Do you think regular people really care about the Kerry gaffe story?

[Crankie Avalon]

Is it like the Schiavo saga, where the media and politicians relentlessly beat the drums with saturation coverage and pontificating, but in the end the vast majority of regular people didn't go for what was being sold and were kind of bemused by how frenzied by the whole thing the media were?

Just asking now that this silly "news story" seems to be finally winding down--was it really that big of a deal to regular, ordinary people who aren't media insiders (or members of certain politics message boards? ;-))?

[cautiouslywaiting]

1. NO

No one cared about this at all. It was just the rethugs making a lot of noise. And a few Democrats falling for it.

[Richard D]

2. Especially since what he said . . .

. . . is true, no matter the interpretation.

[AngryAmish]

3. Regular people don't count

It is being used to depress our turnout and pump up theirs.

[AIJ Alom]

4. But it is an opportunity to say that the President lied about what John

Kerry said and then play his joke about not finding WMD under tables.

[BushOut06]

5. Regular people know he's telling the truth!

It's pretty obvious, rich parents don't ship their kids off to the military. Most college-educated kids don't enlist in the military. With a few exceptions here and there, most enlisted folks in the military are there because they didn't want to wind up in a dead-end job flipping burgers at McDonalds, or stocking shelves at Walmart.

[fidgeting wildly]

19. Huh?

Kerry was telling the truth, but not in the way you seem to think. He wasn't referring to the troops (educated or not) at all. His remarks were very obviously directed at Bush.

[MuseRider]

6. I think many do care.

When I got to my symphony rehearsal last night no less than 15 people commented to me about how stupid Kerry is and why he is sticking his nose out there at this time. I was stunned, they are not all R's, most are D's. All they knew was what they heard on the TV or radio and were never given enough information to form an intelligent opinion of their own.

[LA lady]

8. It is BIG here

Everywhere i have been in the last two days, Kerry was the topic of conversation.

[MuseRider]

23. I have found it pretty

easy to explain since all they seem to hear is the comment without any of the explanation. I give them that then tell them to think about it and use their own brain.

[LittleClarkie]

48. All you have to do is add in the word "us"

That is all. One fuckin' pronoun.

[Swamp Rat]

16. Some have apparently been sniffing too much rosin.

:D :hi:

[MuseRider]

24. Damn toxic that rosin!

:hi: :hug:

[Swamp Rat]

34. OOOO! A JAZZ FUNERAL IS COMING DOWN MY STREET!!!!

.

[MuseRider]

38. Enjoy.

Not that someone dying is a great thing of course but those funerals are fun.

[Crankie Avalon]

18. That's interesting...

...for me at work, I haven't talked about it with anyone or overheard anyone else talking about it. I just see people on the subway reading tabloid style newspapers with Kerry on the cover, but that's about it.

[MuseRider]

21. Well they know me

as being a bit of an activist so whenever someone wants to say anything they say it to me. There are a lot of political people in the orchestra who like to talk politics.

[Crankie Avalon]

32. Well, that explains it. Me, I'm too unapproachable for people to vent with! LOL n/t

[MuseRider]

36. I don't believe that

but then you are at work, my symphony is just a part time, very part time thing. I am not so sure I would be as loud about where I stand at a place of business during business hours.

[radfringe]

7. here at work

concern and questions coming at me are more about how or will it effect the election

most are aware it was a bungled joke - and couldn't understand why it was even on the news, and why the repubs were "upset"

they saw it as an act of desperation on the part of repubs, because they have nothing else to use as an issue for their own campaigns

in a nutshell - it was stupid and hasn't changed any minds here about who they are voting for

reporting from a very small company in NE-PA - the overall effect =/- with Kerry's bungled joke is zero

[Crankie Avalon]

20. That's kind of what I was thinking...

...that maybe people are a little confused over why this is sticking around in the media the way it is, especially since he promptly explained it, and that no matter what the media wants to make of it it really has no effect on how people are going to be voting.

[Swamp Rat]

9. No, not at all. n/t

[Trajan]

Yes ....

Most of the electorate is sensitive to smears of rank and file soldiers ....

Frankly, so am I .... Kerry's problem was not that he smeared soldiers, but that his poorly crafted statement made it APPEAR that he smeared soldiers .....

IF you care going to open your mouth in this election cycle, especially to 'tell a joke', you had BETTER be damned well sure that your wording is unambiguous .... or DONT even say it ....

Kerry didnt have to apologize for slandering soldiers, but he DID have to apologize for so screwing up his delivery of that comment that it made him APPEAR to slander soldiers ....

[Crankie Avalon]

22. I'd say as a member of DU you are more invested than a "regular" voter...

...but I take your point about having to make sure this wasn't allowed to be seen as a smear of the troops.

I thought Kerry did that, though, and that maybe the vast majority of people saw that and understood it and that it was only the media who were "playing dumb" and continuing to pretend the issue wasn't resolved.

[Robbien]

10. Nice of you to help the GOP out by writing new kerry threads

How many more are you planning on setting up. A couple of dozen or so?

Bush and Fox news says thank you.

[BurtWorm]

11. The only ones who really care about it are already partisans.

They're the only ones this whole spectacle was intended to reach.

[Crankie Avalon]

25. I wonder how much of the turnout will be comprised of hardcore partisans...

...and how much will be regular folks just voting because they think it's time for a change?

I guess we'll see.

[emulatorloo]

12. NO -- just the delusional who couldn't wait to "support" bush anyway n/t

They were playing to their base with this nonsense.

[Jax]

13. Seattle Slimes (Times) has it as an op/ed today

They are a rag whose owners have a major hard on for the Estate Tax to be repealed at ALL COSTS. They endorsed the repig against US Senator Maria Cantwell for that reason alone. Not suprised they would Faux news Kerry.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2003336430_kerryed02.html

[Crankie Avalon]

27. WOW. No other comment. n/t

[sandnsea]

50. flip flop, flip flop

They said the exact opposite yesterday and I don't give a shit enough to go look up the link. What a wussy country we live in.

[Jax]

54. Missed yesterdays comments

don't read that rag anymore either. I subscribe to the daily Seattle P-I. My fellow Dem neighbor sent me this link. I HAD to let sleaze bags Blethen and Vesley have it. John Kerry was great not backing down to the spew of lies that were spun.

flip flop, flip flop, you nailed that sandnsea. The sleaze times would never admit that....

[sandnsea]

56. Found in JK Forum

Here. You just won't freakin' believe it.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/290735_kerryed.asp

[Jax]

57. It was actually the Times that had this apology demand today

I think I didn't make that clear in my first post. My apologies sandnsea. I love the P-I. The Times can blow for all I care.

The more I hear Kerry, the more I love him and I was very late on the Kerry train. When I am feeling down I watch his nomination acceptance speech and it picks me up.

Tell 'em all John, all of the effing chicken hawks.

[sandnsea]

58. Not you, it was me

I didn't pay attention. My bad.

I've been a Kerry fan since I first saw him when I was a kid in the 70's. I'm willing to consider a different 2008 candidate, Gore or Feingold. But with this latest Hillary attack, I'm really afraid of what will happen if her wing of the party wins. This country will just continue to slide into that 'two americas' because the Blue Dogs and the Clinton types just do not get it. There's only a few Democrats I really trust to prevent that, and John Kerry is still the one I trust the most.

[Jax]

59. He was my best Liberal vote for President

Period.

Clintons are all about Clintons...

great post sandnsea.

[acmavm]

14. Hell no. They care about the war, economy, pedophiles and

pederasts in government, congresspeople and senators lining their pockets at our expense, whatever.

[BootinUp]

15. I think there was some interest

mostly from the RW side of course. The problem is you still have to handle these things the best way possible cause you can't always predict the effect. We do know it change the media coverage, no doubt about that.

[AndyTiedye]

17. No. But the MSM Will SAY We Cared a Lot on Nov 8th

[Crankie Avalon]

29. Boy, I sure hope they don't. That wouldn't bode too well...

...kind of like how they magically discovered the "values voter" last time.

[TheCowsCameHome]

26. Gaffe? What Gaffe?

[Crankie Avalon]

28. ?

Oh, you must have blinked and missed it in the news. :D

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

30. Judging by me and my wife...Not at all. Politics as usual.

Of course, we're quite cynical about politics and politicians in general.

[Maine-ah]

31. yes, I think regular people care about it.

not a lot, but many do. Look at us on DU for example. How many posts on this dead horse have been posted? Are we not "regular" people?

[Crankie Avalon]

33. Well, I think I meant "regular" as in people who aren't quite the political junkies...

...that most DU members would be, not to mention the hardworking activists many are.

[Orsino]

35. I, for one, am not voting for Kerry in this election. n/t

[Crankie Avalon]

41. Now, THAT'LL teach 'em!

;)

[kestrel91316]

37. Boy, some folks sure are good at repeating RW memes............

[survivor999]

39. I strongly believe that IRREGULAR people will...

But I may be wrong, since I'm just a regular person.

[Crankie Avalon]

42. You're a survivor, 999 times over! n/t

[jimshoes]

40. It's really a matter of perspective,

Most sane people know this is a non story. If the blown joke story is put up next to almost any other news story it suddenly pales in comparison. There are "cat stuck in trees" stories that are more important in the grand scheme of things than the Kerry story.

[Crankie Avalon]

43. Hell, even Tom Cruise's kid might be more important. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

44. Do I think regular people care? No!

I think regular people have gotten pretty good at reading between the lines of this corporate newscrap.

Also, I think the MEANING of Kerry's line, in its MISSPOKEN version--that the poor, the jobless and the uneducated are the ones who "get stuck in Iraq" as the Bush Cartel's cannon fodder is TRUE--and most people know it. Whether Kerry meant it that way or not. (And I don't think he did--I believe in the missing "us.")

So, if most people know that this is true--which I'm sure they do--then what's the big flap? It might be surprising to some that Kerry said it (or that the media thinks he said it), but why make such a big deal about a truthful statement?

And those who "get it"--that he meant Bush is stupid--are laughing with delight. Another true thing that most people know.

The only thing I'm worried about is that the war profiteering corporate news monopolies will let the Bushite election thieves use this flap as cover for Stolen Election III. THAT is all too convenient.

But I don't think it will change the views of most people that, if the Bushites retain Congress, they did it by fraud. The question is, what will "regular people" do THEN?

A hint: We're looking at a massive increase in Absentee Ballot voting all over the country. The corporate news monopolies started the spin two weeks ago that this huge increase in AB voting is voters choosing "convenience." But that's not what it is. It's a voter REVOLT against the MACHINES. A whole lot of people are now aware of what's been going down--and are trying to find a way around the rigged system, to get their votes counted. I think the election reform movement should USE this protest, and here's the strategy: Avoid a headon collision with Diebold et al, and its corrupt election officials and defenders, and, instead, agitate for proper handling and counting of AB votes. Demand that AB votes be hand-counted, and the totals posted, BEFORE any electronics are involved. Get all these AB voters behind this common sense demand, and then encourage even more AB voting. (It's already up to 50% to 60% in some places.)

This way, you get a paper ballot system BY DEFAULT. You don't have to throw the election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor.' All you have to do is get the AB votes COUNTED. The People have led the way--they've given us this strategy as a gift, by their individual effort to get their vote counted--and they will do the rest.

Getting mad--and taking to the streets or whatever--doesn't help at all, when the government has microwave weapons to put you down, and detention centers in the Nevada desert, and what all. We need to do something sneakier, something below the radar. This may be it. Forget about Diebold, and get on your local/state officials about proper counting of Absentee Ballots. Get local citizen groups behind you. And spread the word. And before the bastards can say "okay, you can have a paper trail, if you insist," we will already have our own REAL paper ballot system in place.

[StopVoteFraud]

45. Of course they do. Regular people are fucking idiots

How else does this jackass get 62 million votes?:puke:

[SammyWinstonJack]

46. No!

[Jed Dilligan]

47. Regular people don't vote

Non-voters win every election by a landslide. The "typical American" does not go to the polls, especially not for midterms.

Stuff like the circus around Kerry recently is among the reasons why they don't turn out, so in that sense they do care.

[frustrated_lefty]

49. Yes. That's the problem.

[underpants]

51. No but stuckinIraq stuckinIraq stuckinIraq stuckinIraq

stuckinIraq
stuckinIraq
stuckinIraq

That's all they heard over the last three days

[sandnsea]

52. Most don't even know

Hell most don't even know there's an election. But I don't think most people know and I think even fewer care. This is a fully concocted story and if Hitchens and Sullivan can figure it out, most everybody else will eventually.

[Sir Jeffrey]

53. No way...

Dems know he flubbed a joke. Reps will believe whatever Rush tells them. Independents vote their pocketbook and whatever way the winds blow.

[Name removed]

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