Last night, in a Valhalla-like victory celebration,
with swords clanging on shields all around him, Sen.
John Kerry (D-Mekong Delta) declared: "In the hardest moments, in the hardest moments of the past month, I depended on the same band of brothers that I depended on some 30 years ago. We're a little older and a little grayer, but I'll tell you this, we still know how to fight for our country."
Most of the anti-war vote in both Iowa and New
Hampshire went to Kerry? Why? Afterall, Kerry was on
the wrong side of the _resident's Iraq resolution last
spring. Why did most of the anti-war vote in Iowa and
N.H. go to Kerry? Because the rank and file know,
because the rank and file understand...To get this
Herculean task done, to cleanse this corrupt,
incompetent and illegitmate regime from the US body
politic, we need a solider. We need someone who is not
afraid. We need someone who has a grim determination.
Yes, I am grateful to Howard Dean (D-Jeffords) for
standing up, for speaking out...But that was last
year, the struggle that we are going into is not J.D.
Salinger short story. We need a soldier...Leftists
like Noam Chomsky and Peter Camejo (California Green
Party leader) live in a dream world. Their analysis of
the problem is *almost* flawless, but they have no
clue about what to do. They are so very tragically
wrong in saying that the Democratic Party is nothing
more than an enabler of the Bush Cabal and the
Military-Industrial Complex itself. The
Military-Industrial Complex is not monolithic. It
contains the Good, the Bad and the Worst. What is
Worst *is* the Bush Cabal, and the neo-con wet
dreamers who have taken it over. Most of what is Good
is with Kerry, if still covertly. And even much of
what is Bad simply wants a return to normalcy -- from
the extreme of the Bush Cabal -- and understands that
Kerry's true bi-partisan and mulit-lateral approach to
foreign affairs and national security will restore the
balance. It all comes down to degrees. We would not
be in Iraq today if Gore had been allowed to serve in
the office to which he was elected. We would not be in
Iraq today if Sen. John Kerry (D-Mekong Delta) was
President of the United States. Hans Blix would have
been allowed to finish the job he was so ably
performing...The contrast on substantive, vital
issues, i.e. the Economy, the Environment and the
Federal Judiciary as well as National Security, is so
profound between the _resident and even a centrist Democrat like Clinton or Gore...We need a soldier.
Indeed, the LNS suggests that we need two soldiers. Kerry-Clark is now the best, strongest ticket...There are at least seven damn good reasons: 1) Clark, with his credentials as a decorated Vietnam combatant and
the Supreme NATO Commander, reinforces Kerry's
military record -- two war heroes running against two
chickhawks, 2) Clark will sway Republicans and
Independents, 3) Clark will sway Southerners, 4) Clark
is not a Washington, D.C. politician, he is not a
politician at all, he has not fed at that lobbyists'
trough, 5)Clark has been an outspoken critic and
*expert witness* on the fabrications and
miscalculations leading to the war in Iraq, 6) Clark
has been an outspoken critic and *expert witness* on
the pre-9/11 failure, the post-9/11 coverup and the
bungling of the "war on terrorism," 7)Clark provides
protection for Kerry, if something happened to Kerry,
Clark would carry the mantle and stick it where the
sun has not shone for a long time...There are several
more reasons, but I think you get the
idea...Hopefully, Kerry and Clark will both run strong
in the seven states slated for next
Tuesday...Hopefully, after next Tuesday, we will have
the moral power of a Kerry-Clark ticket will become
clear...
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mekong Delta): So I have a message,
I have a message for the influence peddlers, for the
polluters, the H.M.O.'s, the big drug companies that
get in the way, the big oil and the special interests
who now call the White House their home: We're coming.
You're going. And don't let the door hit you on the
way out.
Repudiate the 9/11 Coverup and the Iraq War Lies, Show
Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
Senator John Kerry's Speech to Supporters in New
Hampshire
Published: January 27, 2004
The following is text of John Kerry's victory speech
in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, as recorded
by The New York Times.
SENATOR JOHN KERRY. Well, I love New Hampshire. And I
love Iowa, too. And I hope, with your help, to have
the blessings and the opportunity to love a lot of
other states in the days to come. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, New Hampshire for lifting up
this campaign and the cause of an America that belongs
not to the privileged, not to the few, that belongs to
all Americans. And I - and let me tell you this
victory belongs to all of you who made the phone
calls, walked the snowy cold streets, gave your
hearts, your hands and countless sleepless nights. You
stayed the course here in New Hampshire and because of
you this has been a successful and a happy campaigns.
And I make this pledge to you tonight: I have spent my
whole life fighting for what I think is right and
against powerful special interests. And I have only
just begun the fight. This is our mission. I intend
to.
So I have a message, I have a message for the
influence peddlers, for the polluters, the H.M.O.'s,
the big drug companies that get in the way, the big
oil and the special interests who now call the White
House their home: We're coming. You're going. And
don't let the door hit you on the way out.
This victory _ this victory belongs also in a special
way to the veterans who marched with us. And they
helped _ they helped to lift us up from the lowest
points to the point where we are today. I know that
all of you will join me in saying a special thank you
to Max Cleland[sp?] and Joe Brassman[sp?] [crowd
drowns Kerry out on last name]. In the hardest
moments, in the hardest moments of the past month, I
depended on the same band of brothers that I depended
on some 30 years ago. We're a little older and a
little grayer, but I'll tell you this, we still know
how to fight for our country.
And if I am president, I pledge....(Crowd: When! When!
When!)
When I am president, I pledge that those who wore the
uniform of the United States of America will have a
voice and a champion in the Oval Office.
Now this campaign goes on to places all over this
country. And I ask Democrats everywhere to join us so
that we can defeat George W. Bush and the economy of
privilege. And so that we can fulfill the ideal of
opportunity not just for some but for all Americans.
I ask you _ I ask those of you who are not yet part of
this campaign to go to JohnKerry.com. And I want you
to march with us across this land and demand a
government that's on your side again. That is the
mission of this campaign. And together we can lift our
country up, up to the America that all of us know that
we can become.
So stand with me, stand with me and together we're
going to give America back its future by repealing the
Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans and investing in
health care and education, children. Stand with us and
together we will build a prosperity in this country
where Americans are not just working for the economy,
but the economy is working for Americans. A prosperity
where we will reduce the poverty of millions rather
than reducing the taxes of millionaires. A prosperity
where we create jobs here at home and where we shut
down every loophole, every incentive, every reward
that goes to some Benedict Arnold C.E.O. or company
that take the jobs overseas and stick Americans with
the bill. Stand with us and together we will give
America the fundamental decency of health care that is
affordable and accessible and the right and not a
privilege, that is available to all Americans, and we
will make the same plan available to all Americans
that is available to senators and congressman
Stand with us and we will fight for an America where
Medicare is protected, where health care costs are
kept down, and where your family's health care is just
as important as any politician's in Washington, D.C.
(Applause.)