KerryVision

Get Smart on the Obama Campaign

2008-10-19T13:57:08Z

It's getting down to the wire, and the surrogates are out across the country, firing up supporters to get the word out for Obama-Biden. Big name pols and the other famous faces have been visiting local Obama offices in towns and cities to help spread the word, and we were able to capture a couple. Sen. Kerry in New Hampshire Sen. Kerry spent Saturday morning in Nashua to rally volunteers, and in Manchester for a veterans' phone bank for Obama. The Senator's speech was biting, as he took McCain to task for the nasty lies coming from his campaign, and called on NH Sen. John Sununu to stop the vicious robocalls coming from the McCain camp to voters in NH and across the country.

"Let me say something to John Sununu, those robocalls that are being run here in the state of New Hampshire by John McCain's campaign somehow trying to scare people and link Barack Obama with a past that he had nothing to do with are utterly disgraceful and have no place in American politics," the Boston Democrat said. "I call on John Sununu to break his silence and come out and tell the people of New Hampshire that those calls have no place in the Granite State."

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. The Senator finished up the day in Norwood, off the campaign trail, for a medals ceremony, where he presented the family of the late Armit Tilgner with replacements for awards that were lost decades ago, sometime after the Chief Warrant Officer's helicopter went down in Malaysia. More on that soon. Pittsburgh "Gets Smart" In Pittsburgh, Barbara Feldon, aka Agent 99 from the hit 1960's TV series "Get Smart", stopped by the Moon Township Obama office on Saturday to speak to volunteers about campaign issues that are important to her, especially health care and women's concerns, and explain how they lead to her strong support for Barack Obama.

"I think that there are very few times in history that there is someone with the leadership qualities that he has, that rise out of the mass of people and to not take advantage of that would be just a very sad thing for the country."

Her remarks were interrupted briefly by someone's cell phone, at which point Ms. Feldon started to take off her shoe before realizing the call wasn't for her. She continued with stories of her youth in Pittsburgh before seeing volunteers off to canvass. I was able to snap a few photos of the Obama volunteers paling around with the spy.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. I wish I had thought to ask her about the 'cone of silence', and if, like McCain, Max ever said he was in it when he wasn't -- but I missed her by that much, so we may never know. Sorry about that, Chief.

Humane Society Legislative Fund endorses Obama/Biden

2008-10-18T22:57:41Z

Recently, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announced their support of Barack Obama for President. It's a significant endorsement given the huge number of animal lovers in this country and the fact that the HSLF has never before endorsed a candidate for the top spot. Video Credit:utubewtchr In the Humane Society statement, they cite Sen. Obama's legislative history of animal protection, but I can't help but wonder if his opponent's running mate had something to do with their decision. Gov. Palin has an abysmal record on animal rights, fighting against protections for polar bears, and promoting the disgusting practice of shooting animals from low flying planes with high powered rifles. Just this week, Palin added the beluga whale to her hit list. Even the Bush administration, whose environmental record is pretty pathetic, won't go so far as to oppose protection of these incredible animals. Video Credit: StorytellerMedia In addition to the Obama endorsement, the HSLF gave Senator Kerry his fifth consecutive 100% rating. KERRY SCORES 100% ON HUMANE SOCIETY HUMANE SCORECARD

BOSTON � Senator John Kerry today received a score of 100% on the Humane Society�s Humane Scorecard on animal protection issues during the 110th Congress. His score was based on his opposition to horse slaughter, animal fighting, downed animal slaughter and his work to prohibit the use in research of dogs and cats obtained from unknown sources � including stolen family pets. "The Humane Society should be applauded for its work championing the cause of protecting animals, and I'm proud to receive a 100% rating from the group," said Senator Kerry. "I'll continue to be an advocate for animal rights and work with my colleagues in Washington to ensure the Humane Society has a strong voice in Congress that recognizes and furthers its work on behalf of all animals." Kerry was a co-sponsor of the Horse Slaughter Amendment, legislation that prohibits the slaughter of horses for human consumption. He also co-sponsored the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act which created felony-level penalties for violations of the federal law on dog fighting and cockfighting. In addition, Kerry was a co-sponsor of the Downed Animal Protection Act which prohibits USDA certification of meat from sick or injured livestock. Every year the Humane Society Legislative Fund creates a federal Humane Scorecard to give a snapshot of the animal protection issues considered by the U.S. Congress. The scorecard tracks key votes as well as co-sponsorship of pro-animal bills. This is the fifth consecutive year that Senator Kerry has received a score of 100%.

There's a lot that's not covered in the HSLF statement on Sen. Kerry's work for animal rights, including his protection of the North Atlantic right whale and the polar bear, but a lot of that's probably covered in his 100% rating from the LCV for his tireless efforts to preserve ANWR. The LCV also endorsed Senator Obama.

KERRY SCORES 100% ON LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS' SCORECARD BOSTON � Senator John Kerry today received a score of 100% on the League of Conservation Voters� (LCV) scorecard on environmental issues during the second session of the 110th Congress. His score was based on his work on global warming and moving America towards a clean energy future. "I am proud and honored to receive a 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters. LCV should be applauded for its work championing the protection of our environment. Over the years we have worked together to stop drilling in the Arctic refuge, increase fuel efficiency of cars and trucks and reduce carbon emissions from power plants,� said Senator Kerry. �Come January, with Barack Obama in the Oval Office and a stronger, Democratic majority in Congress, we can end the era that put big oil ahead of everyday Americans and work to build a better future for children and our children�s children.� Ever since John Kerry spoke at first Earth Day in Massachusetts 38 years ago, he has been a top leader on the environment, fighting to clean up toxic waste sites, to keep our air and water clean, to raise our nation�s CAFE standards, and to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other pristine wilderness areas. Every year the League of Conservation Voters releases a �scorecard� to give voters a snapshot of how members of Congress vote on certain environmental issues. The scorecard tracks key votes as well as co-sponsorship of pro-environment bills. LCV, the nation�s independent voice for the environment, engages in public education, lobbying and accountability to turn environmental values into public policy. LCV has made global warming and America�s energy future a central focus of its activities in Congress and in the 2008 election cycle.

I find it absolutely incredible that any American would want to move backward on animal and environmental protection, but apparently the few remaining Palin fans out there either don't know about her record or don't care. Good thing the rest of us do. Congratulations and thanks to Senator Kerry and to and Senators Obama and Biden for their efforts on behalf of the humane treatment of animals and their stewardship of our precious natural resources.

"You all are going to make the difference"

2008-10-17T15:10:01Z

We all know there's a clear and a very important choice that will be made 18 days from today. With Barack up in the polls by a decent margin and all of us tired from what seems like a lifetime of phone calls and knocking on doors, it might seem like a good time to coast for a bit. It's not. The next eighteen days are critical if we're going to take our country back and start to reverse the last eight years of Republican disaster. We need to work harder, just a little bit longer. That was Senator Kerry's message as he traveled to Wisconsin and Iowa this week, urging residents there to vote early and spend election day helping to get out the vote. Senator Kerry was in Iowa on Wednesday, urging us to do just that. Video Credit: The Des Moines Register/Justin Hayworth Vote early, if you can. Not only will you avoid standing in line on Nov. 4, but it will free up your whole election day to work for Obama and help others get to the polls. Besides, you'll have 18 days between now and Nov. 4th to brag to your friends that you've already voted for Barack Obama! How cool is that? Video Credit: AmesTrib Check here for early voting and absentee voting rules, then go to your state page at BarackObama.com to find out how you can help bring an Obama victory over the next 18 days.

The Health Care Debate

2008-10-16T12:31:28Z

The pundits and the public will be batting around last night's debate for a while, but I think when the dust settles, we'll see that, as Hillary said last night, Obama came away with the win, going three for three in the Presidential debates. There were several topics where Barack excelled, in particular abortion, education and health care. On health care, Obama laid out his plan very clearly, and the public responded. In this morning's CNN poll, viewers chose Obama on health care 61-32. Here's the transcript of Obama on the issue from last night's debate.

So here's what my plan does. If you have health insurance, then you don't have to do anything. If you've got health insurance through your employer, you can keep your health insurance, keep your choice of doctor, keep your plan. The only thing we're going to try to do is lower costs so that those cost savings are passed onto you. And we estimate we can cut the average family's premium by about $2,500 per year. If you don't have health insurance, then what we're going to do is to provide you the option of buying into the same kind of federal pool that both Senator McCain and I enjoy as federal employees, which will give you high-quality care, choice of doctors, at lower costs, because so many people are part of this insured group. We're going to make sure that insurance companies can't discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions. We'll negotiate with the drug companies for the cheapest available price on drugs. We are going to invest in information technology to eliminate bureaucracy and make the system more efficient. And we are going to make sure that we manage chronic illnesses, like diabetes and heart disease, that cost a huge amount, but could be prevented. We've got to put more money into preventive care. This will cost some money on the front end, but over the long term this is the only way that not only are we going to make families healthy, but it's also how we're going to save the federal budget, because we can't afford these escalating costs.

McCain followed up by distorting Sen. Obama's health care plan, and Obama responded: Video Credit: presdebate08 JK spoke on the topic of health care and the differences between McCain and Obama's plans in Wisconsin on Tuesday, and YouTuber 'lanceburri' captured that part of the speech and several others. Video Credit: lanceburri 19 days before we start to turn this country around. I think we're ready.

JK in WI

2008-10-15T22:45:03Z

Shhh... WI is Wisconsin, but we're trying to keep this one on the down-low. The local media gets a little testy when their Senator spends a couple days out of the state, so we're trying not to point out to the Globe that Senator Kerry actually crossed state lines to help save our country (which includes Massachusetts, as well as several other states). Funny, I didn't see a whole lot of coverage of his recent stops across MA. Here they are in case you missed them. Graphic: JohnKerryforSenate To be fair, the local media in the towns and cities across MA did a pretty good job of covering the Senator's visits, but the Boston papers, well, not so much. I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder, though, and it's kinda sweet that they miss him when he's gone, so I expect they'll all have full news crews to greet the Senator in Lowell this Saturday when he and Nikki Tsongas work to GOTV with Mass Dems as they again cross state lines to NH (New Hampshire. Shhh...). Senator Kerry hit the road to rally early voters in Wisconsin yesterday in Milwaukee(video), Madison and Oshkosh (video). The Senator appeared to be having a good time with the crowd, taking a jab at VP nominee/Republican embarrassment Sarah Palin. "To paraphrase Sarah Palin, 'I can see Canada from here'." Good one, JK. At all three stops, Sen. Kerry called on Obama supporters to work for every vote, and recalled 2004, noting about the opposition: "The most important thing is to make certain that if they're lying about you, everybody knows they are." Senator Kerry didn't hesitate to point that out on Rachel Maddow's show last night, as he spoke about the 'bankruptcy of the McCain campaign'. Video Credit: crown416 Senator Kerry will be in IA today for five campaign stops before heading home to Massachusetts.

J-O-B-S

2008-10-14T01:10:10Z

In contrast with the McCain campaign, which was clearly against having an economic strategy before they were for it, Senator Obama laid out a plan in Toledo yesterday to restore our economy, reminding us first of his long term plan for growth, which includes:

- Reforming the tax code
- Bringing down the cost of health care
- Providing affordable education
- Creating 5 million new renewable energy jobs and 2 million new construction jobs to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure

In addition, Senator Obama introduced an economic rescue plan to provide near term relief. "It's a plan that begins with one word that's on everyone's mind, and it's spelled J-O-B-S." To deal with our immediate needs, Obama proposed

- Protections for homeowners including refinancing loans and a 90 day foreclosure moratorium
- A $3,000 tax credit for businesses for each new job created
- Allowing withdrawals of 15% up to $10,000 of retirement funds without penalty
- Low cost loans for small businesses
- A stimulus package and extended unemployment benefits

Finally, Sen. Obama called for a return to fiscal responsibility and accountability from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street. Video Credit: BarackObamadotcom Yesterday, the McCain camp said this:

... �We do not have any immediate plans to announce any policy proposals outside of the proposals that John McCain has announced, and the certain proposals that would result as economic news continues to come our way,� said a campaign spokesman, Tucker Bounds. Mr. McCain�s policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said, �I have no comment on anything, to anybody� ...

before they said this:

A freeze on foreclosures will not be part of a new economic rescue plan Republican John McCain will present to voters Tuesday, a senior aide told reporters Monday. [McCain senior policy advisor Doug] Holtz-Eakin would not provide details about McCain's new proposals, but told reporters they would be far superior to those offered by Obama on Monday.

In other words, they'll try to find one and 'bring it to ya'. Pretty erratic, or as former Reagan and Bush economic adviser Bruce Bartlett noted, �At this point I don�t think McCain can say anything on the economy that will sound credible.� Cross-posted at Reality Window

KerryVision Newsreel

2008-10-13T14:27:04Z

It was another busy week for Sen. Kerry, with a speech on Tuesday at an e-prescription conference in Boston, visits to Salem, Greenfield and Northampton and a trip to Pennsylvania for Jill Biden's mother's funeral. The Senator also recently addressed the persecution of Lithuanian Jews by their government, expressed support for Obama's small business plan that mirrors his own, and issued a statement about the NOAA ship strike regulation that will help protect the North Atlantic right whale. In an e-mail to supporters, the senator slammed the McCain camp for promoting hate at their events, likely in response to complaints from constituents. In other news, Sen. Kerry's Republican opponent continued to say silly things.

Senator Kerry has several Obama campaign events planned in Wisconsin and Iowa next week, and a 'Drive for Change' event with Nikki Tsongas scheduled for Saturday.

JK in Northampton

2008-10-12T14:06:00Z

Sen. Kerry visited Northampton on Thursday, and stopped by the Sierra Grille as part of the Kerry on Your Corner tour. He spoke with supporters (including a significant number of Smith College women) to talk about the upcoming election. The Senator recalled his visits to Smith when he was in school, and mentioned that his sisters were both Smith grads. The trip down memory lane also lead to a story about his mom and his early political career.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. He talked about the role of young people in the important events of our country, in particular the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and the environmental movement, and of the need to increase our majority in Congress, explaining what's at stake, and calling on all of us, especially the youth of our country, to work for change. The crowd reaction was interesting when Sen. Kerry mentioned both Joe Lieberman and Sarah Palin, both drawing laughter from those gathered. Mind you, he wasn't telling jokes, he just said their names. It's pretty telling when just the mere mention of a politician's name is followed by laughter, and not good for either of them. A question was asked about the 'bailout', and Sen. Kerry explained the plan, how he expects taxpayers to recover the rescue money and potentially make a profit. He spoke about his warnings to the administration their failure to heed them, and about what we need to do in the future to create new jobs and grow our economy. The Senator called the work ahead of us over the next few weeks an 'investment', and it is just that. Just as we need to invest in new jobs and new business opportunities, we also need to invest in a new administration that will provide the economic protections to restore our financial future. Audio of Sen. Kerry's speech here.

The Hate Talk Express

2008-10-11T14:01:43Z

After days of John McCain, Sarah Palin, and even Cindy McCain whipping their supporters into a hate-filled frenzy, after listening to audience members at town halls call Sen. Obama vile names and threaten violence, and after the McCain camp attempted to defend their supporters' vitriol and blame Sen. Obama for calling them on it, John McCain finally cautioned his followers to stop the venomous attacks. They booed him. Apparently, the hate and division that's been driving the McCain camp is stronger than McCain's ability to lead, and the fact that people turned on him at the suggestion Sen. Obama is actually a good person is an indication of the deep indoctrination of hate from the far right. Of course, the recent escalation of character assassination from the McCain campaign is nothing new, it's been promoted by right wing radio, television and newspapers since the start of the campaign, But the racist and partisan rage reached a crescendo over the past week. Video Credit: NCDem So, McCain finally made an attempt to reign in the ugliest of the smears against Sen. Obama, a start if he ever hopes to recover any credibility and save his legacy. The ads are still running, though. And his running mate hasn't shown any signs of dialing down the rhetoric. The campaign insists on continuing to divide America further by pointing to Obama's rather tenuous associations while ignoring their own close ties to a host of criminals, radicals, and secessionist sympathizers like Carl Lindner, G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Keating, Phil Gramm, Todd Palin, David Ifshin, John Hagee, George Wallace, Jr., John Rakolta, Robert Liggett, Oliver North, and The U.S. Council for World Freedom. I wonder if McCain's supporters know about this stuff and choose to ignore it, or if they just don't know that their guy's history of associations with questionable characters goes a lot deeper than being on a couple charity boards with a former radical and current university professor with ties to Reagan appointee Leonore Annenberg. Sen. Kerry sent an e-mail to his supporters yesterday, calling on us to report attacks at Truth Fights Back and stop the spread of fear and smear promoted by the McCain camp.

Hello KV, John McCain has shown a stunning failure of leadership. His campaign, in a time of economic crisis and foreign policy drift, has degenerated into a negative and nasty campaign of smears. The reports are piling up of ugliness at the campaign rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Audience members hurl insults and racial epithets, call out "Kill Him!" and "Off With His Head," and yell "treason" when Senator Obama's name is mentioned. I strongly condemn language like this which can only be described as hate-filled. According to reports, every ad paid for by the John McCain campaign is now a negative ad - every single one! McCain allows his running mate to make outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office. We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to fight back, spread the word about what kind of low campaign he's running, and make sure people know the truth. We set up an action center at TruthFightsBack.com, where you can print out a flier to be posted anywhere and write an letter to your local media to spread the word about the negative and destructive McCain-Palin campaign. Follow this link: http://www.truthfightsback.com/mccainsmears And we want to expand our Google ad campaign. When people hear a charge, many of them search for more information. We need to make sure they see the truth by placing it at the top of their searches. So please give what you can so we can reach as many people as possible. http://www.truthfightsback.com/contribute We follow the search patterns of people closely and try to jump on the new charges and smears right away. But to get to all of them, we need your help! Make no mistake, these are desperation tactics from the McCain-Palin campaign. They know that they are in trouble, that the American people are tired of the Republican policies that got us into this mess. But desperation does not excuse the kind of campaign they are now running. We all need to stand up and demand better. And work to defeat them in November. Thank you, John Kerry

Salem -- A Great American Neighborhood

2008-10-10T12:29:57Z

KVH of JKMediaSource was on hand to capture video of Sen. Kerry helping Salem residents celebrate as the city was named one of America's Great Neighborhoods of 2008. The Salem News reported on the festivities.

The American Planning Association dubbed downtown Salem one of the 10 Great Neighborhoods in America for 2008, noting that the city "blends 17th century history and architecture with a 21st century pace and liveliness."

If you've never been to Salem, you should try to make it there. Especially this time of year. Salem combines the 'witchy' with the kitschy, so if you're into Halloween, there's no better place to be. But it's not all about witchcraft and the dark days of the trials. There are great shops, beautiful architecture, and some must-see literary sites. Add a whole lot of history to the brew and you really do have a great American neighborhood. Congratulations to the people of Salem, Massachusetts.

JK speaks to National E-prescribing Conference

2008-10-09T12:52:55Z

In July, the Senate passed Sen. Kerry's e-prescription bill 69-30, which was pretty great given the record number of filibusters from Republicans in the 110th.

The bill provides permanent Medicare funding for payment bonuses to physicians who acquire e-prescribing technology. In addition, for every Medicare prescription a doctor writes electronically, they will be paid an extra 1% bonus. Starting in 2011, Medicare physicians who are not electronically prescribing would face financial penalties. The bill passed over the summer as part of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act.

On Tuesday, the Senator spoke in Boston at the National E-Prescribing Conference about modernizing and improving medical care to meet our nation's health care needs. Video Credit JKMediaSource Really, there is no down side to e-prescribing, which makes me wonder why 30 Senators voted against it. It's good for patients and physicians and pharmacists, lowering cost and increasing patient safety. It's good for the economy. Heck, it's even good for the environment. This is what people care about, not the divisive rhetoric and hate speech of the McCain campaign or the distortions of Jeff Beatty's latest attack.

So, who won the debate?

2008-10-08T13:04:36Z

That one. By almost every account, Barack Obama won the debate last night, and he won for several reasons. Obviously, he was seen as the more presidential. He was strong on the economy and on leadership, two things the country is yearning for right now. But more than anything, people do not want a nasty, vindictive, disdainful old man who will resort to spewing hate and divisiveness at a time when the most important thing right now is to pull the country together. Senator McCain, you lose. By disrespecting your opponent to the point where you can't even use his name, you've shown the American people what you're really made of. By refusing to even shake Sen. Obama's hand at the end of a debate you've shown the world something about how you would handle diplomacy. Refusing to engage an opponent, avoiding an adversary, is why our country's moral authority is eroding. Video Credit tpmtv And running out of the room like a petulant child who didn't get his way won't change the outcome of McCain's failure. As Barack and Michelle interacted with the audience after the debate, staying to shake hands and talk with voters, Sen. McCain cut and ran. If this wasn't about who will lead our country through some very rough times, I'd say it was just kind of sad. As it is, the thought of John McCain and his equally vicious running mate in the White House is pretty darn terrifying.

JK in Springfield

2008-10-07T14:05:31Z

With the economy in crisis, the stock market spiraling downward, the national debt clock out of digits, and McCain and Palin ignoring the economic crisis to resort to nasty smears in a last ditch effort to save their flailing campaign, most people are talking about little else. We could, of course, talk about the ugly tactics of the McCain campaign by detailing John McCain's association with a host of criminals and radicals like Carl Lindner, G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Keating, Phil Gramm, Todd Palin, David Ifshin, John Hagee, George Wallace, Jr., John Rakolta, Robert Liggett, Oliver North, and The U.S. Council for World Freedom, but to tell the truth, it was depressing just putting together the list and I'm pretty sure it's incomplete, so we'll save that for another time. Yesterday, Sen. Kerry helped open a beautiful new court house in Springfield, Mass. Video Credit: WWLP WGGB has additional video, including an interview with Sen. Kerry from the ceremony were he comments on the new building's architecture. Probably not the most exciting or important news story of the day unless you happen to live in Springfield, but it's nice to see something built up after a day of watching the McCain camp's attempt to tear the country down.

KerryVision Newsreel

2008-10-06T12:56:17Z

The big news this week was the $700 billion rescue bill, and Sen. Kerry, as a member of the Finance Committee, was in the thick of it, with a speech on the Senate floor, an interview with O'Reilly, and a press conference. The bill passed in both the House and Senate, which was good, but it's only a start. It's going to take our new President, Congress and the rest of us a lot of work to turn the economy around. Speaking of lots of money, Sen. Kerry gave $1 million to the DSCC this week. I guess he's pretty serious about getting a whole bunch of new Dem colleagues, because he sent an email asking the rest of us to send money, too. The Senate passed JK's resolution on the crisis in Georgia, a bill to prohibit the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) from funding propaganda, $163 million in home heating aid for Massachusetts, and significant tax breaks, including immediate relief for taxpayers and incentives for alternative energy. Senators Kerry and Harkin sent a letter to the SBA questioning loan rates, and Sen. Kerry sent a letter to NOAA insisting on protection for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The Senator and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray also announced some good news for Massachusetts rail service. JK also scheduled two debates with Beatty, his Republican challenger in the upcoming election. That should be fun. Enjoy.

The Rising

2008-10-05T16:20:58Z

Bruuuuuuuuce! Springsteen rocked Philadelphia yesterday before a crowd of 50,000, urging them to register to vote and speaking of the need to take our country back and restore our moral authority. Calling Bush a 'disaster' and pointing to the failures of the administration, The Boss called for us all to support Barack Obama, and spoke about the importance of this election and his vision for America before launching into "The Rising".

"Opportunity, equality, social, economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea as a positive influence around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, and they give our lives shape and meaning. These are the ties that bind us together, and give us faith in our contract with one another."

Video Credit: NCDem If you're not registered to vote, do it now. If you're not sure if you're registered, make sure. If you're registered, find someone who isn't, and help them register.