Kerry-led Committee Helps Elect Democrats Across the Country

Kerry-led Committee Helps Elect Democrats Across the Country
November 9th, 2005

Democrats Win Both Governors Races and Critical Local Races, Defeat California’s Proposition 75

Heading into the 2006 election cycle, yesterday we saw a strong showing for 2005 candidates supported by John Kerry’s PAC - Keeping America’s Promise.

Washington, D.C. – John Kerry congratulated Democrats Jon Corzine and Tim Kaine for their victories in the New Jersey and Virginia Governors races and other Democratic candidates who won across the country last night, complimented California on defeating Prop. 75 and spoke of the importance of Democrats’ strong showing in the 2005 elections.

“This president came to power saying he wanted to unite us and not divide us, and has done just the opposite,” Kerry said. “Monday night, on the way home from a failed diplomatic trip to South America, President Bush stopped in Richmond in a last ditch effort to energize the Republican base by campaigning for one of the most insulting, vituperative and nasty gubernatorial candidates this country has seen, a candidate right out of the Rove playbook, and his political results were no better than his diplomatic results. From Virginia to California, from Maine to Minnesota, people spoke up for a more inclusive politics yesterday and against the efforts of those who would use hot button issues and even hotter television ads to divide us. If I were a Republican, I would be concerned that the results of last year are just that and not a guide to the future.”

MORE - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1104

"President Bush stopped in Richmond in a last ditch effort to energize the Republican base by campaigning for one of the most insulting, vituperative and nasty gubernatorial candidates this country has seen, a candidate right out of the Rove playbook, and his political results were no better than his diplomatic results"

:woohoo:

Re-reading it, I should have seperated the non-Kerry quotes from the Kerry ones. My appologies to KG and everyone here - but maybe by crediting Dean et al it may innoculate the thread a bit from the flamers. Kerry DID help and that is all either the title or PAC statement says.

I am impressed by all the efforts and I have more respect for my NJ neighbors who ignored the most outrageous nasty insinuations and ads and voted based on how they wanted to vote. (An interesting point was that there was unusually high voting in the Democratic areas, and low turnout in affluent Republican suburbs - possibly because they were embarrassed by the slime.)

You were okay. After all the Kerry-bashing this last week, I think everyone is a bit gun-shy. Your attempt to broaden what leading Dems had done was admirable.

After I reread it, it was OK, but I still think that the title gives the wrong impression.

It was good that you listed the other Dems. It was truly a global effort from the party and not the work of one person or another.

Kerry led an effort across the country to help get Dems elected. it's a fact. Sure, others did the same thing and they are putting out their won press releases.

Do you think any of them will acknowledge what JK did? NOT.

What about the voters and the candidates?

This is no big deal, just a remark.

He does give credit to the voters. And the press says he congratulated Kaine and Corzine. They didn't release what he said to them - most likely because he made personal phone calls to them. I think it is enough to state he congratulated them.

I just won't post press releases like this in GD - or here. That way no one can complain.

There's one person who said he was brought in kicking and screaming only at the end of the campaign. Though who could force a kicking and screaming Kerry to NJ is beyond me - also what would they do with a kicking and screaming Kerry in NJ once thay got him there. (The Kerry I saw in NJ was very very nice and didn't kick or scream -
Tay Tay could the cloning program have produced a defective model.)

I can't even picture Kerry kicking and screaming.


The thread is getting really good cmments otherwise.

We all agree that Sen. Kerry did good work. (Heck, some of us were there in person when he showed up to personally campaign on behalf of these candidates. This includes Karynnj. And you. You saw him in CA campaigning successfully against Ahnold's Ballot Questions.)

We are quite proud of the Senator for doing this. We are quite proud of the PAC for being well-organized and doing both the organizational and monetary work on this. (Heck, a lot of us donated, just for this reason.)

Where is the disagreement here? The thread at GD has only attracted minimum bad posts and we were all so gracious as to also extend a "we all must work together' peace offering on it so it wouldn't turn into a bashing thing.

Where is the bad here? There is a thread at DKos that congratulates Gov Warner and gives him a boost for '08 (it's too early) and says he has an increased stature this morning. That has the usual Kerry snark in it. (Eh, it's DKos.) We are all happy here and have made numerous posts about how happy we are for all the work the PAC is doing.

Again, ?????????????????

I'm just trying to be helpful to JK... I was surprised by some of the reactions to the release.

Did I miss something? :shrug:

I said it. I know that there's been a lot of issues in GD lately. On a personal level this is very time consuming. I not only post the K news here but I also post or send it around to other blogs to make sure it gets seen. We all get tired of the flame wars - even me.

was that I read the title, then the Pac Statement - which amplified it and as someone up thread said over-reacted because of the Kerry bashing threads - leading me to criticize Kerry for doing what every single other person did.

His statement by itself was great - when I read it.

I agree that even before the election I knew all wins would be 100% credited to Dean. And they have been!

It's a shame that people think JK should not take some credit for what his PAC has been doing, because he has been very active supporting candidates.

about his efforts. I would think most people realize that he played a part, it wasn't just his efforts alone.

Dean is putting out his own statements. Many stepped up to the plate to get this done. There is nothing nothing wrong with anyone speaking up and saying they were part of it. It took the efforts of the DNC, many PAC's including JK's and the voters.

I don't see the wording of the press release as an issue. It states clearly what the PAC has done and there are quotes from Kerry on the results of the elections, congratulations to the winners, a brief outline of what he envisions the PAC will continue to do, as well as some well deserved slams on the republican's.

KAP is Kerry's PAC and he is the primary spokesperson for the PAC.

Not only did Kerry travel across the country over the recent weeks and months - but the PAC (which is led by Kerry) "donated more than $2 million to date to support more than 80 Democratic candidates up for election in 2005 and 2006.'

I think the people who benefitted knew this. I think Sen-Gov. Corzine knows. And I think Gov-elect Kaine knows as well. (He owes Kerry. He took his money, but didn't appear with him. Then Kaine took Kerry's support in that e-mail letter. Kaine knows, he is just playing it coy.)

People in GD won't acknowledge this. But all the right people in the real world know and understand this. It's interesting to see that some say that another Senator from the NE was ridiculing this strategy of sending out money and making all these personal appearances. That other Senator has raised a lot of money for next year and is not sharing. Hmmmmmmm. Wonder which strategy will win out?

BTW, what else could that ST. Paul win have been. That must have been so damned sweet to savor, you practically needed an insulin shot. Loved that one.

There is a choice to be made. Either we/I don't post stuff like this and then no one knows what he's doing. Or it's gets posted and we ignore the idiots.

I personally think that his news should be posted.

Please don't stop posting it. "They" in GD can take it or leave it. They probably just don't want to read it because it disproves their idea that Kerry, like Bush, is toxic to other candidates. Screw 'em.

would not get any good info on Kerry. I see nothing wrong with posting. Other do this to. The intent is not to enrage it is to be informative and helpful. I think others see those posts and come here for group support and other Kerry information. It is not our fault that other get angry over anything Kerry. That is their problem. As long as we just post about Kerry's efforts and opinions and not criticize or others when we do this, I see no legitimate reason why other should get upset. As Skinner told us, there are ways to deal with unwanted and negative posts. Let them use ignore. Hey, perhaps we can offer a crash course in how to utilize it when they complain about to many Kerry posts.

that they learn to use ignore. Also, in the last 2 days, the moderators seem to have been better on both locking threads and on removing bad posts. (One removed on the KG thread about Kerry's assistance in the election was far less obnoxious than ones allowed in the past - and was already very well answered by BLM. I don't know if it was removed because the posted asked for that or if it was just considered unfair.)

Over time, it may sink in that he is doing good things and that his campaign was starved by the media. There have been so many "why didn't he say that last year" posts answered with "he did" and links. It wasn't that he didn't say it, it was that they didn't report it.

I had to look up vituperative.
:blush:

It sounds like a word we could use to describe the 2004 Republican Convention.

Let's go back through his speeches and pick out the, uhm, big words, and define them. Turn it into a joke. We could do one a week. Whaddya think?

I have never even HEARD the word vituperative before. :)

Imagine the improvement in their vocabulary. I like "vituperative" because it kind of sounds like what it means and it fits. One of our cable stations had an ad that marketed a product that improved vocabulary and made the claim that not having a good vocabulary would hurt your advancement and affect how people see you - that was on regularly in 2004. Especially after the election - it just seemed a lie.

The thing is - he can change his style to meet the forum: Last year in September, he explained his Iraq plan as a detailed intellectual proposal (the NYU speech), a 2 minute (the debate) concise but still detailed answer and informal but still informative (His 30 sec summary of his Iraq plan on the Letterman show). All of these are really him. It sounds like he is doing a combination of detailed major policy speeches and appearances for others where he can speak on the more informal level on a lot of issues.

There also seems a shift in tone, which may have started even before the election. As Tay TAy noticed back in April in Boston, he is speaking more directly, passionately and personally than last year.

Thanks people and talks about wanting to continue effort


Dear XXXXX

Jon Corzine, New Jersey, and Democrats all across America owe you a debt of gratitude. That was a great win last night, and Jon Corzine is going to make one outstanding Governor.

Thanks to the hard work of so many volunteers in New Jersey - knocking on doors, working phone banks, doing whatever it took to get out the vote - you elected a great man as your next Governor. You also beat the Republicans at a critical moment in history.

By electing Jon Corzine, you made an affirmative statement that New Jersey wants leaders who solve problems, not create them. And you weren't alone.

Yesterday Democrats defeated Republicans in key races around the country, and Keeping America's Promise was involved in many of these important elections. We were proud to do our part, mobilizing our grassroots network, recruiting volunteers, and providing financial support to help elect Jon Corzine as well as Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia; Chris Coleman, Mayor of Saint Paul; and Tom Menino, Mayor of Boston, to name just a few.

All of these wins are so important. Republicans have been exposed for their corruption, incompetence, and misplaced priorities. What happened yesterday, when we made real gains at the ballot box, is so critical because it sets the tone for the elections in 2006.

At Keeping America's Promise, the work is just beginning. We're going to continue building on the grassroots energy you created in 2004 and working with you to elect Democratic candidates up and down the ticket in all fifty states. With momentum from these victories in 2005, we have a legitimate chance to win back majorities in Congress and in state legislatures all across America next year. Learn more about Keeping America's Promise.

Thank you again for your continued support and for a job well done yesterday - and congratulations on your outstanding new Governor, Jon Corzine.

Sincerely,

John Kerry


Paid for by Friends of John Kerry, Inc.