From ABC News Kerry campaign reporter Ed O'Keefe:
TOUGALOO, MISS., March 7 -- By now, Texans hardly bat an eye at an 11-car motorcade swirling through the blocked streets and cleared expressways of their major cities. And, given the Bush-friendly roads of the Lone Star State, more than a few natives might have mistaken the challenger's motorcade for that of the either Presidents Bush.
Alas, it was Sen. John F. Kerry diving deep into the heart of enemy territory, greeting 600 friendly Texans in Houston and nearly 2,000 in the more Democratic San Antonio.
The Massachusetts Senator returned their favor by dabbling in Spanish and grilling the Governor-turned-President. As Lyle Lovett's "That's Right, You're not from Texas" spun to a close, Kerry clasped the microphone in San Antonio and opened, "Muchas gracias por un gran bienveniedo!"
The Boston Brahmin, who flaunted his fluent French in New Orleans Friday, taunted his new rival, "The President is holed up at the ranch in Crawford . . . This Administration has a loooong trail of broken promises."
Kerry continued to cut the brush-loving President: "I think George Bush ought to leave the ranch and talk to people with no jobs. I think George ought to leave the ranch and talk to people with no health care."
And followed with a less-than-stellar zinger: "George Bush is a walking contradiction, a broken barrel of contradictions." A day later, the line mutated into, "the President is a walking contradiction, a walking stack of broken promises."
Even with Kerry's tough, if oddly phrased, talk, there were no illusions about the Senator's chances in Texas this November. In his Houston introduction, Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) pledged, "I'm going to do my best to make sure we carry Texas for Senator Kerry. If not&President Bush will know he had a darn good fight in his hometown."
While Kerry's trip was largely a symbolic to take after the President on his home turf, Kerry aides insist it was a good opportunity to campaign in the state before Tuesday's primary while organizing fundraisers and stirring the party faithful.
Kerry travels to the true battleground state of Florida for the first two days of this week, then settling back in Washington for three days of strategy and organizational plotting, including a meeting with former rival, Howard Dean. |
