BTW, a Repub in Ma has decided to run for Kerry's seat in '08

[TayTay]

http://www.phillymag.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/article.view/articleID/74025c78-54ca-4b07-8562-10c059aa6a0e

Not bad creds. He blew the whistle on some of the waste and mismangement of 'The Big Dig' in Boston. He's not a nutball Rethug and he is rich and presents himself well. He should attract some money and attention from national Kerry-haters. I will open a file on him and keep you all up to date. (Odds on getting the Repub nom: pretty good. Last time out, the MA Repubs couldn't field a candidate and Sen. Kerry coasted to re-election. The Repubs are probably congratulating themselves on getting someone to even seriously think about taking on Kerry.)

It is important to Rethugs that all possible Dem candidates for Pres have enough of a distraction at home to make them have to tend to their own states and spend time building their bases. This keeps them, to a degree, tethered to home. (This is why Sen. Clinton in New York has two or three Repubs coming out to challenge her. They want to drain some of her treasury and see if they can make her slip up on the campaign trail and say something that can be used against her in a national race.)

Kerry's home numbers are good, but they could be better. (The recent USASurvey puts him at 53% approval, 40% disapproval. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=d3e89c03-cece-4f66-a1ef-3cf046e62910 I don't like the numbers from women. I think this is odd. He shoud have the same numbers as Kennedy. There is room for improvement here.)

[whometense]

1. Hmmm....

Mihos got a lot of sympathy when he was summarily fired by Janie Swift - from me, too.

That doesn't mean I'd want him for my senator though.

Interesting numbers. This one gets my vote for goofiest:

Kennedy: 33% of the Not Sure's are not sure about him.
Kerry: 27% of the Not Sure's are not sure about him.

Maybe we should just stop asking these people. I mean, if they haven't made up their minds by now... :D

Edited to add: do you think Kerry's numbers reflect some post-election pissiness? I'm really surprised by the women. What the hell would it take to make these ladies happy?????

[Mass]

3. I think many people want him to speak more loudly on Iraq.

or to be more present, period.

Personnally, I am tired to see always the same people on TV and I sometimes finish not being sure where he stands (until I go back reading the archives and read all he has done and said, but you cant expect most people to care that much).

[whometense]

7. You're probably right about that.

I think his run last year made people more aware of him, but that cuts both ways. People who before 2004 would have been unaware but content with him might now be saying, hey, the race is over - what have you done for me lately? Or - why are you visiting Idaho?

Also, some people were undoubtedly swayed to a degree by all the slime that was hurled at him last year. I'm sure he will overcome that, though.

[TayTay]

10. You know, I have a funny feeling that something is up

You ever get one of those odd feelings that you can't put your finger on, but is there all the same. It's that feeling that makes you go around your house and re-check all the locks, check to make sure the stove is out and the appliances are all off and so forth. You don't know why you're doing it, but you do it anyway because you have this 'feeling.'

I have this funny feeling that I can't put my finger on. Something is up with the Iraq position. (And since this is just intuition, it could be very wrong. I would never base anything on 'just a feeling.') I sense that something is up and that a change is coming. I just do.

And it would be very, very nice if Sen. Kerry did speak about Iraq to his constituents. Very, very, very nice indeed. He needs to be vocal on this and to present his views to those who elected him. He has a powerful voice and is a thoughtful, rational man. Folks in his home state would like to hear what he has to say on this after all that has gone on in Iraq recently and what he thinks about it. And, if he has modified his views, why and to to what end.

[whometense]

12. I've had the same feeling, I swear,

for a couple of weeks now. I think something is brewing. He's been quiet this month, and with him that usually means soon he won't be.

But he is, no matter what the naysayers whine, one of if not the the party leader, and people look to him for a voice (even if they then go ahead and tear apart whatever he says). It's clear to me that Kerry is aware of his role. It's a somewhat delicate balancing act between country and state, but I think even in MA a lot of people probably see him more as shadow president than just our senator.

[TayTay]

14. Ah, there has been the fabled 'walkabout'

That August time period when Sen. Kerry sort of ruminates and thinks about stuff and then comes up with his decs ions. (Gawd, the Kerry walkabout is famous.) LOL!

I honestly do have this feeling. Some of it is fairly neutral. (Thinking about Iraq is not exactly a rare thing these days among Senators, after all.) But I am also vaguely worried about something. Maybe it's Gay Marriage coming up again. Maybe it's the failure to save Otis ANG, maybe it's something else. But I have this feeling and am feeling a teeny bit on edge. Something is up. (But I'm not sure what.)

[whometense]

15. You sense something

brewing in opposition to him?

[TayTay]

16. I sense another mindless trap like what happened in April

when Kerry was out-of-state and the Globe interviewed him and he said he wasn't in support of the Gay Marriage plank at the MA Dem Con, but wouldn't actively oppose it either. And all hell broke lose.

And I'm apprehensive about Iraq. I sense something changing on that. (And I could be wrong. Intuition is best when it is backed up by facts.) And that could be very interesting and very positive. So, I have both negative and positive feelings that I can substantiate.

[whometense]

18. I know, trying to pin down

intuitive feelings is ridiculous. But something's making you feel that way. I am a great believer in intuition. It just means your mind has figured something out but you just can't put it into words yet.

So I'm interested in teasing out why you feel that way. My feeling is that we're nationally way past the tipping point with *. And with the war. Cindy Sheehan hasn't said a single word we haven't already thought ourselves. She's just become the focal point for everyone's feelings. Brave woman. I think Feingold was trying to step into the opposition leader slot with his pullout proposal, but I'm not sure he has the stature to be the leader. The media was promoting him some, but it doesn't seem like that caught on. We all know who that leader ought to be, and I sort of feel on tenterhooks waiting to see what exactly he will say and when he will say it.

[TayTay]

19. I'm not sure why yet

I do keep thinking about Cindy Sheehan and the simple purity of her message. She only wants to know, "What noble cause did my son die for." I can't help but think of this as echoing John Kerry's speech to SFRC committee all those years ago. He also asked, "What noble cause did these people die for?"

And it's Hagel. His comments about this looking like Vietnam are true. And I think that has a lot of resonnance. Hagel may be a conservative and a Repub, but he and Kerry share that knowledge of what a screw-up VN was. And if Hagel sees this in Iraq, then I wonder if Kerry also sees it. I wonder. Hagel might just be a push for Kerry that Feingold could never be.

[whometense]

20. That's interesting.

I hadn't put Hagel into that context, but what you say makes a lot of sense.

I can't quite figure Hagel out. He does seem to be struggling to find a position in his party that he can be comfortable with. He seems to be a man of integrity - but McCain did to me too, and boy was he a disappointment. I'm still pissed about Hagel not standing against Bolton.

But you may be right about his effect on Kerry.

[TayTay]

21. I think I am looking for something

but I'm not sure what. I had a slow week at work and I was randomly looking through the archives without anything specific in mind. I found myself re-reading the Ron Suskind article from last fall (The famous "Reality-based community vs. The Bushy crazies" one.)

Damn but Kerry was so right. This country would have been so much better off to have treated the 9/11 attack as a symptom of a global disease of terrorism. Instead, we personalized the conflict to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Instead of a sane approach that would have intelligently analyzed who attacked us, where they were getting their money and support from and going after those pillars, the US attacked with it's military and, nearly 4 years later, thousands of lives later, billions of dollars later, where the hell are we?

Hmmm, I'm definitely introspective today.

[ginnyinWI]

22. I've got an idea for a new caucus:

"Congressional Combat Veterans Against the War". They would have priority on speaking out about war, 'cause they've been there for real.
But then they would immediately be challlenged by another new caucus: "The Draft-Evading Chickenhawks for Imperialistic World Domination". ;)

[Mass]

2. He probably needs to be more visible in Massachusetts.

I was surprised he did not make any townhall meetings or anything like that this month.

I am happy that he will come back rested, of course, but he needs to be more visible in the state, and, as we all know, we cant expect that from reporting from our local media (at least in the Boston area).

I was happy to see the 18-36 approval rate though, being as high as Kennedy, as well as the minority rating, very close to our senior senator's. May be some people are not as blinded as others.

[whometense]

4. Party affiliation

Kerry loses 5 points right there from conservatives - for daring to oppose fearless leader last year, no doubt.

[Mass]

5. Not only.

I know a lot of Reps who think that Kennedy brings a lot of pork and Kerry does not care about the state.

[TayTay]

9. Sigh! He has been working over time this year on MA stuff

I swear that for every national Press Release from KErry about national issues, there was a local one about Red Tide or SBA loans to locals or about closing Otis. I thought his office was very good in keeping up with local issues.

I wonder if some people just don't want to give him credit for being involved locally. And, at the same time, I want Sen. Kerry to spend some time in state and talk to local folks. (Hey, you know, show up in Gloucester for the Blessing of the Fleet, go to a Festival in Lowell, etc.) Be seen as accessible. It can't hurt.

[Mass]

11. I know, but the non coverage of Kerry in the local media does not help.

The BG reporting only about mundane events for example. Today, they wrote as much about Kerry calling in for the Jimmy Fund as about Kerry statement on Otis (1 line), and their article about Otis is nearly totally about Kennedy, so it is normal that some people get the wrong impression.

[TayTay]

13. And I am a little apprehensive about the ConCon Vote

Gay Marriage is up again in MA. The ConCon will meet, I think, on Sept 14th and two amendments are up. One will forbid Gay Marriage, but allow Civil Unions. The other will be the 'Marriage is between a man and a woman only' thing with no Civil Unions.

I know where Kerry stands and his difference on Gay Marriage is pretty much semantics. (It boils down to all the rights and responsibilities of marriage, without calling it marriage. Visitation, inheritance, tax rights and so forth, which are the Essene of the protection for Gay couples anyway. Kerry is for the rights, but against calling it marriage. That doesn't make him a Rethug. But the Globe can spin it that way.)

But, I don't trust the Globe and I suspect a plant is coming. (Again, intuition.) I will be very wary of the Globe calling Kerry out again on Gay Marriage. (Which is stupid. He has an excellent record in support of Gay civil rights. It's just an argument about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Sigh!)

[whometense]

17. I wonder how many times

we have to repeat this dance before we can call it over. There is so very little visible public opposition to gay marriage here that it's hard for me to see any way the cons can whip up public excitement on the subject. For myself, any time I hear the phrase "gay marriage" I just want to roll my eyes. Live and let live, folks, and isn't there an illegal war on in Iraq? Aren't gas prices a concern? The environment?

Frankly, maybe I'm just a freak, but anyone who even raises the subject of gay marriage (in MA, where it is a done deal, that is) pisses me off. Get over it. MOVE ON. Can I be the only one who feels that way?

[TayTay]

6. I think the national slime against Kerry resonated locally

with SOME groups. (No panic here. This is repairable stuff.) There is no real religious breakdown, but I think the erosion in the vote came from Catholics. (Catholic Churchs in the area campaigned against Kerry. He just barely won the Catholic vote in his home state last year. I would peg the erosion to this.)

And I really, really, really want Sen. Kerry to do some Town Hall meetings in MA. (Like, down the Cape.) His numbers went up in Western MA when he went out and spoke to some groups, got some good local press and such. I would like to see him go to Springfield and Worcester and Fall River and make some speeches about KidsFirst and about his SBA programs. This is good stuff. In addition to talking about this nationally, which he should do because he is a US Senator, he needs to trumpet these things at home.

Again, he is over 50%, but I would like the numbers to move, particularly among women. His voting record for women's issues is outstanding and he needs to speak to this. I wonder if Sen. Kerry, despite not being on the Judiciary Committee, will speak about Roberts and that nomination again. That might help.

[whometense]

8. Hey, we do

think alike!