September 07, 2004

Kerry's attempt at recovery from his disastrous post-RNC convention weekend continued to be a non-event as he got himself into more trouble yesterday on the stump (with apologies to Max Cleland). He changed staff, got bawled out by Clinton in the hospital, changed his position on the Iraq for the seventh time(...so far!) and gratuitously insulted the President some more using a Sesame Street format ("W" is for Winner!):
Kerry campaign denies 'shake-up'

Be sure and read the last paragraphs:

The size and volume of crowds showing up at rallies to protest Mr. Kerry has grown since the Republican convention ended. At a stop in Steubenville, Ohio, on Saturday night, more than one-third of the audience held anti-Kerry signs, mainly placards that condemned the four-term senator, a Roman Catholic, for supporting abortion rights.

This is a problem for all Dimocrats who are Catholics as you must support abortion-on-demand (and at any age without parental consent) if you're in the Democrat Party.
According to this fellow NRO's Corner fan's email, Kerry went to the wrong town looking for support:

"John Kerry came to Steubenville yesterday and quickly realized he was in the wrong city. Steubenville is a city where there are 6 Democrats for every 1 Republican, and the Steelworkers unions are alive and active. You would think this was solid John Kerry territory. The mob used to control Steubenville and now the unions think they do. Well, they are wrong.

The Kerry campaign first scheduled a visit to Steubenville two weeks ago but "scheduling conflicts" came up at the last minute. Oh, and did I mention that Kerry wanted to use a local gun range as a campaign stop, but the owner turned him down? And that the Fire Department Union President told the Kerry campaign that not only would he not organize the union to support Kerry at the rally, but that he was supporting President Bush! The Kerry campaign took for granted that this area was sown up. Mistake number one. So they rescheduled the campaign trip when Franciscan University was back in session. Mistake number two.

Before Kerry arrived there was a huge pro-life march led by Franciscan University students, 500 strong. "You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion", read some of their signs. Students and members of local Catholic parishes were full of energy and FoxNews reported that this was the largest protest against Kerry outside of the Democratic Convention. Just picture 500 pro-lifers marching from their college campus to meet Kerry. Where else but in Steubenville, Ohio! Though the Franciscan University did not organize the event, it is well known for its orthodox Catholic education which encourages students to put their faith into action. These students simply cherish their Catholic faith and could not stand to let Kerry use their faith as a political prop. I am proud of my alma mater.

….The Kerry campaign not only made a mistake in their timing, but they also chose to hold the rally in a public park which should be open to all the public. Mistake number three. The police chief, sheriff, and mayor all agreed with me that protesters and their signs would be allowed inside the Kerry rally site. Freedom of speech is alive and well here in Ohio. The Kerry campaign flipped out!

So, now add another 500 local Bush supporters to the Kerry rally. They tried to turn up the music but they could not drown us out. According to the Herald Star (local press), "The crowd, estimated by officials as 3,500 strong, was almost split in half with people for and against the Massachusetts senator." John Kerry must know he has a problem when over 15% of his audience was booing him. We were respectful and did not heckle him - but upon arrival and when he sought our applause he got something he didn't expect. As the press arrived a feisty nine year old little girl began shouting, "We want Bush!", and we all chanted along. The campaign staff was beside themselves. This is history in the making! Even places like Steubenville are not supporting John Kerry. He is in serious trouble.

My friends, John Kerry will not be coming back to Steubenville. Kerry was visibly shaken when he received boos from the audience.....

 And back to the story on the Kerry stump:

   
Those protesters were mostly silent and allowed Mr. Kerry to get through his 45-minute speech.
    
Yesterday's crowd of detractors in Canonsburg, Pa., however, wasn't so quiet and shouted Mr. Kerry down several times.
    
One heckler — drinking a can of appropriately named Busch beer at 8 a.m. — yelled "flip-flop," "liberal" and "four more years" throughout Mr. Kerry's remarks. Mr. Kerry paused and responded several times. Other protesters held signs such as "Terrorists for Kerry" and "I voted for Kerry before I voted against him."

An NRO reader wrote to the Corner and described the Pennsylvania rally in more detail:

I am a northeast Pennsylvania resident who also happens to work up the road from the stadium where Bush made his first post-convention appearance.

As expected, security was tight, traffic was a nightmare, and those of us who had to work had to find ways to get around it. To make it possible I left for work at 5 am this morning. Since we're a bank operations center, I just didn't have the option of saying "another day, time to play hooky."

Groggy and tired, I arrived at the location at 5:45 and was amazed to see the traffic already backing up. The poor officers who arrived at 4:30 am to handle a Presidential appearance at 9:15 were smiling and waving us on. The organization as they tried to route those of us who had to get to work and at the same time direct those who were determined to get to the stadium was difficult, impossible at times, but well-done and determined.

And I found I was astonished. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is a renowned Democratic stronghold, run by a political machine that's been in place for decades. Where did all these Republicans come from? How did they fill every one of the 18,000 seats they could? Why would 18,000 people (and more if they could have) come out in the pre-dawn darkness to hear a speech? Why did students from the University of Scranton arrive at the airport at 12:30 this morning to greet the President and First Lady and show their support? Why did even more crowds see him off at the airport this morning - unable to get to the stadium but needing to cheer him on?

Why did the total number of protestors at the stadium, in this Democratic town, number 3 whole people? Even the newspapers seem incredulous.

And then it occurred to me. There's a base of support that's farther and wider then realized. That people are quietly supporting Bush, keeping to themselves because they're unwilling to find themselves a part of the vitriolic smear and attack debates launched by those who hate him. That they walk away from political argument because you can't talk to someone who rants, but their silence doesn't mean agreement.

Who needs journalists and pundits when we've got the eyewitness reports of ordinary Americans telling us whose campaign is working and whose so clearly isn't?
Looks like a good part of the nation is quickly becoming Bush Country--thank God!
Kerry is the worst candidate; he won't stop talking about Vietnam, yet he won't address the issues surrounding his Vietnam activities raised by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
If he stops talking about Vietnam as Clinton advised him to do, he has to talk about his record in the Senate and on both domestic issues and those of national security and defense, his votes are terrible.
On top of all that, he's boring, arrogant and irritating and not very telegenic.
Yuck!
Praise the Lord I'm a Bush backer and a Republican, because I don't think I could vote for Kerry if I wanted to!