Kerry added, "If there's a next time, we'll do a better job. We'll see."

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&e=3&u=/ap/20041117/ap_on_go_co/kerry

On his first workday back in the Senate since losing his White House bid, Kerry remained far from the spotlight, granting interviews to hometown reporters and joining the depleted corps of Democrats as they elected the party's new Senate leaders.

In his first extensive interview since his Nov. 2 defeat, Kerry was asked by the Fox News affiliate in Boston about running again in 2008 and reminded the questioner that Ohio is still counting votes from 2004.

He then said, "It is so premature to be thinking about something that far down the road. What I've said is I'm not opening any doors, I'm not shutting any doors." Kerry added, "If there's a next time, we'll do a better job. We'll see."

Reflecting on his loss, Kerry said he was not sitting around thinking about it. "You've got to go on," he said. "Do I find it some mark of failure or distress, the answer is no." The former presidential nominee described himself as a "fighter," and added, "I can envision a lot of years of fight ahead of me."



"In this television frame grab provided by NBC, Democratic strategist James Carville cracks an egg on his forehead to demonstrate he's got egg on his face after his projection of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election was wrong on NBC's 'Meet the Press' during a taping at the NBC studios Sunday, Nov. 14, 2004 in Washington,. Carville projected 52-percent of vote for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 47-percent for President George W. Bush and one-percent for Ralph Nader. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Meet the Press/Getty Images)"

[Used and Abused]

1. See, that was his problem

It's a simple yes or no question, dammit!!

[robcon]

3. It's not a yes or no question.

Kerry's answer was appropriate: not ruling it out, and being open to running in 2008, but busy with other things now.

Perfect answer. For a wonderful person and a good politician.

[sendero]

2. Sorry Senator..

.... one to a customer.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. He Ran A Decent Race....

He should be proud....


That being said I don't want to go into the next campaign being forced to win OH and FL and being underdogs in those states...

[JNelson6563]

7. Yes! Did a great job!

I think it was especially brilliant the way they didn't answer the swift boat liars for three weeks. That quote Kerry handed the rethugs, "I did vote for the $87 billion...before I voted agaisnt it"....truly masterful.

:eyes:

[henslee]

10. Not fair. If it wasnt going to be that quote it would have been another..

Gore's sigh, Dean's scream, Kerry's "french" (code). It's all bullshit.
We all know its Big Media Echo chamber that is the real accomplice. SWL would never had legs if it wasn't echoed with raised eyebrows from Shamity and crew.

[JNelson6563]

19. So let's gift wrap it

The corporate media was screaming "flip-flopper" the minute it looked like they succeeded in getting Kerry as the Dem candidate. To hand them sticks to beat him with was sheer stupidity.

Julie

[Mike L]

24. Yes, you would think that Kerry learned something during 20 years in

politics. Obviously not.

[Mike L]

22. "If it wasn't going to be that quote it would have been another.."

I agree. Kerry gave them a plethora of quotes to choose from. He was an incompetent candidate.

[Cheswick2.0]

11. personally, I thought the "If I knew then what I know now, I'd still

vote for the IRW"... was his worst mistake.

The answer was "No, if I knew then what I know now, I would not vote for the IRW, especially not with this president in office".

[JNelson6563]

17. Yes, another stick to beat him with

Missed opportunites abound. Ugh.

[Mike L]

27. Or.......a simple

"If we knew then what we know now-- that there were no WMDs or WMD programs in Iraq-- there wouldn't have been an Iraq resolution."

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. The Only Time He Met Bush On A Fair Playing Field He Destroyed Him....

He used Bush as a punching bag in the first debate and won decisively the second and third....


I have trouble coming up with a plausible scenario where any of the other Democratic candidates could have done a better job...



on edit- I re read my post ... I said Kerry ran a decent race... I didn't say he ran a great race.... If I wanted to say he ran a great race I would have said he ran a great race...

But strawmen are so much easier to knock down... That's why they call them strawmen...

Here's an analogy.....

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a decent football team...

The New England Patriots are a great football team...

[Cheswick2.0]

15. but you see... that is part of winning these days.

However because of Kerry's and the party's stunning lack of vision they couldn't predict that BBV would be a problem. So they did nothing about it. We BEGGED them to pay attention, but the only people who did were Dean and Kucinich.... and a lot of other progressive democrats in congress.
Now we have Cobb, Nader and what's his name (sorry, brain fart) trying to shed light on the issue. Where is Kerry? Where is Edwards? Where is the party leadership?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. Badernak-The Liberterian Candidate Is Part Of The Group Asking For A

Recount...

[JNelson6563]

20. That didn't matter

Because people saw the handy-dandy sound bytes Kerry so thoughtfully provided much more than they did the debates.

And you may note I didn't put "great" in quotes. Wasn't saying you said that, was sarcastically concurring your view and building on it. Threw "great" in there because many here, sadly, hold that view.

Get over yourself spanky.

Julie

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. Get over yourself spanky

"If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants." --Isaac Newton

[JNelson6563]

28. Well your "gotcha" nonsense

smacked of being mighty pleased with yourself for having "busted" me for misquoting you, which I did nothing of the sort.

I note you have still yet to address the actual points I made about what a not-so-"decent" job the Kerry campaign did. But you did provide a snappy quote so I'll give you a 2 out 5. ;-)

Julie

[DemocratSinceBirth]

36. He Misspoke

And it was taken out of a context...


He meant to say he supported a better bill...


That's why I said he didn't run a "great" campaign...

That being said until we find a candidate who can "steal" a couple of red states we are destined for more and more defeats....

[JNelson6563]

38. At least we agree on one thing

...until we find a candidate who can "steal" a couple of red states we are destined for more and more defeats....

No argument here. Peace.

Julie

[unfrigginreal]

21. Don't forget "I'd do it all over again"

Best.Candidate.Ever. :puke:

[sandnsea]

33. I particularly like

"I've waffled before. I'll waffle again."

Oh wait, that was Howard Dean.

[JNelson6563]

34. Howard Dean is honest and pokes fun at their terms

What they call "flip-flopping" and "waffling" is what we know to be adjusting views to fit facts as they evolve. Dean's quote is obviously poking fun at the terminology they couch things in. Kerry handed them a nice, illustrative definition to put in the venacular dictionary under: flip-flopper. Dean poked fun, Kerry defined (albeit unwittingly).

Any other brilliant Dean-bashing points element-du-jour-nsea?

Julie

[sandnsea]

35. What about you?????

No mirror available???

You don't think they would have made just as much with that statement? I can see it now, hey, he admits he's a waffler. I'm beginning to think the entire country is just hateful and sick beyond repair. I don't understand the need to beat Kerry down in order to build Howard up. It's revolting. And once again, if there weren't 100 posts here doing just that, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about Howard. He ought to be the DNC chair. I don't think the leadership gets that if they don't stand up, the people will feel they have to and that won't be pretty.

[unfrigginreal]

40. You should take up your beef with the 'popular' Kerry supporter

that decided to make *yet another* rant post about 'other candidates' supporters. He does wonders for the atmosphere around here.

[sandnsea]

42. One person?

You have the audacity to get in a twit over one person??? Did you read this thread?

[unfrigginreal]

45. lol - yeah, just one person

I'm sure you know the thread that I'm talking about and there's a hell of a lot more than one person dissing 'other candidates' supporters while crying that those supporters are dissing their candidate. That's pretty much been the modus operandi of the Kerry crew throughout the campaign, diss the supporters(DUers) not the candidates. Then they go on to cry about how all the others are 'projecting.' It's getting old.

[sandnsea]

46. No I don't

To tell you the truth. Be glad to look at a link. And yes you're right, Kerry people tend to think there's nothing productive in dissing other candidates. We try not to do it. They're all good people and we can learn from all of them. Supporters who do that are destructive and not helping anything at all. Principles over personalities. Rip apart issues all you want, that helps. Connecting candidates to the issues and then verbally assassinating the candidate only hurts Democrats as a whole.

[unfrigginreal]

47. ROFLMBFAO!

"Kerry people tend to think there's nothing productive in dissing other candidates"

You must be kidding. It's not that 'Kerry people' didn't diss the other candidates, it's that they ALSO had a big 'ol time dissing other candidates' supporters. Some might call it an elitist atitude.

I can't believe that *you* posted that!

[sandnsea]

48. Link please?

I asked for the link, you didn't provide it.

Who started the bashing around here the Wednesday after the election? Dean would have this, Dean would have that. Bitch, bash, moan, groan. You think people are going to just sit back and say nothing? And when Dean does it, I don't let it pass either. He banked the primaries on beating up the "pink tutus". That was his entire plan. Didn't work then, won't work now. The left wing just doesn't have the power or numbers they think they have.

[JNelson6563]

49. Nonsense

The statement wouldn't have been nearly as damaging but of course, we can argue speculation all day long. Why bother?

I don't understand the need to beat Kerry down in order to build Howard up.

Beating Kerry down? Someone who watched their candidate plotted against by their own party just bucking up and working their guts out for the cause (in spite of no enthusiams at all for chosen cand.) has not right to argue that maybe they were right and their candidate may have done better? So is this a kindler, gentler sort of fascism? If so I don't like it any better than the Rethug flavor.


if there weren't 100 posts here doing just that, I wouldn't have a bad word to say about Howard

Oh! Well! I hope we've all learned our lesson! If only we would hold our dissent the mighty sandnsea would be in our corner! Firing unassailable logic at those who disagree with us instead of us! :eyes:

Julie

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cheswick2.0]

39. got humor?

Dean defused a joke. If Kerry had learned to do that he would have been better off.

Wow, that was kind of a pathetic and impotent stab SNS. Got another one?

[JI7]

5. "reminded the questioner that Ohio is still counting votes from 2004."

although it's unlikely there will be enough of a change to change the final outcome, i do like it that he is paying attention to this.

[Eurobabe]

6. John, stick to the senate...

:hi:

WHO? 2008.

[RC]

14. There won't be a 2008

The dems will have a place holder for show against who ever the terrorests want in the White House in 2008.

[ClintonTyree]

8. Please Mr. Kerry............

stay in the Senate, forget all about the White House. You had your chance and you quit after telling everyone in America that you would make sure "every vote counted". Dissolve into the forgotten specters of "also rans" and we'll get on with our lives as you should yours.

[Chili]

9. I watched the video of the interview

...and he said (paraphrasing, but not the number): "we lost by 50,000 votes." He said that very clearly. Twice.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

12. No.. He once said 50,000 votes over from other side

meaning a switch, so he meant the 100,000 plus defecit.

[Chili]

23. no, that's not quite what he said either

...this is what he said, and I can see where we'd both think we heard what we did:

"Kerry: Well that’s for punditry and others to decide, obviously I didn’t get enough votes in the end. We were 50,000 votes, approximately, moving the other way, short, in one state. That’s a very close race. No one’s ever beaten an incumbent president in a time of war. And ‘terror terror terror’ was being thrown at people in a huge, in a huge, negative campaign. I’m very proud of what we did. I don’t look backwards and say well, we did a lot of things that were rather remarkable. Brought out more people at any time in history, I won 57 million votes, plus, still counting – more than any person who’s ever run for president and lost in history. We turned out more people, more states than any time. If you look at the battleground states we actually had a more cumulative vote than George Bush did. We just didn’t get it all in the right state. And so, I’m not gonna worry about that. What I’m concerned about now is continuing the battle for the things I fought for in the campaign. Healthcare for Americans that’s affordable, jobs that pay more than the jobs going overseas, fiscal responsibility, energy policy that makes us independent and safer, and restoring America’s strength and reputation in the world. That’s why I’m here, and I’m very grateful to the people of Massachusetts for the privilege of being here and for the support that they gave me through this race.

King: Are you the last Democrat from Massachusetts, the last ‘liberal’ from the Northeast who will ever be able to run for president in our lifetime?

Kerry: Absolutely not. Why? I became within 50,000 votes of winning, against a president in a time of war, no one’s ever beaten a president in a time of war. Massachusetts was not an issue in this campaign. People need to dispel themselves of that immediately. What was difficult in this campaign was breaking through in terms of the negative, unbelievable onslaught and distortions and smears and other things. And we tried to run a very positive campaign about America’s future. I’m very proud of it."

You could interpret what he said there 2 ways in 2 different paragraphs. And to further complicate it, I heard it said differently in a 2nd interview - different interviewee (Janet Wu) - but he again used the 50,000 figure.

LOL - it's the 87 million all over again.

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x56035

[Cheswick2.0]

25. "No one’s ever beaten an incumbent president in a time of war."

We've always been at war with East Asia.

[Mike L]

30. " no one’s ever beaten a president in a time of war."

Hummmm........News Flash for Kerry: Nixon would have beaten LBJ had LBJ decided to run again. That's analogous to the 2004 election-- and Kerry lost even after Chimp got us into an unnecessary war.

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. Please close the door Mr. Kerry, because I won't be knocking on any for

you next time.

[Walt Starr]

29. Sorry Senator, you tried and failed.

No do-overs.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

31. No Kerry

I am philosophically opposed to Presidential campaign runners-up going for it again.

DTH

[TheDonkey]

32. I'd vote for him again

If his health is ok in 4 years.

If he runs again maybe we can talk about real issues as smearboats and flip-flopping will be old news.

[merh]

37. Did you watch the interview he gave yesterday?

John Kerry Speaks Out
(11/16/04 9:13 p.m.) Two weeks ago, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry conceded defeat in the presidential race against George W. Bush. On Tuesday, Kerry talked about his campaign with NECN political reporter Alison King -- and his future in Washington, D.C.

http://www.boston.com/news/necn/


I suggest you watch it --

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

44. Yes, I did, and he's right on target...BUT...

...even though he acknowledges the dirty, smear-filled, terror-centric travesty known as "The Bush Campaign," there is one thing that I still do not understand.

I don't understand why he spent most of the month of August letting the Swift Boat Motherf**kers do their dirty work. If you want to believe Newsweek, he complained about it regularly and emotionally to his daughter Vanessa, and probably many others in his inner circle.

But I don't understand why he let those worthless scumbags have their moment in the spotlight. I don't understand why he didn't whack those bastards HARD and IMMEDIATELY.

I don't say that as a "Pro-Kerry" statement or an "Anti-Kerry" statement or to be a smartass. He's RIGHT, given what he was up against, he fought one hell of a fight. He whipped Bush's ass in the debates.

But I DO NOT understand the Swift Boat thing.

He also needs to give some thought to the VERY REAL NOTION that AS WE SPEAK, Time Magazine is ACTUALLY considering naming Karl Rove as its "Person Of The Year."

Bill Clinton summed up Rove to perfection on "The Daily Show"..."He does what works and he gets away with it. If and when the time comes when he can't get away with it or it doesn't work, he'll do something else."

What will be different in 2008? If Kerry ran, it would be John Kerry versus Karl Rove, Round 2.

[merh]

50. I like how he said that it is too premature to discuss 2008 as

the voting has not been finished. ;-)

[donsu]

43. well I'd like to smack Kerry's mouth

I don't like being played.

we are murdering people in Iraq.

the glaciers are melting.

and he stood down and quit fighting. bah humbug.

[lojasmo]

51. he'll never again get my vote

nor a second of my time, nor a kind word. In fact, I'll actively campaign against him should he run again.

[bluedog]

52. I will never vote for

a candidate that is running if its a senator....they carry tooooo much baggage with them.which the GOP uses very effectively..........

[texastoast]

53. What a bunch of whiners on this post

Kerry is a decent man. One with a conscience. He became antiwar as most men quietly do after they see the horror. He should be proud of his race. He worked his ass off. It still hasn't been proven that he didn't win.

What has been proven is that there are a bunch of hypocritical fruitcakes calling themselves Christian Americans who worry about homosexuals hurting their kids more than a noble bullet in Iraq. It is not Kerry's fault. Those people would have voted for Hitler.

And while you are sitting around playing the blame game (it must feel so good), why don't we all take responsibility that he was our candidate and we put him up for the running. We had the opportunity to get organized and choose someone else.