Sure hope you guys got your fill of shiny yellow South Carolina barbecue to wash down your morning ice cream with, Ted!

Charleston is a moss-draped port city filled with rich history that predates the Revolutionary War, much less the Civil War. I’m glad the JK Road Show and Traveling GOTV Carnival got to swing down that way.

tell the dolphins in Charleston harbor I said hello,
Otter

First off, Happy Birthday Marvin, sounds like you had a good one.

Thanks so much Ted for these reports,with all the blogoshere hogwash and punditry, its so nice to see what is really happening on the ground where it counts most.

Nice article here:

Kerry ignites Democratic faithful
Saturday, October 21, 2006
BY YVONNE M. WENGER

Somewhere between a rally and a protest, Democrats at the Charleston County headquarters in West Ashley chanted and hollered for U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Randy Maatta Friday. They clanked and clinked change in empty soda cans and pumped election signs.

They want the troops out of Iraq. They want President Bush out of the White House and they want Maatta in Republican Henry Brown’s seat in the U.S. House.

snip>

Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, pulled into the parking lot about half an hour later than expected for the Maatta rally and official opening of the county’s Democratic headquarters. He stepped out of a gray Honda Pilot, slipped on his dark suit jacket and headed inside as the crowd took form all around him.

snip>

Kerry, who is considering another run at the presidency, addressed issues such as $9 trillion in national debt and the war in Iraq.

“Iraq is not now and it never has been the center of the war on terror,” Kerry said. “Afghanistan has one-seventh the number of troops in it than we have in Iraq, where there is a civil war.”

Kerry, who also had stops Friday in Orangeburg, Columbia and Beaufort, said people should vote based on the issues. “You have to vote your concerns,” Kerry said.

Kerry called for Maatta, a Charleston real estate investor, to take the heavily Republican 1st District from Brown, who has held the position since 2001. The district is made up all of Horry County and parts of Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Georgetown counties.

snip>

“And the Democrats are going to change it,” Maatta said. “We are going to take the House back this year. We are going to take the Senate back this year and in 2008, mark my words, we’re going to take the White House back.”

http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/Stories.aspx?section=localnews&tableId=114500&pubDate=10/21/2006

Another article from Kerry’s Orangeburg, S.C. visit.

‘I want to win the war on terror’

Kerry says Bush making America ‘less secure’

By LEE HENDREN, T&D Staff Writer
Friday, October 20, 2006

Democratic Sen. John Kerry says the man who beat him in the 2004 presidential election, Republican President George W. Bush, has blundered badly while in office.

“Every mistake in the book that could be made, this administration has made,” the senator from Massachusetts said Friday at South Carolina State University.

As a result, Iraq is embroiled in a “civil war,” North Korea has enlarged its nuclear weapon capability and America has seen the return of a “segregated school system,” Kerry said.

“Ask any American when we were safer. We were safer under Clinton. This president (Bush) has made America less secure,” Kerry declared.

Kerry was the keynote speaker at a get-out-the-vote rally sponsored by the university’s Young Democrats Club.

Present at the event was the Rev. David Alston, who served with Kerry on a swiftboat during the Vietnam War.

“He can tell you that we actually were in Vietnam,” Kerry said wryly, referring to opponents’ attacks during the last presidential election.

“We thought the truth was out there, and we relied on Americans and their good judgment to see it. But when you’re putting millions of dollars behind lies, it has impact,” he said, calling it a “lesson learned.”

Standing on the edge of the stage in the Barbara A. Vaughan Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Building, Kerry opened his presentation with a television talk-show style monologue:

* “South Carolina State was founded in 1896, which means it’s actually older than Strom Thurmond,” he quipped.

* “It’s a very exciting day for the Republican Party: No Republican congressman was indicted today.”

* “It’s been about seven months, and Dick Cheney hasn’t shot anybody.”

* “The president was on ABC-TV doing an interview with (George) Stephanopolous. He compared Iraq to Vietnam. How the hell does he know?”

* “You guys are great. (In the 2004 campaign) you worked your hearts out and gave money you didn’t have. You knocked on doors and you worked unbelievably hard, and I can’t thank you enough for that. You did everything except move to Ohio.”

Then he turned serious.

“We’ve got a little less than two weeks, and there’s an amazing seriousness that has set into America. You’re here today but not enough people have tuned in to what’s going on.

“This administration says there’s no civil war in Iraq. That’s a lie. Every expert will tell you there’s a civil war. You can see it on television yourself every day,” Kerry said.

“They say that the Johns Hopkins study (of deaths resulting from the war) is phony. That’s a lie,” Kerry continued.

“Our troops are the best trained and most capable,” Kerry said. Yet the American military has been in Iraq for longer than it took them to win World War II, Kerry said.

Islam is a peaceful religion, Kerry said, but violent radical Islamists pose “an enormous challenge to our nation” and “for us to meet this challenge, you have to get it right.”

America is not going to win the hearts and minds of the Arab street “if you have Guantanamos and Abu Ghraibs and if you’re arguing in America over whether or not you ought to be torturing” prisoners, Kerry said.

“You tell me, what are our troops supposed to do? Find every improvised explosive device there is, the hard way?” he asked. “They deserve civilian leadership that is as good and as honest as they are.”

snip>

One person who hopes he will run is Orlando White, a Denmark resident and Orangeburg businessman.

“I hope he’s successful this time around,” White said.

Kerry already was successful in convincing one audience member to take part in the Nov. 7 balloting.

Before, “I wasn’t sure if I was, but I know now, I’m going to go and vote,” said Philip Burt of Sumter, a freshman at S.C. State.

Aaron Haire of Orangeburg, a sophomore biology major at S.C. State, said Kerry “hit on everything the general community really is concerned about, what people are thinking but have not necessarily brought forward and said.”

“I’m glad he hit on the point about education (being) the key to success and the key to your future” and the problem of inequalities in education funding, said Haire, who is the son of City Councilman Bernard Haire.

Ulysses S. Jarvis Jr. of Orangeburg said, “It gives the college students a different view, I think, to meet political leaders in person rather than on television.”

“I think it’s nice that he came to Orangeburg,” Jarvis continued. “Orangeburg is one of the Democratic strongholds in South Carolina. He would be very remiss if he comes to South Carolina and doesn’t come to Orangeburg.”

During his speech, Kerry acknowledged his friend, state Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, who played a key role in arranging Kerry’s appearance. He also acknowledged U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn’s chief of staff in the audience. Clyburn was in Florida, stumping for fellow Democrats, Kerry said.

Kerry acknowledged platform guest Cheryl Footman, an Orangeburg resident and the party’s candidate for S.C. secretary of state. “We know from Florida and Ohio that secretaries of state matter,” he said.

more>

http://thetandd.com/articles/2006/10/20/news/doc453981d5a24bc977749415.txt

First off, Happy Birthday to Marvin! I haven’t seen a picture here of him yet, maybe his face is out of the frame in some (the top of the frame, of course ;-)

Quote:
“The president was on ABC-TV doing an interview with (George) Stephanopolous. He compared Iraq to Vietnam. How the hell does he know?”

Classic line, Senator! IMHO ranks right up there with “3000 years ago Moses…..” and “one stone to kill the real bird at 1600 PA. Ave”.
Keep them coming!

Finally, if Bush wants to talk about “the nam” he ought to explain to America why people would erect a bronze statue in Texas to commemorate his service in Vietnam (hat tip to the Stephanie Miller Show). This has got to be a hoax, just like Dubya’s service…...

October surprise?

The Bush administration announces they are going to propose benchmarks to the Iraqi governement.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/21/frontpage/web.1021security.php

The Bush administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, senior American officials said.
Details of the blueprint, which is to be presented to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki before the end of the year and would be carried out over the next year and beyond, are still being devised. But the officials said that for the first time Iraq was likely to be asked to agree to a schedule of specific milestones, like disarming sectarian militias, and to a broad set of other political, economic and military benchmarks intended to stabilize the country.
...
Although the plan would not threaten Maliki with a withdrawal of American troops, several officials said the Bush administration would consider changes in military strategy and other penalties if Iraq balked at adopting it or failed to meet critical benchmarks within it.
...

With this comment by Rumsfeld

He emphasized the urgency of transferring more security and governing responsibilities to the Iraqi government. “It’s their country,” he said. “They’re going to have to govern it, they’re going to have to provide security for it, and they’re going to have to do it sooner rather than later.”
But Rumsfeld was quick to play down expectations: “There’s no doubt in my mind but that some of those projections we won’t make; it will be later, or even earlier in some instances. And in some cases, once we meet the projection, we may have to go back and do it again.”

A not so hidden political announcement at 2 weeks of a major election.  I just hope not too many people fall for it.

Thanks for all of these great updates!  Happy Birthday Marvin!  When will the Senator be coming back to NYC for a visit?

Dick Bell - It was great to see you last week and catch up on things.  Please tell Karen I say hello.

Best regards.

- Mary from Manhattan

Happy bday, Marvin!  Great pics, Ted!  THANK YOU, John Kerry for what you are doing, it will make a difference   :o)

Great point, Karen! Perhaps the Blogmavens That Be here at johnkerry.com could arrange to provide a photo gallery here on the site that would include not just officially-distributed press photos but also a broad selection of the informal, off-the-cuff pics of Mr. Kerry in the field that do so much to communicate who he really is.

Photos like those Ted’s been including in his road reports would be good to have there, and photos contributed by the many Kerry supporters who trade them back and forth online like vintage baseball cards—having a selection of those available in one place to show to prospective voters would really help us get the message out about just how charismatic and approachable a person he actually is.

aloof and distant? we know better,
Otter

Thank you JK, for keeping the heat, and thanks for the great updates.

Wow, Senator Kerry hit that one out of the park.  What a great interview with Stephanopoulos!  The point he made about McCain was spot on, as was everything he said about the bush admin’s handling of Iraq.  His answer to the Obama question was perfect.
I hope there’s video.  This one must be watched.

Otter,

I think the idea of informal pictures is great. People generally are more interested in unscripted events.

Senator Kerry was excellent. After reading the transcript from ABC, it is obvious that he wont take anymore BS from anybody. I love it. His message resonates and all he really needs is for the MSM to pick it up. But, I am not counting on the Bushco Propaganda Machine to live up to its responsibility to Americans. I take Senator Kerry at his word, and if he decides to run, we will have to be the ones delivering his message to the rest of our friends and neighbors. We will be able to remind them that he has been right all along.

BTW has anybody tracked down who the anonymous bloggers are that put up the anti-Kerry site?

Someone in the “campaign” needs to definitely save the soundbite of McCain saying we need to send MORE young men and women to Iraq…..Simply asking “where do you get them from?” will undoubtedly lead them to answer a question that makes the “fear card” look like, well, chickenshit. If the admin has done anything right with Iraq (yea, it’s a stretch…) it’s that they have not TO DATE mentioned a DRAFT (the “D” card).

If someone can actually get them to admit that is a possibility you can sink their battleship with one shot IMHO. I think if you played Rovian you could definitely hang an anvil around McCain’s neck. I cringe, but if they even breathe a word of draft or “expanding the military” I’d attack that every chance I could get.

i don’t know about any other college students, but we are dying down here in savannah (AASU) for some john kerry!!!