The John's are coming!

[SeleucusNicator]

Nice. I am rather jealous. Here in non-battleground states, we don't get Presidential candidates.

 

[Capulet]

Nice. I am rather jealous. Here in non-battleground states, we don't get Presidential candidates.

I think Clinton came to my town of Beckley once, but I was too little to know about it or care.

But I feel really lucky to have an experience such as this.

An article that talks about Kerry's visit!
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040709_1854.html

Kerry, Edwards Blast Bush on Values
Kerry, Edwards Criticize Bush Administration Over Values on Enron Case

The Associated Press

BECKLEY, W.Va. July 9, 2004 — Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards on Friday questioned President Bush's claim on values, arguing that the administration's slow-speed pursuit of former Enron chief Kenneth Lay hardly amounted to American values.

Campaigning together for the third day, Kerry and Edwards focused on values in New York appearances and accused Bush of overtaxing the U.S. armed forces with a rush to war in Iraq and a "backdoor draft" in veteran-rich West Virginia. The two Democrats ended the day in New Mexico, where they again emphasized the values issue.

"Values are putting the full force of the Justice Department on day one in an effort not to take three years and a few months before the election before you bring Ken Lay to justice," Kerry told a morning fund-raiser in New York.

"'Values' is not a word on a piece of paper, part of a political slogan," Edwards said. "Values are what's inside you."

Edwards praised "middle-class working Americans ... struggling to get by. They represent the values of America. Not Enron. Not Ken Lay."

Lay, a friend and contributor to Bush and other Republicans, was indicted Thursday after a 2 1/2-year investigation into the energy giant's collapse. He was accused of being involved in a conspiracy to deceive the public, shareholders, government regulators and others.

Lay and his wife contributed more than $790,000 to Republicans and slightly more than $86,000 to Democrats from 1989 to 2001, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Lay, a major fund-raising "Pioneer" for Bush, collected $100,000 for Bush in 2000. Enron donated $100,000 to Bush's inaugural gala.

The Bush campaign also said Friday that Lay had attended a dinner at Kerry's Georgetown home "10 months after Enron went under" and that Lay had been on a board, the Heinz Foundation, overseen by Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said that Kerry wasn't at the dinner, that the foundation was a philanthropic one and that Lay is no longer on the board.

Kerry was cutting short his trip to return to Boston on Saturday after a rally in Raleigh, N.C., to receive an administration briefing in Boston on Sunday on recent security threats, aides said.

Bush, campaigning by bus through Pennsylvania, lashed out at Kerry, calling him an indecisive, liberal "out of step with the mainstream values so important to our country and our families," according to prepared remarks.

Republicans assailed the Democrats for talking values hours after a glitzy Radio City Music Hall concert Thursday night in which Hollywood celebrities used the $7.5 million fund-raiser to rail against Bush.

At the event, actor Chevy Chase drew laughs from the audience when he suggested Bush's hobby was being "a liar." John Mellencamp sang a song that referred to Bush as a "cheap thug."

"Kerry has yet to denounce these hate-filled attacks," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., in a statement issued by the Bush-Cheney campaign. "In fact, he said that the performers represented the 'heart and soul of our country.' I disagree."

Former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., dismissed the GOP complaints, pointing out that Vice President Dick Cheney recently used profanity with a Democratic senator. "It's the pot calling the kettle black," Cleland said in a conference call arranged by the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill told reporters in a conference call that Kerry and Edwards did not agree with everything the performers said during the concert.

Kerry and Edwards wrapped up their day at a rally at a Hispanic cultural center in Albuquerque. Gore narrowly won the state in 2000. Both parties are courting Hispanic voters.

"John and I are going to give them a lesson in values," Kerry told their New Mexico audience. "Values are creating and keeping good paying jobs right here in America, and making sure they're available to all Americans."

The Democratic candidates talked values and the military in West Virginia. The state, with 203,000 veterans, or 15.4 percent of its adult population, is home to more veterans per capita than all but Alaska, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming.

Although solidly Democratic in past elections, West Virginia sided with Bush instead of Al Gore in 2000. Polls show the 2004 race too close to call. Its five electoral votes would be essential in another close election.

"They have been effectively putting into place a backdoor draft," Kerry said, describing the practical effect of extending deployments for reservists and National Guard members "and refusing to let them out."

On the subject of values, Kerry said that if a family loses a son or daughter in war, as president "you have to be able to say to them: I tried to do everything in my power to avoid the loss of your son or daughter. This president fails that test."

"I'll give you a value John Edwards and I will put in place. The United States of America should never go to war because it wants to, we only go to war because we have to," Kerry said.

Kerry alluded to the frequent images of him and Edwards' clapping each other on the back, touching and hugging the last three days, something that late-night comedians have had some fun lampooning.

"We make a great couple, ladies and gentlemen," Kerry said to laughs.

On Saturday, they were heading to Edwards' home town of Raleigh, N.C., for a rally ending their first campaign excursion together. Next week, the two candidates were to campaign separately.

Also, soon after Kerry arrived, the Bush campaign announced that George W. would be visiting Beckley. Theres no way in hell I'm going to his rally,

 

[ybbor]

Also, soon after Kerry arrived, the Bush campaign announced that George W. would be visiting Beckley. Theres no way in hell I'm going to his rally,

at least your keeping an open mind

 

[cgannon64]

he's also a Democrat, name: Barack Obama

Damn that's a cool name.

Anyway, the chances of a Presidential candidate coming to New York are nil...at least in places I can see them; at the convention they're closing off the entire area around the Garden.

Who knows, I may go to some of the protests though...not to protest, just to see what they're like.

 

[Capulet]

Damn that's a cool name.

Anyway, the chances of a Presidential candidate coming to New York are nil...at least in places I can see them; at the convention they're closing off the entire area around the Garden.

Who knows, I may go to some of the protests though...not to protest, just to see what they're like.

What about those $1000 a plate fundraisers?

 

[blindside]

Damn that's a cool name.

Anyway, the chances of a Presidential candidate coming to New York are nil...at least in places I can see them; at the convention they're closing off the entire area around the Garden.

Who knows, I may go to some of the protests though...not to protest, just to see what they're like.

His first name rhymes with Iraq (depending on how you pronounce Iraq) and second with Osama.

 

[Archer 007]

Nice. I am rather jealous. Here in non-battleground states, we don't get Presidential candidates.

Same here. Of course, my state is safe for a different candiate.