5/9 Boston Globe Kerry article

[rox63]

Kerry adopting the rhetoric of a D.C. outsider
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | May 9, 2005

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Bruce Springsteen anthem, his theme song, was back -- ''No retreat, baby, no surrender" -- and people were on their feet before his speech began. Wading through the crowd as the music boomed, Senator John F. Kerry looked like a presidential candidate again: smiling, grasping for outstretched arms, and offering thumbs-up as he made his way to the stage.

But the attendance was a fraction of the mobs that the Massachusetts Democrat drew in his final campaign rallies last fall. Gone was his stump speech railing against President Bush's Iraq war policy, the sluggish economy, and the Republican agenda; even mentions of Kerry's Senate career and Vietnam War service had disappeared.

Instead, Kerry -- a veteran politician who has held office for 21 years -- took off his suit jacket and roamed a small stage in Louisiana's Old State Capitol to push a new message: Get angry at Washington.

Read the rest here: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/05/09/kerry_adopting_the_rhetoric_of_a_dc_outsider/

[TayTay]

1. Pic! (And a nice one too!)

[rox63]

2. He needs some new ties

Does he have dozens of identical ties that he wears to all his events? C'mon, JK, mix it up a little... :D

[ginnyinWI]

13. yeah I know...

Guys are just like that, I guess. (My husband will wear the same thing to the office several days in a row.)
But then, we wouldn't want to hear accusations about him being a metrosexual, would we! ;)

[TayTay]

3. Hmmm, Boston Herald Kerry Item 5/9/05

http://news.bostonherald.com/election2004/view.bg?articleid=82284
Hmmm, this is bizarro-land. The Herald is giving Kerry a thumbs up for thinking of the 'little guy.' Not sure I like that.

[whometense]

4. Unsettling.

But, from their own point of view, at least they're being consistent.

And they do make a good point about Kerry having actually been out there for 2 years talking and listening to people. Contrary to what Desperate Housewife Eileen McNamara thinks, that probably makes him more in touch with the country, even if it puts him at odds with most MA dems.

[TayTay]

5. I think JK should send her a box of chocolates

and some flowers.

Dear Eileen:
I've been busy trying to take care of poor people who have kids without healthcare. Will get back to you as soon as possible. Take a valium and get some rest.
Love JK.

Honestly, wasn't that your first reaction to yesterdays column? Are all MA Libs so neurotic and insecure? I hope not.

[whometense]

6. My first reaction,

honestly, was that I wanted to say, get over yourself. I thought she sounded deranged. Seriously. I started to write a blog post, but gave up. There was so much wrong with what she said I didn't know where to begin.

But I like what you just wrote. Ummm. Perhaps there are one or two issues that have a higher claim on John's time than Eileen's vapors?

[karynnj]

10. Funny

I can't believe what a short sympathy period he got! Am I cynical that the attacks started in force shortly after he had some success on the military amendments, positive coverage on Kids' first, a large increase in the number of people, even in DU, saying "what did he do ? He looks great!" and reports that he was mobbed by well wishers at the Boston Marathon, where he also looked great. (I really am beginning to buy the jealousy argument.)

I hope this blows over as fast as it sprang up. There is something very weird with the overblown reaction to Kerry stating that his position is exactly where he said it was 6 months ago. I actually thought the only news in his comments was that he would not campaign against it. At this point, will there be a referendum on the ballot (either for or against gay marriage)? Is it just a plank in the platform?

Has the Boston Herald always been more liberal on economic issues than on social issues? It's hard to figure if they are trying to splinter the Democrats, pulling Kerry onto the side of the moderates (I could not force my finger to type the "C" word) and those supporting gay marriage onto the other. Maybe they hope someone will challenge Kerry from the left in the 2008 MA primary, which
could force him earlier than he might want to have to choose which run he wants.) Either that or they sincere. They come inches from contrasting Kerry's "Kids First" with Special Interests First - a comparison.

[whometense]

11. I don't really understand it yet.

The Boston Herald is in general not liberal on any issues, but being as they're located in Boston they have to walk a finer line than they would in nearly any other city.

They are also under severe economic stress (i.e. fighting for their life), and have laid off a huge amount of their staff. It's possible they are trying out some newer personas, trying to find a way to survive, and maybe they see an opening to the Globe's left. I have no idea; I'm just wildly speculating. The paper itself has very little news, and most of it comes from the wire services. They do have a much better gossip column than the Globe, though.

It could also be that there is a backlog of snark they felt they couldn't unload during the campaign, and they're just letting loose now. :shrug:

[TayTay]

17. He's a big target

Always has been. Sen. Kennedy is extremely popular and is also a very powerful national force. Sen. Kerry is (or was) the 'other liberal Senator from Massachusetts' and was fair game.

The Globe and Kerry don't get along. They never have. They probably never will. I think the Boston Phoenix had it right when they really portrayed it as a personality conflict writ large.

Boston Globe: "Senator Kerry, why haven't you come out with a definitive statement on XYZ?"
Sen Kerry: "Because I'm thinking it over and trying to examine all the angles and arguments to come up with a cogent position."

Boston Globe Headline: Kerry Waffles Again on XYZ
Sen. Kerry's office: The Boston Globe unfairly maligned Sen. Kerry's position. (Can't any of you bozo's understand complicated thoughts?)

And so it goes. It has ever been thus. (The Boston Globe dislikes Kerry and thinks he's a stuck-up phony. Sen. Kerry believes, not without standing, that the Globe dislikes him and is out to 'gotcha' him more so than any other MA pol.)

We in MA have known this for years. (And, gawd forgive me, in some ways it is very entertaining to watch the wars take place.) You guys can now puzzle out the whys and wherefores just like us Massholes because Kerry has a national standing.

[ginnyinWI]

14. "lunchpail Democrats"

I met some of these during the campaign and worked with them. They are all for the people, and for candidates that will work for their issues, but they are a little hesitant when it comes to big social changes like gay marriage. There's mostly the attitude of "we should all mind our own business", but still there is an underlying current of anxiety about too much change.

So I see what JK is saying. Lunchpail Dems( working-class, union-member type Dems) have learned most of what they know from their parents and/or in high school. They haven't been exposed to a lot of other different points of view. So it's hard--they will draw a line at some things. I would talk about the issues with them and everything would be fine, but then there would be a certain sense of "hitting a wall" with them and then I would have to shut up. There is a real danger in going too far with them, especially those who are middle-aged and older, and causing them to retreat to the relative safety of the conservatives.

[whometense]

15. It was my impression

from watching Kerry on c-span through the campaign, that these "lunchpail Democrats" were the ones who most got to him emotionally. I think he saw their economic vulnerability to the republican agenda, their struggle with health coverage, and the exact thing you mentioned - their fear of too much change at once, and he responded to that. I think he feels that these are the people who need his protection.

I don't think he's pandering to them at all. I think he's trying to ease them along to his (Democratic) point of view.

[politicasista]

18. I like that name because it rings true

[karynnj]

7. Fascinating article

Overall, it does describe well what he is doing, although it does seem overly happy to question his motives. The Donna Brazille comment was nicer than anything I've ever heard her say about Kerry. Seeing that she was negative even when he was the Democratic standard bearer, this is a change. (Maybe there's a Brazille-Dean-Kerry link, she was just in a good mood, she may agree that Kerry is strongly speaking out on what Democratic issues should be, or she may see Kerry as a possible ABH (I have never heard her say anything about HRC, but as Gore's strategist she may have some Clinton resentment.)

The whole insider/outsider question is fascinating because it may be the classic issue on which Kerry absolutely doesn't fit into the dichotomy of insider/outsider. I think Kerry may have often simultaneously been both an outsider and an insider. Kerry in prep school was described as an outsider (Catholic, Democrat, upper middle class) at a Republican Protestant school where almost everyone was extremely wealthy, but he was a successful student, athlete, played in a band, and dated Jackie Kennedy's step sister - does anyone feel sorry for this outsider?. At Yale, he clearly became very much a person who had many connections to people with power. At that point, being an insider was his for the taking.

One book on the antiwar movement mentioned that some of the other protesters were either impressed (or resented) that Kerry could get into offices that they had not even thought of approaching. Protesters may seem to be outsiders, but Kerry had many inside contacts. (Even ignoring his Yale based contacts, he had already worked on Father Drinan's campaign.) His initial (pre FRC testimony) TV appearances probably were possible because of contacts.

Being elected to the Senate would seem to make someone an insider, but from the Globe's own reporting last year, they complained that Kerry remained somewhat an outsider, especially in the time when he concentrated on investigations. (They seem now to have conveniently forgotten they said that). Especially in BCCI, he was a Senator (insider) who continued to push investigations even when high level people in his party were involved and his entire party wanted him to stop.

I think a better (insider/outsider) definition of Kerry is that he is someone who has always intelligently used (and cultivated) inside contacts, but who stays "himself" and places doing what he feels needs to be done over being a popular member of the Senate. To me, he DOES NOT seem to be acting as an outsider. The Republicans, in many ways are trying to make all the Democrats into outsiders, as far as power goes. Through Kerry's call for bipartisanship and his own efforts to work with Republicans, he is overtly acting as an insider.

For Kids' first and other issues, he seems to be acting primarily as an insider, surveying the situation and seeing that he and his fellow Senators have no chance of enacting the type legislating he feels people want. So, he is reaching out as an insider to both hear and to talk to people who are outsiders, offering them an inside voice and Senate bills to address some of the problems, while asking outsiders to show that they support these issues and to lobby their own congress people. Just as in 1971, when he used every advantage he had for his cause, Kerry is now using his position as a Senator, his email list, and the skills learned over his 22* years in public office.

So, I think the Globe overstates Kerry's insiderness over the last 20 years and now overstates his outsiderness. This seems based on their insistance on a black/white view of things. Also, there comment about it being Dean's message - which I'm sure could start comment on DU - shows they are looking at message and facade, not substance. (who was the one that called for Regime change?)

*(If the globe gets upset with Kerry saying 22 years in the Senate (where he prob means in office, why could they not add 2+20.)

[TayTay]

8. Wonderful, wonderful analysis

This is great! I completely agree. I think what Kerry is trying to do (and what Dems would be smart to do in general) is take the idea that there are extreme needs that are building up in the country that affect ordinary people, who are the ultimate outsiders. While the Rethugs reward Corporations (insiders) with a Bankruptcy Bill and Coporations (Insiders) with Tort Deform, the people's needs are not being met.

This is agreat Democratic strategy, because it is where the Dems hearts truly are. Kerry is wise to do this, it gives him a reason for being and is what he does anyway. (This is what he has always done. It's where he lives.)

Again, bravo!

[Dr Ron]

9. Attacks from all directions on this

Both conservative blogs and Kos are attacking Kerry over this.

See response at LUTD
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=862

[WildEyedLiberal]

16. Kos is such a Deanbot whore

I can't stand a word he writes. All his posts, to me, reek of artificiality and pandering, and the typical cognitive dissonance of the Deanbot wearing blinders.

[ginnyinWI]

12. an interesting look at where JK is now

I don't think he's so much an outsider as an opposition party leader. The Dems in Washington are so sidelined right now, they might as well be outsiders. He's falling back more into his 1971 role, in a way, challenging the establishment again, because now it's all Republican. He knows how limited Dems are now as legislators, and has taken it to the people.

And he's the people's spokesman for another big reason, which is the fact that he was the Dem presidential nominee, went all over the country listening to peoples' stories, and got all of those votes. He's much more aware of the pulse of the country because of all the first-hand info he got.

He's smart; he learns, he grows. That's why he's not done yet!

Yeah and nice to see Donna Brazille being nice again--she said some really mean things about JK right after the election.