Oddly written but mostly very nice Globe article on JK in PA!

[Luftmensch067]

"When we were inviting people to our house, there was a little bit of nostalgia, a little bit of 'Oh, I wish he had won,' " said state Representative Josh Shapiro, who hosted Kerry in his living room.

Much of the glory is gone from the campaign trail for Kerry, who now travels without Secret Service protection, goes into the store to fetch his own bottled water and Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies, and fends off wrong-number calls on his BlackBerry, including three in a row apparently originating in Georgia, the former Soviet republic. "He was asking for Mr. Quasha," Kerry reported.

At each appearance in Pennsylvania, Kerry reminded voters that he had carried the state in both the 2004 primary and general election.

"I came here to plead with you to keep that lucky streak going," he said.

It is hard at times to discern whether Kerry's self-awareness is in surplus or deficit, as when he told a joke whose punchline involved Biden and hot air, or when he attempted to compare Obama to Abraham Lincoln.

"There was this lanky, awkward, gangly but interesting fellow - once upon a time," Kerry said in Carlisle.

"Not talking about me," he added quickly.

Campaigning for Another Lets Kerry be Kerry

[MBS]

1. Here was a part that especially pleased me, as it got the facts out there

about what great work he's done for Obama AND the Dem. party.

Kerry exhibits little concern that the increasingly fierce contest between Clinton and Obama will damage the party. "It's going to end in unity," said Kerry, who calls undecided superdelegates on Obama's behalf.

"They ought to announce who they're for by early June," Kerry said. "There's no excuse for going to Denver in doubt, no excuse. People have to make up their mind and declare and count the votes. I think after Pennsylvania and North Carolina, personally, a lot of people are going to. I've been talking to superdelegates. I think they're moving."

Kerry said he decided in the fall to support Obama and "told him somewhere in December that I was prepared to take the plunge," although he did not want to damage the candidacies of Senate friends Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. When they withdrew in January, Kerry endorsed Obama.

Kerry was the first party elder to back Obama and has sent 25 million e-mail messages to his supporter list to raise money for Obama and to defend him against Internet rumors claiming that Obama was a Muslim.

Nice to see this acknowledged for a change.
Nice, online photo is in color. Highly recommended to Kerry fans.:). Note how happy everyone looks.:)

[Fabio]

2. Great article and I think

a real representation of his mindset. As I have said here before -- he's liberated by not having to self promote, engaged in the same fight as he has been his whole life and i think happier because of it. Nonetheless, he will (like us) always carry a heavy heart re 2004.

still pisses me off that they called is praise "moderate" of Senator Clinton. I wish I got that sort of moderate praise more often. But the press loves a fight.

[karynnj]

5. I have been struck by how often he extends his positive comments to Senator Clinton

usually when contrasting Senators Obama and McCain. I don't see any of Clinton's surrogates doing the same - in fact it is often the opposite.

[MBS]

7. YES!

Your first paragraph expresses my own impression to a T.

And I think he's extraordinarily generous to HRC.

The man is a class act.

[TayTay]

8. I agree with that.

There are people who carry regret around like chains on them. They never let go of what might have been. There are other folks who can use knowledge gained, however painfully, to move forward and take positive actions. I liked that this article and your comments indicate the latter in the case. That is good for all concerned.

The Boston Globe annoys the heck out of people around here. I have heard casual comments that say there is good condescension from the Globe and bad condescension. Ah, it can be hard to tell the difference sometimes. Then again, the Globe is in a good mood, they did win a Pulitzer yesterday, so they could afford to point out the failings of others in a sweeter and more positive, "you are doomed" way than usual. Not such a bad thing. This was "you are doomed, but it is a noble form of being doomed, like an epic poem. We applaud that and recommend several more years of sackcloth and ashes, just because it builds moral character. Have some pie." (It's a Globe thing.)

[Luftmensch067]

9. ROFL!!!!

I'm going to have to keep this and look at it from time to time...

[Inuca]

3. And on a completely frivolous note

can somebody enlighten me and tell me what the hell is a pompadour? Kerry's hair does not look to me like the long powdered locks I remember from portraits of Madame de Pompadour...

[karynnj]

6. I thought the word came from a reporter, likely jealous of the quality and quantity of the Senator's

hair, searching for yet another way to describe it and the fact that he is very tall. Here is a strange and funny description, courtesy of google, of how you create a pompadour. http://www.geocities.com/pompadour101/instructions.html

[karynnj]

4. This is a great article

This part makes me wonder if the inclusion of non-Kerry people all advising Kerry who he should be might have been part of the difference between the Kerry of the primaries and the Kerry in the general elections. From some stories, he was free to be this Kerry in the primaries. I don't see that he was that different even in the general election - it was that the media wasn't reporting it - maybe because this describes a guy you would not only love to have a beer with but would welcome to your house and invite your friends.

He does look and sound happy. This part echoes what all of us have said of his praise for Obama (and in fact his praise for other people as well).

Kerry was making a case for Barack Obama, traveling the 2008 campaign trail as though a continuation of 2004, bearing cautionary tales and lessons learned, relieved of a burden of self-consciousness. Campaigning for a colleague may have finally let Kerry be Kerry.

"I'm very liberated about it," Kerry said last weekend as he toured Pennsylvania - the 13th state he has visited on Obama's behalf - in a white minivan. "What happens happens. I'm not worried about things. I know who I am."

Indeed, Kerry emphasizes Obama's most Kerry-like traits without apology. Kerry celebrates his colleague's campaign as a continuation of the 1960s tradition of lefty activism that first drew him into public life. Mocked for awkwardly campaigning in legislative language, Kerry proudly lists the other Senate graybeards (in addition to his own committee and subcommittee assignments) who have affirmed Obama's good judgment about the complexities of foreign policy.

"I think Kerry felt that he would have been a transformative candidate," said Robert Crowe, a longtime friend and finance chair for Kerry's campaign. "It might be easier to talk about somebody else than yourself."

[TayTay]

10. Picture. Cuz, this is a nice picture

And 2 more, cuz we needed pics



Nice pic of THK



Sen. Kerry talking with a Roxbury, MA resident about foreclosure problems.

[JI7]

17. that's a REALLY NICE pic

and i love that pic with Teresa and Obama.

[beachmom]

11. Thanks for posting. I loved that article. Every word of it.

I like it when a writer can bring out everything true and as it is, but add to it to craft a great story. Okay, the BG is out of the dog house for me, at least for today.

[TayTay]

12. It was one of their better profile pieces

I think they have decided to vent on other MA political figures for a while and be nicer to others. That was a relatively good piece. Great pic!

[ladym55]

13. One of my friends was at the Veterans for Obama event

She met Kerry, told him about her nephew getting stop-lossed in Iraq, got a HUG from the Senator, and decided to vote for Obama (she was still undecided when she went to the event).

She came away from the event very excited and emailed me and another friend to encourage US to support Obama, too.

Nice work, JK. :)

[wisteria]

14. Great picture. Taken in an area right outside of Philly, I know well.

I thought the following comments sum up my feelings about 2004.

"Many of us put our blood, sweat, and tears into John Kerry," said Patrick Murphy, a Pennsylvania congressman who started his political career as Kerry's state veterans coordinator. "We still have faith in him."

Kerry received a standing ovation during a town-hall meeting when a woman told him, "You should have been our president, but you can't change that," and a chorus of "we're sorry" when he introduced himself "as I always come before people now: not as president" at a suburban house party."

You can't go back, but if you can use the lessons learned from the past and make the future better than you have won.

[TayTay]

15. That is just exactly so.

The problems, unfortunately, that afflicted the country in 2003-04 are still there, only more so. We need people with a determination to stand up and fight. I think that anyone who has been in politics has accumulated wins and losses. I know it's also very hard to not let the losses be overwhelming to the extent that they rule out action.

Wisteria, we have been down a long road together since early 2005. We have had ups and downs and some heartache along the way. Yet, when I see you write words like this, I know that the will to make things better, to stay in the game and not give up, is there. I am ever so happy to have you, and everyone else in this group, there still for support, motivation and inspiration. Lord knows there are times when I need this and it's nice to be able to go here and replenish from the well, as it were.

It has not been easy. Thank you for being there and for relating the stories of all you do and are planning on doing. If you don't mind my saying, sometimes I borrow a little of that energy and inspiration. It helps a lot.

:hug: :loveya:

[wisteria]

16. Thank you Tay for such wonderful words. Your dedication inspires me. n/t