Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (618070)	9/4/2004 12:50:16 PM
From: TideGlider	Respond to of 769670

Dean blasts Kerry's fund-raising tactics He said the front-runner has special interests. Kerry says he has taken no checks from groups. Associated Press TUCSON, Ariz. - Howard Dean looked to gain an edge over Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry yesterday by labeling the Massachusetts senator the "handmaiden of special interests." In a speech at the outdoor Georges Demester Performance Center, Dean cited a study by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan political research group in Washington, that said Kerry raised nearly $640,000 from lobbyists over the last 15 years, more than any other senator. "We are not going to beat George Bush with somebody who has his hands as deeply in the lobbyists' pockets as George W. Bush's," Dean said. "We need somebody from outside Washington to clean up Washington, and not another special-interest senator." Kerry shot back quickly. In an interview with a local television station, he said, "I've never taken from groups. The only people who have contributed to my campaign are individual Americans. Now are some of those individual Americans lobbyists? Yeah, sure. I am the only person in the United States Senate who has been elected four times who has voluntarily refused to take any checks from political action committees." Dean is drawing heavy financial support from two large labor unions. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees' political action committee has spent more than $1.7 million on polling, ads and get-out-the-vote efforts. A Service Employees International Union PAC has spent close to $1 million. Dean said he doesn't consider unions a special interest, and many of Kerry's donations are from business lobbyists. Voters in Arizona, South Carolina, Missouri, Delaware, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma will choose Democratic presidential delegates on Tuesday. Heading into a frantic weekend of campaigning, polls showed Kerry with a commanding lead in Missouri, Arizona and North Dakota. But pollsters working for the campaigns said the race was tightening in Missouri and Arizona. Public polls were mixed in South Carolina, with one showing Kerry and Sen. John Edwards tied and another giving the North Carolina senator a lead in the chase for delegates. In Oklahoma, polls showed Kerry, Wesley Clark and Edwards locked in a three-way race. Party strategists and polls gave Kerry the edge in New Mexico and Delaware. Experts in every state had a word of caution. "Though Kerry looks awfully strong, there are still enough undecided voters to make things interesting everywhere," said Tom Dickson, chairman of the North Dakota Democratic Party. Kerry sought to broaden his message yesterday by arguing that his campaign was designed to "offer America hope and leadership." "Strip away the labels, strip away the partisanship," Kerry told a raucous crowd of about 700 at a downtown Kansas City, Mo., hotel. "People in America want real solutions." Edwards, who has acknowledged that South Carolina is a must-win state for him, swept through three other states yesterday in hopes of building new support in the next burst of delegate-selection contests. "I'm so ready for a shot at George Bush. If you give me a shot at George Bush, I'll give you the White House," Edwards said to a crowd at a theater in Kansas City. Edwards hopes to be able to survive Tuesday's primaries to position himself to campaign in the two Southern states that hold primaries Feb. 10: Virginia and Tennessee. Clark barnstormed across Arizona and New Mexico yesterday, sharpening his criticism of President Bush, calling him "the most divisive, polarizing leader in recent American history." Clark has targeted Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma as the states most likely to deliver him a badly needed win. At a rally in Mesilla, N.M., Clark said: "George W. Bush is going to run on his national security record. I know more about national security than George W. Bush has ever thought about, and I can hold him accountable."

To: Skywatcher who wrote (618070)	9/4/2004 1:01:40 PM
From: Andrew N. Cothran	Respond to of 769670

But is it was the last third of the President's speech where Bush really hit the ball out of the park. The whole week had systematically focused the nation's attention on 9/11 and the President's prosecution of the War on Terror. And there was a noticeable pickup in the President's intensity and the connection of his message when he moved into the portion of the speech defending his administration's approach to the War. Unlike Senator Kerry who refused at his convention to lay out a vision for the War, and who still today appears conflicted and ambiguous on how to precede, the President unapologetically told the American people his vision of how this War needs to be prosecuted. But it was the connection the President made on a human level with the American people, where the most devastating political points were scored. By opening up to reveal a humility and compassion, that is hard to square with the caricature most commonly offered by his political opponents, the President was able to scrape away some of the scar tissue that had begun to accumulate the last six months: In the last four years -- in the last four years, you and I have come to know each other. Even when we don't agree, at least you know what I believe and where I stand. You may have noticed I have a few flaws, too. People sometimes have to correct my English. I knew I had a problem when Arnold Schwarzenegger started doing it. Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, which in Texas is called "walking." Now and then I come across as a little too blunt, and for that we can all thank the white-haired lady sitting right up there. One thing I have learned about the presidency is that whatever shortcomings you have, people are going to notice them; and whatever strengths you have, you're going to need them. These four years have brought moments I could not foresee and will not forget. I've tried to comfort Americans who lost the most on September the 11th: people who showed me a picture or told me a story so I would know how much was taken from them. I have learned first-hand that ordering Americans into battle is the hardest decision even when it is right. I have returned the salute of wounded soldiers, some with a very tough road ahead, who say they were just doing their job. I've held the children of the fallen who are told their dad or mom is a hero, but would rather just have their dad or mom. I've met with parents and wives and husbands who have received a folded flag and said a final goodbye to a soldier they loved. I am awed that so many have used those meetings to say that I am in their prayers and to offer encouragement to me. Where does that strength like that come from? How can people so burdened with sorrow also feel such pride? It is because they know their loved one was last seen doing good because they know that liberty was precious to the one they lost. And in those military families, I have seen the character of a great nation: decent and idealistic and strong. This sequence was unbelievably great, and nothing in John Kerry's speech last month came even close to this level. This was the President Bush of October 2001, the President Bush of 70% job approval ratings, and it will serve as a powerful reminder to many Americans of what they like and admire in George W. Bush. Of course, the Left is so jaded and cynical toward the President this will have no effect at all with those individuals. But for the millions of voters who are anxious and unsure, voters that both campaigns are desperately trying to move into their corner, these words from the President are exactly what they wanted to hear from their Commander in Chief. So given the political necessity of defending his first term domestic accomplishments and the real need to outline a vision, domestically, for where he wants to lead the country. The speech has to be seen as a real home run. And a fitting conclusion to an extremely effective week for the Bush campaign. J. McIntyre