Under Attack, Kerry Appears to Build Momentum

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Interviews with dozens of new Kerry supporters and still-undecided voters this week suggest that many Iowans once enchanted by Howard Dean, but alienated by a steady diet of critical reports about him, have begun to swing Mr. Kerry's way. And Mr. Kerry, the maximally accessible Massachusetts senator, has been enjoying consistently favorable coverage for the first time.

<snip>

Afterward, Ms. Snyder said she was worried no more and would now push her friends and neighbors to support Mr. Kerry. "I feel much more confident in his ability to take his experience and get it across to the American people," she said. Friday in New Hampton, Mr. Kerry gave an unremarkable speech but impressed Gladys Christoph, 51. She said she initially was drawn to Dr. Dean but not when she saw him in action. "When he's asked a question, he doesn't respond to it, he gives a pat answer," she said. "That sounds cute, but it doesn't approach what the people were asking. When Kerry answers a question, he is responding to the person."

Ms. Christoph said she was now solidly for Mr. Kerry: "There's a wonderful firm presence about him that seems he could be in command, and yet he's flexible."

For months, Mr. Kerry's advisers watched as, each time Dr. Dean encountered trouble, something occurred to change the subject. "There was a time when Howard Dean said crazier and crazier stuff, and kept getting more popular," one aide said. But Mr. Kerry has been making his own luck this week. On Sunday, he took an unexpected phone call from Christie Vilsack, Iowa's first lady, offering her support; she is now appearing in commercials for him. On Wednesday, the state agriculture secretary endorsed him. Those surrogates were campaigning for Mr. Kerry over the weekend, as were former Senators Bob Kerrey, Max Cleland and Gary Hart; the actor Scott Wolf and the band Blink-182, to court the youth vote; and the senator's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and daughter, Vanessa, to woo women voters. Nearly every Massachusetts congressman has fanned out across the state, and Senator Edward M. Kennedy is to be in Iowa on Sunday and Monday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/politics/campaigns/18KERR.html?ex=1075006800&en=af4f78e30a274fc8&ei=5062

[ClarkGraham2004]

1. What country is Teresa Kerry from?

[JohnKleeb]

2. mozembeique I believe and sorry for the spelling

They speak Portugese there.

[ClarkGraham2004]

3. I see....

Is she white? Or Portugese?

[JohnKleeb]

6. Portugese is white :)

Yes shes white.

[liberalnurse]

4. The Kerry Camp is essentially next door to the Dean Camp

here in Des Moines,Iowa. They had about a third of the activity, supporters, media and volunteers as was observed in the Dean Camp. 100's still kick'n it now.....dedicated troopers at the Dean Camp.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

5. That's been the mantra all along, hasn't it?

"We've got the hype, plus look at all these people yelling: 'We're for Dean'"

But what the article shows is that people in Iowa are starting to look beyond that, at who the candidates really are. Are they just giving pat, campaign trail answers, that fit with their campaign year conversions? or are they speaking from the heart about their lifetime committments?

But what about the Iowans they have been visiting? Are the locals paying any attention to the fervent out-of-staters in fluorescent orange stocking caps? How many Iowans actually want to take back their country? How many even knew it was missing? To try to answer those questions, we hit the pavement on Tuesday with a team of four Dean volunteers who had paid their way to Iowa from Colorado, Minnesota, Vermont and New York City. In order not to bias the experiment by dampening their ardor, we did not inform them that some skeptical Iowan politicians had taken to calling the orange-topped hordes the Perfect Stormtroopers.

<snip>

The Dean volunteers encountered a few Iowans like that on a frigid afternoon in West Des Moines, visiting more than 100 homes. Three-quarters of the residents either were not at home or refused to come to the door. Most of the rest said they either had no plans to vote or were not interested in Dr. Dean.

When one volunteer, Amber Morgan, 35, a public school teacher from Brooklyn, asked an elderly woman if she was leaning to any candidate, the woman replied "Yep," followed by a long, long stare.

"Is it a secret?" Ms. Morgan finally asked.

"Yep."

<snip>

"If it had been somebody local, somebody that I knew, I might have listened," said Frances Rosen, a retiree. "What those people from out of state said didn't really make any difference, but they were nice people and it's their prerogative to come. I guess they must be getting something from it themselves."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/politics/campaigns/18POIN.html

[liberalnurse]

7. I suggest you come on down here to Des Moines, Iowa

and see for yourself. I'm here.... The truth is here, and much more effective than a punie article of hear-say....

Come on down, we'll have pizza together. I'll make it for you as I brought my pizza stone along.