The GOP hasn't started with the "Kerry is an asshole" campaign - yet.

There are a LOT of 1st hand anecdotal stories up here in the Boston Area
that basicly have Kerry doing the "Do you know who I AM?" bit. Kinda like
Martha Stewart stories....

You can bet they're gonna trot them out..... and juxtapose them the Bush's
affableness.

-W

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Majority of Americans Doubt Bush's WMD Claims:
Support for President Bush Drops to 50 Percent in Latest Post-ABC News
Poll

By Richard Morin and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 13, 2004; 7:32 PM

Most Americans believe President Bush either lied or deliberately
exaggerated evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in
order to justify war, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey results, which also show declining support for the war in
Iraq and for Bush's leadership in general, indicate the public is
increasingly questioning the president's truthfulness -- a concern for
Bush's political advisers as his reelection bid gets underway.

Barely half -- 52 percent -- now believe Bush is "honest and
trustworthy," down seven points since late October and his worst showing
since the question was first asked in March 1999. At his best, in the
summer of 2002, Bush was viewed as honest by 71 percent. The survey
found that while nearly seven in 10 think Bush "honestly believed" Iraq
had weapons of mass destruction, 54 percent thought Bush exaggerated or
lied about pre-war intelligence.

Honesty and credibility have been central to Bush's appeal since the
2000 campaign, when he benefited from disgust over President Bill
Clinton's lies about the Lewinsky affair and when Bush's campaign
accused Al Gore of "saying one thing and doing another." But a number of
factors, including the failure to find unconventional weapons in Iraq
and the administration's underestimating of its Medicare prescription
drug plan's costs appear to have undermined perceptions of his
credibility.

Bush's possible Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), has begun
to talk about a "credibility gap." Even some Bush allies say they have
been misled about Iraq's weapons, and the current Time magazine cover
story asks: "Believe him or not -- does Bush have a credibility gap?"

Questions about Bush's use of pre-war intelligence, in addition to
feeding doubts about his honesty, have sent his job rating plummeting.
Fifty percent of Americans approve of the job he is doing, the lowest
level of his presidency in the Post-ABC poll and down 8 percentage
points from January. The survey found that, for the first time since the
war ended, fewer than half of Americans -- 48 percent -- believe the war
was worth fighting, down 8 points from last month. Fifty percent said
the war was not worth it.

These doubts have affected Bush's reelection prospects. In a
head-to-head matchup, Kerry beat Bush, 52 percent to 43 percent, among
registered voters polled by the Post. Bush had more passionate support
-- 85 percent of his backers said their support was strong while 62
percent of Kerry supporters said so -- and retains an advantage over
Kerry in dealing with Iraq and the war on terrorism. But the Democrat
was seen as better able to handle the economy and jobs, education and
health care -- all top issues with voters this year.

*The survey found a steep drop in public perceptions of Bush as a
president and as an individual. In a sign that Bush has been set back by
recent controversies over Iraqi weapons, his National Guard record and
the federal budget, the number of Americans viewing him as a "strong
leader" has slipped to 61 percent, down 6 points from December and the
lowest level since the 2001 terrorist attacks.*

Bush's rating on handling the economy stood at 44 percent, down 7
percentage points, with nearly half of the public saying they are worse
off now than they were three years ago when Bush became president. Six
in 10 disapprove of the job Bush is doing creating jobs. On education,
47 percent said they approve of the job Bush is doing, down 8 points
from January. And his handling of health care also has fallen.

*But the president's declining ratings related to Iraq were most
striking. Approval of his handling of the situation there has fallen to
47 percent, down eight points in the past three weeks. About half of
Americans -- 51 percent -- said they would prefer a report evaluating
the accuracy and use of pre-war intelligence before the election, while
35 percent favor what Bush has ordered: a broader study of the overall
accuracy of U.S. intelligence gathering operations that reports its
findings after the election.*

While 21 percent believe Bush lied about the threat posed by Iraq, a
larger number -- 31 percent -- thought he exaggerated but did not lie.
Indeed, six in 10 Americans believed, as Bush did, that Iraq had such
weapons.

Three in four Democrats said Bush either lied or exaggerated about what
was known about Iraqi's weapons while an equally large majority of
Republicans said the president did neither. Slightly more than half of
all independents believed Bush had mislead the public about Iraqi's
weapons cache.

"I think he was believing what he wanted to believe," said one
respondent, Ron Perholtz, an accountant from Jupiter, Fla. "I can't say
he's dishonest. He heard what he wanted to hear. He's manipulatable by
[Vice President] Cheney and others."

Many respondents expressed regrets about the Iraq war. For example, Mike
Richcreek, 52, of Warner Robbins, Ga., believes Bush neither exaggerated
nor lied. "He went by what the intelligence given to him showed,"
Richcreek said. But, at the same time, Richcreek said he has begun to
doubt the merits of the war.

"I'm not sure now we should have gone to war in the first place," he
said. "You think of all of our young kids getting killed. That's a
problem. I'm glad I didn't have to make the decision."

A total of 1,003 randomly selected adults were interviewed Feb 10 to 11.
The margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 3
percentage points.

Post assistant polling director Claudia Deane contributed to this report.
--
Email sent to is never read.

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Clams Canino wrote:

The GOP hasn't started with the "Kerry is an asshole" campaign - yet.

There are a LOT of 1st hand anecdotal stories up here in the Boston Area
that basicly have Kerry doing the "Do you know who I AM?" bit. Kinda
like
Martha Stewart stories....

You can bet they're gonna trot them out..... and juxtapose them the
Bush's
affableness.

-W

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Majority of Americans Doubt Bush's WMD Claims:
Support for President Bush Drops to 50 Percent in Latest Post-ABC News
Poll

By Richard Morin and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 13, 2004; 7:32 PM

Most Americans believe President Bush either lied or deliberately
exaggerated evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in
order to justify war, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.


I am sure you are spot-on. It is going to be a dirty campaign.
Fortunately, Bush's abysmal record as President will be the key issue,
that and his "distortions" of the truth on real issues. I saw a great ad
on TV tonight...a simulated polygraph test with the needles jumping as
Bush's voiceover told one whopper after another.

I am hopeful we will be rid of Bush this time next year, and that the
country can heal its wounds and restore its reputation around the world.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Why harp on Bush's record and not on what the Democratic candidate is going
to do to cut excess spending, turn around the econmy and not tax the
population for the rest of the money the Congress that, which has increased
the tax rate from about 20% in 1950 to maybe 45% now, taken? Kerry is
another Bob Dole. career Senator, who is not executive material. Another
**** poor choice of candidates year! Harry, why not as a party flak and
activist, get some decent candidates for us to choose from? If we choose
someone as incompetant as Kerry just to replace Bush, we may be in even
bigger trouble than at present! You may be happy as your union brothers get
more contracts and you keep overcharging for poor writing, but the rest of
us get screwed!

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Calif Bill wrote:
"Harry Krause" wrote in message


I am sure you are spot-on. It is going to be a dirty campaign.
Fortunately, Bush's abysmal record as President will be the key issue,
that and his "distortions" of the truth on real issues. I saw a great
ad
on TV tonight...a simulated polygraph test with the needles jumping as
Bush's voiceover told one whopper after another.

I am hopeful we will be rid of Bush this time next year, and that the
country can heal its wounds and restore its reputation around the
world.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Why harp on Bush's record and not on what the Democratic candidate is
going
to do to cut excess spending, turn around the econmy and not tax the
population for the rest of the money the Congress that, which has
increased
the tax rate from about 20% in 1950 to maybe 45% now, taken? Kerry is
another Bob Dole. career Senator, who is not executive material.
Another
**** poor choice of candidates year! Harry, why not as a party flak and
activist, get some decent candidates for us to choose from? If we
choose
someone as incompetant as Kerry just to replace Bush, we may be in even
bigger trouble than at present! You may be happy as your union brothers
get
more contracts and you keep overcharging for poor writing, but the rest
of
us get screwed!


Why harp on Bush's record? Because it is a sorrowful one, and reflects
the fact that Bush may well be the dumbest POTUS in the history of the
nation. Bush is a lying nincompoop, a failure, a fool, a divider, a
destroyer. He's just plain awful. Affable, though, eh? Good fishing buddy.

Bush's record *is* an issue.

Kerry will talk about how he wants to cut spending, turn around the
economy, and balance the budget. Since Bush is running up enormous
deficits with nothing to show for it, those aspects of Kerry's campaign
should interest you.

Kerry needs to change the "wants to" to "will" in the above paragraph. The
problem with all politicians is that they keep telling us what they are
going to do, if you tell me you are going to do it you had better do it.
Presidential candidates that are current or former Governors have a recent
track record to judge their executive actions upon. Senators are just a
bunch of people sitting around pondering their next begging for dollars
speech.

Bert

Clams Canino wrote:

The GOP hasn't started with the "Kerry is an asshole" campaign - yet.

No, but they have started with the "Kerry is a traitor" and Kerry is a
womanizer" and "Kerry is an extreme left-wing super-liberal pinko" campaigns,
how far behind can that one be?



There are a LOT of 1st hand anecdotal stories up here in the Boston Area
that basicly have Kerry doing the "Do you know who I AM?" bit. Kinda like
Martha Stewart stories....

You can bet they're gonna trot them out..... and juxtapose them the Bush's
affableness.

The funny thing is, that's no more true than any of the rest of it. GW Bush has
always had a high sense of his own importance, even as a kid. I know a bunch of
people who have met him. The ones who knew him 'way back when say he was an
obnoxious drunk (or worse), not one says he is a genuinely nice guy in person.
However he does have the ability to seem like a nice guy... apparently that's
worth a heck of a lot.

I have some relatives who live up near Boston, they are not Kerry fans (but
hint that they still consider him better than Bush).

DSK

"DSK" wrote in message
...

No, but they have started with the "Kerry is a traitor"
I think we covered that one.

and Kerry is a womanizer

Havn't heard THAT one - yet.

and "Kerry is an extreme left-wing super-liberal pinko"

Well when you sit on the left of Teddy - your left.

how far behind can that one be?

Beats me - I'm just hearing some of thelocal stories and can't believe they
wont go national.

-W

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Calif Bill wrote:
"Harry Krause" wrote in message


I am sure you are spot-on. It is going to be a dirty campaign.
Fortunately, Bush's abysmal record as President will be the key issue,
that and his "distortions" of the truth on real issues. I saw a great
ad
on TV tonight...a simulated polygraph test with the needles jumping as
Bush's voiceover told one whopper after another.

I am hopeful we will be rid of Bush this time next year, and that the
country can heal its wounds and restore its reputation around the
world.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Why harp on Bush's record and not on what the Democratic candidate is
going
to do to cut excess spending, turn around the econmy and not tax the
population for the rest of the money the Congress that, which has
increased
the tax rate from about 20% in 1950 to maybe 45% now, taken? Kerry is
another Bob Dole. career Senator, who is not executive material.
Another
**** poor choice of candidates year! Harry, why not as a party flak and
activist, get some decent candidates for us to choose from? If we
choose
someone as incompetant as Kerry just to replace Bush, we may be in even
bigger trouble than at present! You may be happy as your union brothers
get
more contracts and you keep overcharging for poor writing, but the rest
of
us get screwed!


Why harp on Bush's record? Because it is a sorrowful one, and reflects
the fact that Bush may well be the dumbest POTUS in the history of the
nation. Bush is a lying nincompoop, a failure, a fool, a divider, a
destroyer. He's just plain awful. Affable, though, eh? Good fishing buddy.

Bush's record *is* an issue.

Kerry will talk about how he wants to cut spending, turn around the
economy, and balance the budget. Since Bush is running up enormous
deficits with nothing to show for it, those aspects of Kerry's campaign
should interest you.





Kerry can say the Moon is Green cheese and Mar's is red because it is a
large Gouda ball. Talk and spin can cost us a lot of money, as well as
being cheap. No sound bites, I want to know what he is going to do to turn
around the US! As to executive ability, he probably ranks above Gen. Clark
and below all the other candidates. In is years in the Senate, I do not see
any sign of leadership. What bills has he introduced under his name?

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
news:c3dhc2g=.ed314049fcc11638284defaa30143bf8@107 6692178.nulluser.com...
Bert Robbins wrote:

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Calif Bill wrote:
"Harry Krause" wrote in message


I am sure you are spot-on. It is going to be a dirty campaign.
Fortunately, Bush's abysmal record as President will be the key
issue,
that and his "distortions" of the truth on real issues. I saw a
great
ad
on TV tonight...a simulated polygraph test with the needles
jumping as
Bush's voiceover told one whopper after another.

I am hopeful we will be rid of Bush this time next year, and that
the
country can heal its wounds and restore its reputation around the
world.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Why harp on Bush's record and not on what the Democratic candidate
is
going
to do to cut excess spending, turn around the econmy and not tax the
population for the rest of the money the Congress that, which has
increased
the tax rate from about 20% in 1950 to maybe 45% now, taken? Kerry
is
another Bob Dole. career Senator, who is not executive material.
Another
**** poor choice of candidates year! Harry, why not as a party
flak and
activist, get some decent candidates for us to choose from? If we
choose
someone as incompetant as Kerry just to replace Bush, we may be in
even
bigger trouble than at present! You may be happy as your union
brothers
get
more contracts and you keep overcharging for poor writing, but the
rest
of
us get screwed!


Why harp on Bush's record? Because it is a sorrowful one, and reflects
the fact that Bush may well be the dumbest POTUS in the history of the
nation. Bush is a lying nincompoop, a failure, a fool, a divider, a
destroyer. He's just plain awful. Affable, though, eh? Good fishing
buddy.

Bush's record *is* an issue.

Kerry will talk about how he wants to cut spending, turn around the
economy, and balance the budget. Since Bush is running up enormous
deficits with nothing to show for it, those aspects of Kerry's
campaign
should interest you.

Kerry needs to change the "wants to" to "will" in the above paragraph.
The
problem with all politicians is that they keep telling us what they are
going to do, if you tell me you are going to do it you had better do it.
Presidential candidates that are current or former Governors have a
recent
track record to judge their executive actions upon. Senators are just a
bunch of people sitting around pondering their next begging for dollars
speech.

Bert


Uh, Bush is in the White House and controls both houses of congress and
the judiciary, and he still can't or won't deliver on his most important
pre-appointment pledges.




Back to my first question. What is Kerry going to do? Not Bush is bad, I
will be better. Why will he be better? Forget the Harry spinmeister
machine. What and Why are the questions that require answers!!!

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Majority of Americans Doubt Bush's WMD Claims:
Even some Bush allies say they have
been misled about Iraq's weapons, and the current Time magazine cover
story asks: "Believe him or not -- does Bush have a credibility gap?"

Questions about Bush's use of pre-war intelligence,

Iraq never was a threat to the US. Not immediate nor long term. Iraq was
only a threat to Israel.
The US was more than likely duped into war but being mislead by Israel
intelligence. They were the only ones to gain security by fighting their
war with US troops and not paying a penny for it.

Clams Canino wrote:
Beats me - I'm just hearing some of thelocal stories and can't believe they
wont go national.

I'm sure there is some dirt on the man; nobody is perfect. but when a
faked picture on the internet is trumpeted from rooftops as PROOF THAT
KERRY IS A TRAITOR it makes me very dubious when I hear more slander
against him.

DSK

"DSK" wrote in message
...
Clams Canino wrote:
Beats me - I'm just hearing some of thelocal stories and can't believe
they
wont go national.

I'm sure there is some dirt on the man; nobody is perfect. but when a
faked picture on the internet is trumpeted from rooftops as PROOF THAT
KERRY IS A TRAITOR it makes me very dubious when I hear more slander
against him.

He may very well *be* a traitor, but not for his anti-Vietnam War stance.
If the following is true, the scumbag is back-dooring the President on
foreign
policy...and is possibly inciting Iran to organize increased resistance in
Iraq. If true, his actions are treasonous because they're putting
our troops in further danger. Hell, Kerry is practically *begging* Iran to
help make our effort in Iraq fail...so that he can "build new friendships
and overcome
tensions with others".




Read:


February 12, 2004 No.661

Iranian News Agency Alleges Presidential Candidate John Kerry Sends
Email Message

According to an article published in the Tehran Times, the office of
U.S. Senator and leading Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry sent
an email message to the Mehr News Agency . The following is the article as
it appeared in English : [1]

"The office of Senator John Kerry, the frontrunner in the Democratic
presidential primary in the U.S., sent the Mehr News Agency an email saying
that Kerry will try to repair the damage done by the incumbent president if
he wins the election. The text of the e-mail follows:

"'As Americans who have lived and worked extensively overseas, we have
personally witnessed the high regard with which people around the world have
historically viewed the United States. Sadly, we are also painfully aware of
how the actions and the attitudes demonstrated by the U.S. government over
the past three years have threatened the goodwill earned by presidents of
both parties over many decades and put many of our international
relationships at risk.

"'It is in the urgent interests of the people of the United States to
restore our country's credibility in the eyes of the world. America needs
the kind of leadership that will repair alliances with countries on every
continent that have been so damaged in the past few years, as well as build
new friendships and overcome tensions with others.

"'We are convinced that John Kerry is the candidate best qualified to
meet this challenge. Senator Kerry has the diplomatic skill and temperament
as well as a lifetime of accomplishments in [the] field of international
affairs. He believes that collaboration with other countries is crucial to
efforts to win the war on terror and make America safer.

"'An understanding of global affairs is essential in these times, and
central to this campaign. Kerry has the experience and the understanding
necessary to successfully restore the United States to its position of
respect within the community of nations. He has the judgment and vision
necessary to assure that the United States fulfills a leadership role in
meeting the challenges we face throughout the world.

"'The current Administration's policies of unilateralism and rejection
of important international initiatives, from the Kyoto Accords to the
Biological Weapons Convention, have alienated much of the world and
squandered remarkable reserves of support after 9/11. This climate of
hostility affects us all, but most especially impacts those who reside
overseas. Disappointment with current U.S. leadership is widespread,
extending not just to the corridors of power and politics, but to the man
and woman on the street as well.

"'We believe John Kerry is the Democrat who can go toe-to-toe against
the current Administration on national security and defense issues. We also
remain convinced that John Kerry has the best chance of beating the
incumbent in November, and putting America on a new course that will lead to
a safer, more secure, and more stable world.'"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Tehran Times (Iran), February 8, 2004.