happened to the "investigation" of the guy with the votomatic in his trunk anyway)we could be headed down an extremly dangerouis path.

[FF578]

www.presidentelect.org has this map on it's page. Just like the above it is pure speculation, however I will agree with one thing.

I don't think Pennsylvania is going to play to the democrat again. Bush is popular in Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Democratic party is on it's last leg. The constant move of the Democrats to the left on issues like abortion homosexuality and gun control are pushing the "blue-dog" democrats to the GOP. Rendell won only because Fisher ran a Bob Dole like campaign.

[upchuck]

You excerpted a NewsMax article? WHY???