The game is over for Kerry (Opinion - Indy Star)

[dutchdemocrat]

Ruben Navarrette
The game is over for Kerry

December 26, 2003

DALLAS -- Every presidential wannabe knows there could come a moment when he must accept the fact the game is over. For Sen. John Kerry, who the Democratic establishment considered a shoo-in for the 2004 nomination, that moment might have arrived this week with the release of a poll that finds him trailing Al Sharpton. In a Newsweek survey of registered Democrats and other voters leaning Democratic, Kerry got 6 percent. Sharpton got 7. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean leads the field with 26 percent.

The futility of Kerry's venture hasn't made him any less willing to put his wife's money where his ego is. The Massachusetts Democrat last week announced that he was lending his campaign $850,000 and mortgaging his Beacon Hill home.

One could say that Kerry had the misfortune of being the Democratic establishment's choice at a time when more and more Democrats are choosing not to side with the establishment.

But let's not forget the generational angle either. Kerry entered the presidential race as the baby boomers' dream candidate. Here was someone brave enough to have answered the call to fight in Vietnam but also principled enough to have later become a vocal opponent of the war. Democratic strategists called him a war hero. That was supposed to be his main selling point, and it was thought by some Democrats to provide a nice contrast to President Bush, who spent the late 1960s logging time in the Texas Air National Guard.

As someone who spent those years in diapers, there are a lot of things I don't get about baby boomers and their various hang-ups over Vietnam. But I gather that, when it comes time to dole out respect, there is thought to be a big difference between those who went into active duty and those who served as weekend warriors. And so, in a match-up between Bush and Kerry, the senator's strategists thought he held the upper hand.

<SNIP>

http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/105654-4918-021.html

[Byronic]

1. Nah!

And, anyway, an impossible cause is the only one worth fighting for!:hi:

[vi5]

2. I'm not a Kerry supporter but I wonder if there were pieces like this..

...written about Bill "running in 3rd place in December 1991" Clinton back then? I would love to think this isn't sewn up by now, even though a large part of me fears it may be.

[Deesh]

3. More Crap From the Star

Whether you plan to vote for Kerry or not, the Indianapolis Star op-ed page is no gauge of his merits. It is the biggest paper here in Indiana and arguably the worst. The Star is as self-important as it is narrow -- and it is extremely narrow. The ultimate Republican propaganda sheet.

If the Star wanted to do its job in turn for its readers' support, it would have the integrity to interview John Kerry's colleagues in the Senate about his demonstrable contributions. Instead, we get this smear job. Red state, red paper, red necks.

Shame on the Indianapolis Star for trying to limit debate on our candidates for president.

[Khephra]

4. Before you throw any more wrath at the Indy Star

(Which I'll admit is a god-awful paper--except for the fact they run "Opus"), you should probably know that the editorial was originally written for the Washington Post and not the Star.

[Deesh]

5. Oh shoot...

Khephra, thanks for pointing it out. I didn't know that the Washington Post was the original source. The website listed in the post on DU was the Indianapolis Star.

Now I'm even more depressed. The Post was the paper that told the truth on Nixon in the 1970s. Now it's doing anti-Kerry ops. Sheesh.

[maha]

6. Those Were the Days

>The Post was the paper that told the truth on Nixon in the 1970s.

The Post went over to the Dark Side several years back. However, they do have columnist E.J. Dionne, and Dana Milbank gets a good story once in a while.

[The Zanti Regent]

8. Yes, another WHORESHINGTON POST hatchet Job

The Whoreshington Post is now a total GOP organ.

[liberalpragmatist]

11. No, worse -- it's from the Dallas Morning News

I lean towards Kerry, and I'll admit that the question is an open one -- can he come back? Still, this is a shrill RW hatchet job from the Dallas Morning News. I've read it. It refers glowingly to how Bush has with his "tough" and "decisive" action ended the Vietnam syndrome, etc. Very much a pro-Bush RW hatchet job.

Not a Post piece or a Star piece. (Not that the star's any good -- I would know, I'm in Indiana)

[Martin Eden]

7. LMAO

I needed a good laugh, and Navarrette provided it:

By liberating the Iraqi people and then capturing Saddam Hussein, Bush has shown himself to be quite capable when it comes to national security. More important, his administration, with its response to terrorists and rogue nations, may finally have put an end to the country's Vietnam syndrome.
<snip>

For those Americans who are still queasy with the United States using military force to right wrongs and save lives, the choice seems to be Dean. For those who understand this is precisely what history asks of the world's leading nations, there is Bush. That leaves Kerry bringing up the rear.

"Quite capable when it comes to national security ... using military force to right wrongs and save lives"

This guy is a real comedian!

[Hippo_Tron]

9. NOT A SINGLE VOTE HAS BEEN CAST YET!!!

All nine candidates are even...

[The Zanti Regent]

10. But are the Black Boxes fixed?

One wonders if Karl and the Diebold Boyz are rigging the machines...

[Terwilliger]

12. how is this opinion incorrect?

I believed Kerry was going to be the party's choice, and it doesn't look like he's going to make it to the convention.

:wtf: happened? I think people came to find out that Kerry wasn't the leader everybody thought he was.

Maybe he should concentrate on becoming Senate minority leader or something.