JOHN KERRY!! POPULIST!! man of the people

[rainstorm]

JOHN KERRY!! POPULIST. man of the people
THE REAL KERRY

By HOWIE CARR
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February 5, 2004 -- BOSTON

ONE of the surest ways to get the phones ringing on any Massachusetts talk-radio show is to ask people to call in and tell their John Kerry stories. The phone lines are soon filled, and most of the stories have a common theme: our junior senator pulling rank on one of his constituents, breaking in line, demanding to pay less (or nothing) or ducking out before the bill arrives.

The tales often have one other common thread. Most end with Sen. Kerry inquiring of the lesser mortal: "Do you know who I am?"

And now he's running for president as a populist. His first wife came from a Philadelphia Main Line family worth $300 million. His second wife is a pickle-and-ketchup heiress.

Kerry lives in a mansion on Beacon Hill on which he has borrowed $6 million to finance his campaign. A fire hydrant that prevented him and his wife from parking their SUV in front of their tony digs was removed by the city of Boston at his behest.

The Kerrys ski at a spa the widow Heinz owns in Aspen, and they summer on Nantucket in a sprawling seaside "cottage" on Hurlbert Avenue, which is so well-appointed that at a recent fund-raiser, they imported porta-toilets onto the front lawn so the donors wouldn't use the inside bathrooms. (They later claimed the decision was made on septic, not social, considerations).

It's a wonderful life these days for John Kerry. He sails Nantucket Sound in "the Scaramouche," a 42-foot Hinckley powerboat. Martha Stewart has a similar boat; the no-frills model reportedly starts at $695,000. Sen. Kerry bought it new, for cash.



Every Tuesday night, the local politicians here that Kerry elbowed out of his way on his march to the top watch, fascinated, as he claims victory in more primaries and denounces the special interests, the "millionaires" and "the overprivileged."

"His initials are JFK," longtime state Senate President William M. Bulger used to muse on St. Patrick's Day, "Just for Kerry. He's only Irish every sixth year." And now it turns out that he's not Irish at all.

But in the parochial world of Bay State politics, he was never really seen as Irish, even when he was claiming to be (although now, of course, he says that any references to his alleged Hibernian heritage were mistakenly put into the Congressional Record by an aide who apparently didn't know that on his paternal side he is, in fact, part-Jewish).

Kerry is, in fact, a Brahmin - his mother was a Forbes, from one of Massachusetts' oldest WASP families. The ancestor who wed Ralph Waldo Emerson's daughter was marrying down.

At the risk of engaging in ethnic stereotyping, Yankees have a reputation for, shall we say, frugality. And Kerry tosses around quarters like they were manhole covers. In 1993, for instance, living on a senator's salary of about $100,000, he managed to give a total of $135 to charity.

Yet that same year, he was somehow able to scrape together $8,600 for a brand-new, imported Italian motorcycle, a Ducati Paso 907 IE. He kept it for years, until he decided to run for president, at which time he traded it in for a Harley-Davidson like the one he rode onto "The Tonight Show" set a couple of months ago as Jay Leno applauded his fellow Bay Stater.

Of course, in 1993 he was between his first and second heiresses - a time he now calls "the wandering years," although an equally apt description might be "the freeloading years."

For some of the time, he was, for all practical purposes, homeless. His friends allowed him into a real-estate deal in which he flipped a condo for quick resale, netting a $21,000 profit on a cash investment of exactly nothing. For months he rode around in a new car supplied by a shady local Buick dealer. When the dealer's ties to a congressman who was later indicted for racketeering were exposed, Kerry quickly explained that the non-payment was a mere oversight, and wrote out a check.

In the Senate, his record of his constituent services has been lackluster, and most of his colleagues, despite their public support, are hard-pressed to list an accomplishment. Just last fall, a Boston TV reporter ambushed three congressmen with the question, name something John Kerry has accomplished in Congress. After a few nervous giggles, two could think of nothing, and a third mentioned a baseball field, and then misidentified Kerry as "Sen. Kennedy."

Many of his constituents see him in person only when he is cutting them in line - at an airport, a clam shack or the Registry of Motor Vehicles. One talk-show caller a few weeks back recalled standing behind a police barricade in 2002 as the Rolling Stones played the Orpheum Theater, a short limousine ride from Kerry's Louisburg Square mansion.

The caller, Jay, said he began heckling Kerry and his wife as they attempted to enter the theater. Finally, he said, the senator turned to him and asked him the eternal question.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," said Jay. "You're a gold-digger."

John Kerry. First he looks at the purse.

Howie Carr, a Boston Herald columnist and syndicated talk-radio host, has been covering John Kerry for 25 years.


howard dean was right, what has john kerry done in congress?
not alot.

he only gave 135 bucks to charity. i thought he wanted to forcibly take money from people who earn it and give it to people who dont. what about his own money?
JOHN KERRY!! MAN OF THE PEOPLE!!

[j]

I used to listen to Howie Carr's radio show every day from 3-5 when I lved in Mass. This guy eats up Liberals and spits them out.

I can remember when Kerry was Mike Dukakis' Lt. Govenor. (all you Liberals know that ..right?) There is no further left Democrat out there (Ted Kennedy included) than this Dukakis errand boy.

I'm surprised we haven't seen Kerry riding a tank ala MD, being the celebrated war hero he is.

Was going to post this..but this is as good a place as any.
Here are the issues where critics accuse John Kerry of being too liberal to win:

1. Against the death penalty in almost all cases.

2. Voted many times against tax cuts.

3. Supported killing military programs, including the B-1 and B-2 bombers.

4. Voted against banning "partial-birth" abortions and against parental notification when minors have abortions.

5. Voted against Defense of Marriage Act, which permits states to refuse to recognize gay marriages in other states.

6. Voted against the 1991 Gulf War.

7. Voted against $87 billion to support U.S. troops and rebuild Iraq.

8. Called for taxing guns and ammunition to pay for anti-crime programs.

9. Pushed to cut CIA funding - then griped about poor intelligence after 9/11.

10. Supported furloughs for first-degree murderers.

[rainstorm]

i agree J. if it were up to mr kerry, our military would be using bows and arrows.

[WXBUFFJIM]

Kerry is a giggilo that has no idea how little people live.

Jim

[Derek Ortt]

Kerry is nothing but a fraud who would make the USA a 3rd rate country if he is elected. Caymans are looking good for me if Kerry is elected

[streetsoldier]

My "Clintonista" siblings are telling me that, if I want to "keep (my) Social Security, vote for Kerry".

Well, SS has consistently tried year after year to cut me and my dependents back...the worst "hits" on us were during Cinton's watch. Now, we found out via mail that Debi is being taken off dependent's benefits as of June, when coppertop turns 16; as a result, she will have to quit college (within one semester of graduation) because we can't afford 1/4 of our income lost.

Yet, although according to my situation, one MIGHT think me a ravenous Democrat who votes with my wallet, I'm voting a straight GOP ticket this fall...out of CONVICTION and PRINCIPLE.

My brothers and sisters think I'm "insane"...they don't quite understand that I can't be "bought", no matter who promises me the moon. I'd rather be sick and poor, but RIGHT, than sell my battered, old Republic down the "river of no return" rather than line my pockets at other people's expense.

[stormchazer]

My "Clintonista" siblings are telling me that, if I want to "keep (my) Social Security, vote for Kerry".

Well, SS has consistently tried year after year to cut me and my dependents back...the worst "hits" on us were during Cinton's watch. Now, we found out via mail that Debi is being taken off dependent's benefits as of June, when coppertop turns 16; as a result, she will have to quit college (within one semester of graduation) because we can't afford 1/4 of our income lost.

Yet, although according to my situation, one MIGHT think me a ravenous Democrat who votes with my wallet, I'm voting a straight GOP ticket this fall...out of CONVICTION and PRINCIPLE.

My brothers and sisters think I'm "insane"...they don't quite understand that I can't be "bought", no matter who promises me the moon. I'd rather be sick and poor, but RIGHT, than sell my battered, old Republic down the "river of no return" rather than line my pockets at other people's expense.

You go boy!! Keep the faith!!

[j]

My brothers and sisters think I'm "insane"...they don't quite understand that I can't be "bought", no matter who promises me the moon. I'd rather be sick and poor, but RIGHT, than sell my battered, old Republic down the "river of no return" rather than line my pockets at other people's expense.

Boy you said it well. May I shake your hand brother?

[streetsoldier]

Done!

[wx247]

Kerry is an IDIOT! 'nuff said...

[streetsoldier]

John Kerry's voting record and "gold-digger" lifestyle, plus his treasonous "turnabout" just after resigning his USN commission...his background has more spots than a leopard.

And this won't be left hidden after the DNC convention dust settles. Not by a LONG shot.

[rainstorm]

Kerry and the special interests




Tens of thousands of truck drivers and other Teamsters approve the diversion of a few dollars from each paycheck to DRIVE, a union-controlled political account that contributes a maximum of $5,000 per election to U.S. senators and other federal candidates whose policies are deemed to be pro-Teamster. Nearly 75,000 individuals contribute to EMILY's List, an organization that donates to pro-choice Democratic women candidates. By raising relatively small contributions from large numbers of individuals, DRIVE and EMILY's List generated $9.6 million and $17.2 million, respectively, during the 2001-2002 election cycle. Both of these Democratic-centric organizations practice the modern version of what political scientists have approvingly described as interest-group politics. Today they are called political action committees (PACs). The contributions they make to federal candidates are in the form of hard money, which means that those donations are strictly limited and regulated by federal law.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has been making a very big deal about his long-standing policy of refusing contributions from such member-driven organizations, which he derisively calls "special interests." But Mr. Kerry has not practiced what he preaches. As it happens, Mr. Kerry formed his very own PAC — the Citizen Soldier Fund.
On the one hand, the Democratic presidential front-runner self-righteously refuses to accept a $5,000 hard-money DRIVE donation cumulatively generated by the relative pittances that truck drivers contribute to a common fund. On the other hand, during the 2001-2002 cycle alone, Mr. Kerry's own PAC accepted more than $1 million in hard-money donations and nearly $1.5 million in soft money. Soft money represents essentially unregulated, unlimited donations from wealthy individuals and from the treasuries of labor unions and corporations. (The 2002 campaign-finance bill made it illegal for national political parties to accept soft money and for federal politicians to solicit soft money.)
Mr. Kerry refused to permit his Senate re-election campaigns to even consider accepting a regulated, limited donation from DRIVE. However, an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a nonpartisan campaign-finance watchdog group, found that the Mr. Kerry's Citizen Soldier Fund PAC attracted soft-money contributions of $230,500 from the communications/electronics business sector; $279,700 from lawyers and lobbyists; and $456,000 from the finance/insurance/real-estate (FIRE) business sector. While accepting $5,000 in hard money from the truckers' DRIVE PAC was deemed by Mr. Kerry to be unseemly, his Citizen Soldier Fund PAC gratefully accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in hard-money donations from individuals affiliated with communications/electronics ($80,000), lawyers and lobbyists ($118,300) and FIRE ($144,200).
Meanwhile, throughout the second half of 2002, just before he was about to announce his candidacy for the presidency, Mr. Kerry flooded key primary and caucus states with the special-interest soft money his PAC raked in by the bucketful. A perusal of CRP data reveals that the Iowa Democratic Party and Iowa Democratic legislators (who proved to be instrumental in Mr. Kerry's late surge and surprisingly easy Iowa victory last month) were the beneficiaries of nearly $150,000 in Kerry soft money. Mr. Kerry won't accept a $5,000 regulated hard-money donation from the truckers' PAC, but his own PAC contributed $25,000 in unregulated soft money to the re-election campaign of Iowa's governor. New Hampshire's Democratic Party and its candidates collected nearly $120,000 in Kerry soft-money largesse. South Carolina's Democratic faithful pocketed more than $50,000.
It would appear that the sincerity of Mr. Kerry's oft-stated opposition to special-interest money in politics is subject to some doubt.

[azskyman]

In my younger years, I wandered about the political scene as a Democrat, a Republican, or a man's man...whoever caught on to whatever theme I was high on. I voted every way; each way. Or didn't vote in protest.

The sad news for Dems is that they seem to squander all opportunity. It's no secret that Republicans are vulnerable; that Bush has some difficulties in connecting eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart with the mainstream. He can define the Republican party unknowingly with that smirk while he speaks.

Still, with all the time on their side to generate a serious candidate for the Presidency, the Dems wallow away the years only to come up with candidates who are lackluster, suspect, and a poor representation of their own party values.

They seem to have done that again in John Kerry.

They still don't get it. Clinton-like charisma has no substance. He could charm and smile and swagger his way through his time in the office, but never represented the values I or this country stood for.

In the weeks ahead as the Kerry-for-President image brings his flaws to the surface, I suspect that once again the Dems will discover they have brought forth another bobblehead.

Maybe it's just me, but in a nation this size, I have to believe they could field a more representative opponent.

[rainstorm]

they had joe liebermann, but he is too moderate for dems now

[streetsoldier]

The only viable "candidate" the DNC could have had is Hillary...and she's too damn arrogant, smug and almost universally hated to go head-to-head with GW. She CAN rally the Dems in a way Kerry could only dream of...but not this time around.

In 2008, she will have her chance; the GOP won't have the "home-court advantage" OR a strong-enough candidate to stop her.

God help us, every one!

[Rainband]

They are all crooks. Nuff said

[blizzard]

If the independents put a strong candidate in the election, they will definately take a good amount of votes this year. The Dems have absolutely nobody worth even considering. MAybe they are setting Kerry up for failure. They all know he cannot win, and looking at his recort, maybe they just want to get him out of his current office.

[j]

Thought it was time to update this list. I've added #11.

I used to listen to Howie Carr's radio show every day from 3-5 when I lved in Mass. This guy eats up Liberals and spits them out.

I can remember when Kerry was Mike Dukakis' Lt. Govenor. (all you Liberals know that ..right?) There is no further left Democrat out there (Ted Kennedy included) than this Dukakis errand boy.

I'm surprised we haven't seen Kerry riding a tank ala MD, being the celebrated war hero he is.

Was going to post this..but this is as good a place as any.
Here are the issues where critics accuse John Kerry of being too liberal to win:

1. Against the death penalty in almost all cases.

2. Voted many times against tax cuts.

3. Supported killing military programs, including the B-1 and B-2 bombers.

4. Voted against banning "partial-birth" abortions and against parental notification when minors have abortions.

5. Voted against Defense of Marriage Act, which permits states to refuse to recognize gay marriages in other states.

6. Voted against the 1991 Gulf War.

7. Voted against $87 billion to support U.S. troops and rebuild Iraq.

8. Called for taxing guns and ammunition to pay for anti-crime programs.

9. Pushed to cut CIA funding - then griped about poor intelligence after 9/11.

10. Supported furloughs for first-degree murderers.

11. Called for increased funding to support "Interns for Recreational Sex " program.

[Lindaloo]

ROFLMBO!!!!!!!!!!!

[ColdFront77]

I used to listen to Howie Carr's radio show every day from 3-5 when I lved in Mass. This guy eats up Liberals and spits them out.

I used to hear Howie Carr from time to time... I wasn't a so called fan; but being a fan of WBZ NewsRadio 1030, AM680 WRKO was a choice for getting news, too.

One of my brother's (visiting from Massachusetts) listens to his show on a regular basis.