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Politics : Right Wing Extremist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (44947)	9/5/2004 11:03:21 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 59480

Karl Rove: Kerry a 'Weak Politician' A predicted campaign shake-up won't do much to help Sen. John Kerry's presidential bid, according to top Bush political adviser Karl Rove - who called the Democratic nominee on Thursday a "weak politician." newsmax.com "The problem is not his staff, it's him," Rove told North Dakota WDAY radio host Scott Hennen. Story Continues Below After giving a laundry list of examples where Kerry has contradicted himself on various issues, Rove said, "This guy is a say-one-thing-do-another-thing, flip-flop, one-side, other-side, vacillating, weak politician." "That's the problem," the Bush political guru continued. "Not his staff. He's got probably the best staff that money can buy on the Democrats' side. They're able, they're tough, they're mean. Take a look at what they've been doing to us for the last six months." "The problem's not them - it's him," Rove reiterated.

To: John Carragher who wrote (44947)	9/5/2004 11:03:58 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 59480

Political converts give peek at future NEW YORK (AP) — One grew up in the South, convinced that Republicans were the voice of the "silent majority." One settled in Kansas, loyal to the Democratic Party, just like everyone else she knew. Both broke with the political faith of their families. This summer, each journeyed to the heart of their new political home. Their stories don't grab the spotlight, but they are at the crux of an evolving electorate shaped by demographics, domestic politics and global events. For political scientists and campaign strategists, the dynamics of party-switchers such as Shamin Rutledge and Gary Kendall offer a crucial glimpse into the nature and future of American politics. Mrs. Rutledge, 39, of Wichita, Kan., never thought twice about voting Democrat. "It was just understood, being African-American, in my family, that's the way you voted," she said. Mrs. Rutledge, a saleswoman of pharmaceutical products, never questioned her duty. Until Bill Clinton, that is. His moral failings hit home. She was married, a mother, and increasingly concerned with matters of faith. "It was really an eye-opener to me," she said. Concerns about abortion that she had kept to herself no longer could be ignored. "I really understood I was with the wrong party." Mr. Kendall, 55, of Charlottesville, is rooted in conservative values, shaped by parents who survived the Depression and World War II. "I got out of school believing that Republicans were there to protect the silent majority," Mr. Kendall said in July during the Democratic National Convention in Boston. "The average working person, the person who gets up in the morning, goes to work, pays their taxes, goes to church." That was until President Reagan's second term. Since then, the small-town lawyer has become gradually convinced that Democrats best reflect his values. Now — with a war that he doesn't believe in and a son who served in Afghanistan and Iraq — he's passionately Democratic. Middle-class people are "not the backbone of America anymore, they're getting their backs broken," Mr. Kendall said. If there's one way to predict the average person's political affiliation, political scientists say, look at the family. Family history can foretell party loyalty, adolescent rebellion, even independent voting, said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "People have to make these changes gradually." Mr. Sabato said political converts are becoming more likely, as the parties become more ideological and the breakdown of American families leaves more people without the community roots that define political identity. Mrs. Rutledge and Mr. Kendall are a long way from the prominent officials who have broken with their parties and caught national attention this summer, from Georgia's Democratic Sen. Zell Miller — who have a fiery speech Wednesday — to moderate Republicans, mostly former governors and senators, who took out an ad to criticize the Republican Party. The prominent ones are out there to persuade others. The people on the convention floor, and across the country, are just trying to make up their minds. URL:http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040902-113449-2480r.htm

To: John Carragher who wrote (44947)	9/5/2004 11:04:37 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 59480

Dems: Kerry's Senate Record Off Limits, Too David Limbaugh Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 Democrats are afraid the people are going to find out about John Kerry's Senate record. That's the only way you can explain their incessant accusations that Republicans are being mean and angry when they merely discuss his record. The idea that Democrats have been selling is that a factual airing of their default presidential candidate's record is dirty politics. Story Continues Below Following Sen. Zel Miller's convention speech, the cable shows were flooded with handwringing liberals beside themselves over the "meanness" of Miller's remarks. The newspapers followed with "news" stories and editorials registering the same complaint. The Associated Press reported, "Republicans are satisfying their convention delegates with an angry vision of the presidential race and attacks on Democratic nominee John Kerry, but it won't play well with voters in the closing weeks of the campaign, Democrats said Thursday." Sen. Edwards told "Today" show anchor Matt Lauer, "What we heard from the Republicans in that hall last night was an enormous amount of anger." Edwards called the GOP criticisms of John Kerry "completely over the top" and said they made him mad. Watch that anger there, Senator. I don't deny that Zel Miller delivered his remarks with a healthy flavor of righteous indignation at a party that has left him and other conservative Democrats, a party whose presidential candidate is the most liberal senator in America with an abominable record on defense. Senator Miller has a right to be upset. We're in the middle of a war, and his party has selected a man who has made a career of emasculating our intelligence services and our military readiness. We are not playing games here. That's why I was incredulous when Chris Matthews asked Miller last night how his speech was going to further the goal of promoting harmony among the parties and the people (my crude paraphrase). These conventions are not about promoting national harmony, but the business of selecting candidates who can lead the nation in these exceedingly dangerous times. But Chris Matthews' question reveals the liberal mindset. They act more interested in advancing the Rodney King credo: "Why can't we all just get along?" than in adopting proactive policies to safeguard our national security. That explains why John Kerry is always so preoccupied with currying the favor of French and German leaders. But the dirty little secret is that Democrats just pay empty lip service to promoting harmony. They've been sniping at President Bush for four years now, and it has been petty, nasty, mean-spirited and, yes, angry. Their real gambit was to keep the public's eye off John Kerry's Senate record. Their bizarre premise has been that Kerry's allegedly distinguished combat record alone qualifies him to be commander in chief -- no matter what he has done since. Putting aside damning questions about Kerry's Vietnam service and his anti-war crusade thereafter, it is simply ridiculous to say that one's ostensible heroism of 35 years ago justifies a gag order on his record ever since. Yet that's what Chris Matthews implied when he said, "The idea that (Kerry) is going to shoot spitballs in defense of a country that he risked his life to defend some years ago is a personal attack on the guy." Then he asked Sen. Miller: "Do you believe … Senator, truthfully, that John Kerry wants to defend the country with spitballs? Do you believe that?" Of course he believes that, Chris, which is why he said it. And he cited Kerry's Senate record to prove it. And it is not a personal attack, unless you consider the accurate depiction of Kerry's anti-defense record a personal attack. What are personal attacks are when Sen. Kerry, during his convention speech, said he will not mislead the nation into war and will restore trust to the office. And it's a personal attack for Matthews to suggest that Sen. Miller is lying -- saying something he doesn't believe to pander to the GOP audience. But he does believe it, Chris, or he wouldn't even be speaking at the GOP convention. People should be very suspicious that Kerry put all his presidential eggs in his Vietnam basket, especially since that basket is so full of holes. We have a right to know what Sen. Kerry is hiding? I'm talking about his Senate career here. Why is he trying to cover it up? Nothing could be more preposterous than for Democrats to cry foul when the Republicans are merely trying to publicize the truth about Sen. Kerry's voting record. If that's dirty politics, then Democrats must think Kerry's Senate record is shameful. And they're right. newsmax.com