Berkshire Eagle on Kerry

[DemDogs]

Berkshire Eagle
Kerry: Time to get back to work

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - Massachusetts Senator John Kerry lost a close election to President Bush, an election that wasn't settled until the following morning. Nothing will change that, however, and it is time for Senator Kerry to come back to Congress, and to Massachusetts, fully engaged in the job he was elected to do.

Events of recent days suggest that the senator isn't ready to do that yet. He complained about election procedure in Ohio at a Martin Luther King Day rally, which was an odd place for Mr. Kerry to talk about himself and to address a topic of increasing irrelevance. If the Democratic candidate wanted to challenge the Ohio results he should have done so on November 3, when he was urged to by vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Mid-January is too late. The questions Senator Kerry asked of Condoleezza Rice at her hearing for secretary of state were more like speeches directed to the television cameras.

Senator Kerry can be a key player for his party and his state, or he can rattle his chains and haunt the Democrats like Al Gore. If he wants to be a contributor, he should announce that he will not run for president in 2008. It will be a long time before the Democratic Party nominates another Northeasterner for president and an even longer time before it chooses another Massachusetts native. . . .


Berkshire Eagle
Kerry: Time to get back to work

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - Massachusetts Senator John Kerry lost a close election to President Bush, an election that wasn't settled until the following morning. Nothing will change that, however, and it is time for Senator Kerry to come back to Congress, and to Massachusetts, fully engaged in the job he was elected to do.

Events of recent days suggest that the senator isn't ready to do that yet. He complained about election procedure in Ohio at a Martin Luther King Day rally, which was an odd place for Mr. Kerry to talk about himself and to address a topic of increasing irrelevance. If the Democratic candidate wanted to challenge the Ohio results he should have done so on November 3, when he was urged to by vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Mid-January is too late. The questions Senator Kerry asked of Condoleezza Rice at her hearing for secretary of state were more like speeches directed to the television cameras.

Senator Kerry can be a key player for his party and his state, or he can rattle his chains and haunt the Democrats like Al Gore. If he wants to be a contributor, he should announce that he will not run for president in 2008. It will be a long time before the Democratic Party nominates another Northeasterner for president and an even longer time before it chooses another Massachusetts native. Once Mr. Kerry dumps the baggage of a potential presidential run the sooner he can move on.

...
It was once seen as inevitable that Mr. Kennedy would pick up the fallen swords of John and Robert Kennedy, but it was not to be. Mr. Kennedy ... decided to fight in the congressional trenches for the poor and middle class. His work on health insurance reform, the minimum wage, education and other issues that matter to millions of Americans have earned him considerable respect in Washington, even among Republicans.

[RobertSeattle]

1. Looks like you pasted twice

(Not that I've ever done that!) :evilgrin:

[DemDogs]

7. Oops

Accidentally took out the Kennedy paragraph. So I really fixed it.

[KissMeKate]

2. i think this is an editorial

post to editorials?

[Merlot]

3. "a topic of increasing irrelevance"

Oh, they wish!

[politicasista]

4. Had Kerry won.....

the whole northeasterner liberal wouldn't have been a factor. Okay, let's just toss aside a has been and nomimate a street fighter.:cry:

[marcologico]

5. Makes no sense whatsoever. Isn't the MA governor GOP? Looks like he has

the Berkshire Barf in his pocket.

[LittleClarkie]

6. Thing is, his actions can be interpreted in two ways:

1. You can see it all through a "Running in 2008" filter, so that every little thing he does becomes self-serving if you think about it long enough, including visiting the grave of a soldier.

2. You can see his actions as doing just what the article suggest he does, he's moving on. He was questioning the Ohio vote at that time and at that moment, well after any chance of changing the outcome, because it wasn't about the outcome. It was about the vote. They try so hard not to get that point. He has promised election reform legislation. If he produces a bill, it too will be about the vote, and not the election outcome.

As for the questions Kerry asked of Condoleeza Rice, they reflected the fact that he had just been to Iraq. Was he not supposed to mention that fairly pertinent fact?

If he's rattling his chains, he's rattling them at Bush, not his fellow Dems. I don't suppose Bush is liking it that much, having a shadow that looks more presidential than he does. A shadow who so far has gone where a president should go, while Bush sits in the White House trying to explain nonexistant crises.

That's the trouble. They want him to go away. He's not. Sorry 'bout that, dears.

[LittleClarkie]

8. Here is a link to the article

Judge for yourself if it is a Right Wing rag. At the very least, the editorial board is RW. They sound like the freakin' Herald.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6267~2674084,00.html

[karynnj]

9. I'm amazed that he is SO back to work So quickly

November 2 is less than 3 months ago. In that time, Kerry has:
- Undertaken a 2 week international trip as part of his role on the Senate Foreign Relations committee
- Introduced the Put Kids First bill - which seems a win/win situation in that at minimum it is one thing that Democrats can point to as what they stand for.
- Used his e-mail to get co-sponsors to sign on to is bill. It's not clear if this will have any impact, but it's clearly creative, democratic and a refreshing grassroots effort. (When the Democrats don't have the Presidency, either house of Congress, and have less voice in the media, finding a way to get your ideas out is difficult and if people are motivated to send it to their friends it could meet some success. (It's interesting that Reid is using the same technique for the entire Democratic agenda)
-His comments in the Senate record on the Omnibus bill were insightful and clear.

The criticism of the MLK day speech is a sign that the paper, not Kerry, has forgotten issues that MLK stood for. If Kerry spoke at MLK day without mentioning the disparity in the ease with which the inner-city (mostly blacks) and the suburbanites voted he would have deserved to have been roundly criticized by the MLK audience, in spite of his stellar Senate record on civil rights. Voting rights was a major MLK issue.

After dedicating his life for the last 2 years to campaigning, probably thinking he won on Nov 2, making an emotional concession and dealing with his and others disappointment in his loss, the fact that he has had the strength to do what he has and to face the press which was not kind to him demonstrates a huge amount of character.

[SPDBoston]

10. You folks are incorrect

The Berkshire Eagle editorial board is VERY left leaning.

I was born and raised in Lenox and still have a home there for escapes and I read the paper online everyday.

You couldn't be more incorrect calling the Eagle RW. John Kerry hasn't been in the Berkshires for a long time. That's what the paper had issues with and rightfully so.

Please don't make definitive claims over one editorial when you have no idea what you're talking about.

Wy do you think I read it every day? It does a great ob in ripping Shrub over numerous issues.