In and out of blogland

Haven't posted here in a while, because I didn't have anything intelligent to add to the conversation (Still obtuse about the Bailout aka financial mess), and since Election Day is almost here, it doesn't do much good to complain or moan about what's being said out "there" and bringing it in here anymore (i.e. Chicken Little mentality), so I just K&R or comment in any Pro-Kerry, Pro-Obama/Biden thread to stay involved.

I wanted to comment in the thread about the BG article talking about Kerry being on a narrow stage 4 years later, but didn't feel like it was anything positive, so I just left it alone.

I went around blogs outside of DU, Kos to see what the reaction was to the Obama/Biden ticket (:thumbsup:), and the DNC Convention (:thumbsup:).

I know I have a habit of hearing or reading too much into what was said, but I was watching the DNC After Party show on TVOne (urban media outlet). The network didn't cover Kerry's speech, but it was one of the sound bites at the end of the show (No comment on BET :thumbsdown:). During one of the roundtable segments, each was discussing Obama, the Clintons, and the state of the Democratic Party as a whole. However, when comparisons of 2004 and 2008 was mentioned, one of the guests, Dr. Juilanne Malveaux (Suzanne's cousin) mentioned the tired line that people "held their noses and voted for John Kerry, only because they thought he was better than Bush." Not one person in that room refuted her comment or defended the senator. Not one person (and still hasn't) mentioned that AA turnout was higher in 04.

At first, I was thinking that she put that out there to make it seem like Kerry was just another irrelevant Democratic senator that "lost" the presidency, but after hearing her and Dr. Cornel West diss Obama's acceptance speech (same reasons people dissed Kerry's 04 speech--no mention of the Civil Rights movement, etc.), it's no wonder we haven't made it far until now (too many egos fed).

On the flipside, I found a blog (music, entertainment, politics) that had all the speeches, and the blogger herself said how proud she was to have supported Kerry in 04 and loved his speech (still don't hear that too often). There were others enjoyed it. At Essence.com, Roland Martin (from CNN) noticed, a couple of people did too and asked for the YouTube link since it wasn't on the networks. They too were impressed. Even a friend (no, not that other one. :)), who loved Kerry of '71, but lukewarm as candidate, loved the speech. When Obama came out (after Biden's acceptance speech) and mentioned everyone's speech but Kerry's, she e-mailed the Obama campaign, hoping they will remind Obama not to forget about Kerry or his speech. Oddly enough, I never saw that as a slight, especially with the smiling exchanges in the end. I figured either Obama got caught up in the moment or he and/or Kerry probably wanted it that way (gotta make sure others are satisfied).

To make the long story short, have been hearing lots of revisionist history as it relates to Obama's historic run and Obama himself (outside of DU and the liberal blogs, it's just like GD/GDP). Tried sending a couple e-mails but to no avail.

I am slowly coming to the conclusion that people have made their minds up about Kerry and his campaign, and no positive facts will change that. If they really believe or think that he was off-putting, ran a horrible campaign, not tough enough to fight back (SBV, Ohio), or didn't excite people, so be it. They are still brainwashed with media spin, and their opinions will not change :(. It's not fair to Obama to put this all in black and white because he is a unity person and wants to be the president for all of us, not just one race, but I guess the truth will come one day.

I am not one that thinks Kerry will fade from history because he isn't in the top (or second top) job (though he would have made a fine president), and I don't know what Obama has in store for him come 2009, but I am hopeful that history will be kind to the good senator. America likes a winner or likes to be a part of a winning ticket, but America likes to treat "losers" as the opposite (what you didn't do). I do hope that history (or America itself) will remember the good senator as someone as a respected, likable (some say charismatic), hardworking person that almost beat a wartime president, took the high road (noticed that Obama is praised for that, but not Kerry), wasn't just another lesser of two evils, helped make the country even better, and "discovered" a young leader along the way. :)

I understand that people will agree/disagree, but this is all from poli's neck of the woods.

And if I said anything wrong about the senator in the past, apologies.


:patriot:











edit for smiley

for those few people I say screw them, they are childish and don't know how to get over disappointment, they need to grow up. You know JK has been all over this country since '04 and has not been seen as some describe , so I love it when I see a photo with a sign like this:





For those naysayers they need to get over it, and quit whining.

I have come to that conclusion (even if some in my family don't agree). It took a while, but I am there now. I ready to move on. I appreciate Kerry campaigning for Obama. He has been a cool surrogate. I still support him 100%.

And that is a nice pic. :)

I know I am. There was NO functioning Democratic Party in Ohio in 2004. When Taft ran for re-election in 2002, his opponent could afford NO air time. I had NEVER volunteered in a poltical campaign bigger than a school levy, but I showed up with some of best buddies on a Sunday afternoon at local Kerry headquarters to volunteer. We were part of a group of a few HUNDRED volunteers. Our then Congressman Sherrod Brown stopped by to give us a pep talk, and his eyes got huge to see SO many volunteers and so many new faces.

From the Kerry campaign grew new grassroots organizations, and I belong to one that helped work for Ted Strickland, Sherrod Brown, and Betty Sutton and is currently providing volunteer support to local, state, and the Obama campaign.

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that conventional wisdom (like Kerry was the lesser of two evils) is often WRONG. I really don't know where Ohio would be now if he had not come here with his own organization and got people fired up. Ohio still has a long way to go, but we are doing so much better now than before the Kerry campaign came.

Your hard work on the ground is going to be rewarded or has already been :). Thanks for all your help.

I was just posting it because that's what I came across and ended the post on a positive note, but guess it came out wrong or came out as being negative towards Kerry. :shrug:

Back to lurk mode now. :hide:

The negativity comes from outside the Kerry group. I just like reminding everybody how much good JK did and continues to do.

I get frustrated with the conventional wisdom, and I'm glad JK keeps going despite all the goofiness he faces.

I don't know how he does it but kudos to him. :)