Kerry faces first Dem. foe since 1984 on Tuesday

Source: BOSTON (AP)

Four years after losing his party's bid to unseat President Bush, John Kerry is asking Democratic voters to back him for another term in the Senate.

Kerry, facing his first Democratic challenger since he became a U.S. senator in 1984, said he's not taking anything for granted ahead of Tuesday's primary.

''I'm running around,'' Kerry said Sunday in a telephone interview between campaign stops. ''I do what I've always done my entire time in the Senate. I work hard. You go around and you respect the voters and respect the process.''

Newcomer Ed O'Reilly, an attorney who lags in both name recognition and fundraising, says voters tell him that Kerry doesn't connect with them. ...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Massachusetts-Primary.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

i have to wonder what his motives are in all of this.

PDA = Progressive Democrats of America

http://www.pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-01-31-09-15-31-campaigns.php

“Like you, I am looking forward to progressive change. If I win the Democratic primary and the subsequent general election, you can count on me to file a Senate counterpart to the National Health Insurance Act (HR 676) that Representative John Conyers has sponsored in the House. By the time of my swearing-in, there will be a new president--a Democrat, I hope. So my only regret is that I will not be able to vote for the removal of Cheney and Bush from office subsequent to their impeachment. In my opinion, they should face an investigation for war crimes and lying to the American people on hundreds of occasions."

He responded to a relatively new MA blog about attempts to imply that everyone linked to the PDA support O'Reilly. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3491952

O'Reilly essentially copied the MA Democratic party platform and it was on the basis of that that he got the endorsement. He has no history of activism, and his public service is limited to Two 2 year terms on a town council in the 1980s and 1 term on the school board in the same time frame. He was the chair of the school board, until he stepped down mid term because it was too much work.

On Dkos, he managed to get many troll ratings as he defended his claim that Kerry needed to answer the questions of the SBVT, Is that the action of a progressive Democrat? He also is selling himself as a son of the working class, who knows what it is to live on his pay check - though for his adult life he has been a wealthy trial lawyer with two million dollar plus homes.

This endorsement shows more about the credibility of PDA than about the two MA candidates. John Kerry has done much to move the Democrats to the left - something he gets little credit for. His 2004 stand on alternative energy/environment was copied by all Democrats in 2008. His Kerry/Feingold resolution, originally favored by just 13 senators is the party position, as all Senators except Leiberman moved towards it - including HRC and Obama. He was an author and sponsor (with Kennedy) of the precursor bill to S-CHIP, the largest expansion of federal health insurance since medicare. He was the lead sponsor, with 23 co-sponsors, of the Affordable Housing Fund in the recent banking bill and with Senator Smith, the sponsor of a provision that provides money to states to help people renegotiate mortgages to keep people in their homes. He is the leading advocate for veterans in the Senate and has passed substantial legislation helping them. These are all real progressive accomplishments.

The PDA opted to compare words to action - not considering that there was no likelihood of passing O'Reilly's goals. They also ignored that Kerry had a lifetime of service and a demonstrated ability to lead - where O'Reilly could not even keep a campaign manager. In addition, this faux progressive did not, even when asked to in the debate with Kerry, endorse Obama/Biden over McCain/Palin. Tells you something, doesn't it.

This is why I will not contribute to this organization and will use this example when asked by anyone whether they are worth contributing to.

was too time consuming and some of you calling yourselves Democrats would TRUST this guy to replace the one lawmaker who has done MORE than any other lawmaker in modern history to uncover government corruption and block the fascist agenda?

PDA couldn't name TEN lawmakers put together who have effected this nation's actual historic record more positively than Kerry has the last 35 yrs.

Dumbasses.

hard to figure he was set up to by RWers and Lieberman style Democrats to get Kerry out of DC.

it seems like there are areas without competive races down ballot - and a lot of people are not enrolled in either party - so can vote in the Democratic one.

Hearing turn out is light is scary.

actively writing on at least one of their blogs. I think his reluctance to endorse Obama is due to not wanting to lose them - though thankfully their number is declining nationwide and likely was never as large as the media interest would imply.

In addition, he told the Boston Herald Saturday that he is hoping for a low turn out, so his followers would be a bigger portion of the voters - so he could upset Kerry. He has also been a guest on several RW talk shows in MA, where he has laughed along with every Kerry smear.

I suspect his motives are that he hates Kerry and he thinks he would be a better Senator.

Every incumbent should be challenged in his/her party's primary. The incumbent doesn't own the fucking seat, it belongs to the people. If the incumbent is reelected then fine, but to castigate a challenger is just plain stupid. You can oppose the challenger because you support the incumbent, but to vilify a challenger for merely running against a long-time incumbent just makes no sense, at all. Just because some one thinks they could do better than Kerry (or anyone else) is no reason to trash them...

unqualified to serve as US Senator, and that he has run a dishonorabl campaign based on lies, Republican talking points, and all-around negativity, without offering any kind of positive, detailed agenda (or , again, qualifications) of his own.
The PDA made a HUGE mistake in endorsing this guy; it's an endorsement that also made me question the reliability of the PDA's other endorsements, as well as their agenda in general.

I strongly support the reelection of Sen. Kerry both in today's primary, and on Nov. 4. He has thoroughly earned that support by the courage and energy with which he has worked for our country for decades (and for not missing even a beat, after the disappointing outcome of 2004, in resuming that fight to take our country back, with renewed vigor and feistiness); by the courage of his early endorsement of Obama, and the energy and effectiveness of his public support for him; by his integrity; by his tireless, thoughtful and (in the case of the environment especially) prescient work for veterans, for small business, for the environment (both alternative energy and conservation); and his work to get us out of Iraq, pushing for a withdrawal deadline, with Feingold, despite the initial lack of support from most of the other Dem senators (hello, Biden, Clinton, Obama, Reid and Dodd) and the scorn of the media.

I will proudly cast my vote today for Sen. Kerry, a man of guts, integrity, experience, smarts, and character. Oh, yeah, and class.
For contrast (and more reasons to wonder about the agenda of Kerry's primary opponent), check out this video of O'Reilly with his buddy, Republican senatorial candidate Jeff Beatty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5KyqKpswv4

(mainly your opinions - and valid as such) are reasons to "trash" a Democratic challenger. The whole of politics in this country has been completely corrupted (the Democrats, too) and is a completely distorted, invalid process. It is almost not worth participating in such a perverted untertaking...

"that he has run a dishonorabl campaign based on lies, Republican talking points, and all-around negativity."

He was given multiple troll ratings on Daily Kos until he finally disappeared for repeating various SBVT charges and saying that Kerry hadn't disproved them. What would it take for you to say that someone does not have the character to run? He went further than GEORGE BUSH was willing to. Every other point made is a valid point to make - that you can counter with fact if you prefer.

O'Reilly with these actions is the one here contributing to "a completely distorted, invalid process", which MA is smart enough to reject.

Competition is healthy for the political process, but slander is not; it's just time to call people out, including especially candidates, when they indulge in this stuff. It's just a plain fact that Kerry dwarfs O'Reilly in all ways.

The Springfield, MA newspaper speaks for me:
http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/09/our_endorsements_for_primary_v.html

they are using him now to try and further divide Democrats, tapping crossover GOP agitator votes and PUMA votes.

Don't bend over in an effort to be fair when the candidate is truly fucking with you.

I do support Kerry - I have the JK group as the page for entering DU.

But, I am not JUST pro JK at this point, but adamantly anti- O'Reilly. Why?

- He went further than BUSH did in arguing SBVT points saying Kerry needed to refute them
- He has repeated every Kerry smear there is
- He has generally acted as a complete jerk, who if he were in NJ, I wouldn't vote for dog catcher - it would be too mean to the dogs!

While some may think they can do better than Kerry, in all sincerity - it can't be with this man of little public service, no activism and a career where he made a fortune mostly representing drunk drivers. (This is not a JRE story where he used his skill to help people vs corporations - He says nothing specific about his career other than he fights hard and negotiates when needed. In fact, he speaks more of the jobs he had to pay his way through college. How often does a man decades past law school speak of those early jobs. Even getting my first professional job, the fact that I worked at a Dairy Queen, then a steel mill actually never came up - and I was 21 then.)

The guy complained that his school board seat was too timeconsuming and Democrats want to replace the most diligent advocate for open government we've had the last 35 years just for O'Reilly's dog and pony show?

...election. The country needs you!:patriot:

...:hi:

Hope Kerry kicks his you know what.

Kerry has been there a very long time and it's time for someone fresh to carry the democratic torch.

25 years as a senator should be the upper limit for one person.

As your profile says WV, maybe you need to try this at home first. Rockeffer and Kerry came in in the same year and your other Seantor is Bryd.

Kerry is an outstanding Senator, who is still working extremely hard.

who quit his school board position because it was too time consuming? What do you think O'Reilly would have done with BCCI investigation when it needed a brave steward and diligent investigation for 5 1/2 years?

There's a right time for a senator to move on and a wrong time. Anyone with an OUNCE of historic literacy and comprehension would recognize this is a wrong time for Kerry to leave DC.

Best wishes to Senator Kerry! :patriot:

Also, if you want to bitch about seniority you should turn your attention to your own state, pal.

...right now. And Senator Kerry is DEFINITELY a patriot.:patriot:

I put my ballot through the machine, and just kind of stared at it, as it slipped away.

BOSTON—Sen. John Kerry fended off his first Democratic opponent in nearly a quarter century, but he got a message from voters when his relatively unknown challenger earned more than 30 percent of the vote.

The Democratic presidential nominee just four years ago, Kerry said he knows there is "a lot of anger out there."

"Government has disappointed people and it's hard sometimes to get people to understand that just because you're in government doesn't mean you're not fighting for change," he said after defeating attorney Ed O'Reilly in Tuesday's primary.

O'Reilly, who tried to make Kerry's 2003 vote authorizing President Bush to launch military action against Iraq a central issue of the campaign, said he was pleased to give voters a chance to express their frustration.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/17/john_kerry_bests_1st_primary_opponent_in_24_years/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

Get rid of INEFFECTUAL DEMOCRATS!!!

Now if we could only get rid of Pelosi and Reid while we're at it, too...

Sorry, Kerry is a HAS BEEN and should set aside for a MORE QUALIFIED person to represent DEMOCRATS...

See previous post.

Kerry scores easy victory

http://www.telegram.com/article/20080917/NEWS/809170633/1116

EDIT: Why don't you change your headline back to the more democratic hating inflammatory title?

are quite happy with Kerry as our Senator. We won't be taking advice from Nevadans on who to choose as our Senator any time soon.