2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

Blogs


  • 2024 Presidential Campaign Blog

    2020 Presidential Campaign Blog

    2016 Presidential Campaign Blog

    2012 Presidential Campaign Blog

    2008 Presidential Campaign Blog

    2004 Presidential Campaign Blog

Ad


Subscribe to this blog's feed

Ad


John Kerry To Headline “Vote Early For Change” Rallies Across Wisconsin

Sen. John Kerry to Headline “Vote Early For Change” Rallies Across Wisconsin

Massachusetts Senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee will make stops in Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Madison, Mineral Point

Madison, Wis.—U.S. Senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry will headline “Vote Early for Change” rallies in Wisconsin on Tuesday, October 14.

At events in Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Madison, Senator Kerry will lead supporters to the local clerk’s office, where they will vote early by casting an absentee ballot in person.

Sen. Kerry will also headline a “Vote Early for Change” Rally in Mineral Point, where he will encourage supporters to cast early ballots between now and November 3. The rallies are part of a statewide “Vote Early for Change” drive that will include other events throughout Wisconsin.

Details of Senator Kerry’s schedule are below:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14

Milwaukee
“VOTE EARLY FOR CHANGE” RALLY
Doors Open: 9:00 a.m.
Program Begins: 9:30 a.m.
Red Arrow Park
920 N Water St
Milwaukee, WI

Oshkosh
“VOTE EARLY FOR CHANGE” RALLY
Doors Open: 12:30 p.m.
Program Begins: 1:00 p.m.
University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh
Reeve Union (Elmwood side)
800 Algoma Blvd
Oshkosh, WI

Madison
“VOTE EARLY FOR CHANGE” RALLY
Doors Open: 3:30 p.m.
Program Begins: 3:45 p.m.
Madison Capitol Square
(State Street Entrance)
2 East Main Street
Madison, WI 53702

Mineral Point
“VOTE EARLY FOR CHANGE” RALLY
Doors Open: 5:30 p.m.
Program Begins: 6:00 p.m.
Mineral Point Opera House
102 S Chestnut St
Mineral Point, WI

Posted by Mike on October 12, 2008 | Permalink

John Kerry Endorses Barack Obama for President

John Kerry Endorses Obama for President

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – Senator John Kerry endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President today.

Below is the text of Kerry’s address, as prepared for delivery:

Martin Luther King said “the time is always right to do what is right”. And I’m here in South Carolina because this is the right time to share with you my confidence that the next President of the United States should be, can be, and will be Barack Obama.

Four years ago, I began my own presidential campaign here in Charleston at Patriots Point. I committed myself then to fight for “a new era of concern for community and not division.” When the campaign ended almost a thousand miles away in Boston, I congratulated President Bush but I also warned him “of the danger of division in our country and of the desperate need for unity, for finding the common ground, coming together.” I dared to hope publicly that the healing would begin then. It didn’t – but it will begin when Barack Obama is President.

There are other candidates in this race with whom I have worked and whom I respect. They are terrific public servants and each of them could be President tomorrow and each would fight to take the country in the right direction.

But I believe that more than anyone else, Barack Obama can help our country turn the page and get America moving by uniting us and ending the division that we have faced. He has a superb talent, as all of you know, to communicate the best of our hopes and aspirations for America and for the world and that is why Barack Obama has the greatest potential to lead a transformation not just a transition.

He knows that real change only comes when millions of Americans join together and come together in a movement that demands it – when they’re united in common cause and to speak out so loudly that Washington absolutely has no choice but to listen. That’s not just a way to win the election – it’s the only way to change the nation.  He understands that we have to force the politicians to feel your power – and I am here because it is Barack Obama who in a unique way brings the lessons of the neighborhood, the lessons of the legislature and the lessons of his own life to that awesome challenge.  And my friends those lessons that made him a candidate to bring change to our country they’re same lessons he will bring to the oval office every day to fight for you as President of the United States.   

Now, I was proud to help introduce Barack to the nation when I asked him to speak to our national convention in 2004.  Obviously, Barack did all the heavy-lifting. But like millions of Americans, Teresa and I were stirred by the way he eloquently reminded all of us of the fact that our “true genius is faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles;” and we were all of us moved by the power with which he shattered the shallow stereotype, reminding people all across America that in Red States and Blue States, we “worship an awesome God.”

At this moment in America -- who better than Barack Obama to call us to responsibility for children abandoned in cities and rural communities?  Who better than Barack Obama to remind all Americans how much difference it makes to get an open door to a good school?  Who better than Barack Obama to bring millions of disaffected young people back to the great task of governing and making a difference, child to child, community to community? Who better than Barack Obama to bring new credibility to America’s role in the world and help restore our moral authority? Who better than Barack Obama to turn a new page in American politics so that, Democrat, Independent and Republican alike can look to leadership that unites to find the common ground? 

Mile by mile of the long march of this campaign, the cynics have questioned whether this young leader from Illinois is ready.  But you know what? The cynics may have spoken, but it’s the people who will decide. And it’s the people who can prove the doubters wrong and enlist thousands more in a movement for change to restore faith in our government at home and our reputation in the world.  In just a few days, right here in South Carolina, you get to do your part to make history and make Barack Obama President of the United States.

Since the birth of our nation, change has been won by young Presidents and young leaders who have shown that experience is defined not by time in Washington or years in office, but by wisdom, instinct and vision. Today we still draw on the “truths” that we believe to be “self-evident”—but how easy it is to forget that Thomas Jefferson was just 33 when he wrote them into our Declaration of Independence. How easy it is to forget that Martin Luther King was just 26 when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, just 34 when he inspired America with a powerful dream. My friends, when we choose a President, we are electing judgment and character, not years on this earth -- and it is the moral compass I see in Barack Obama that gives me confidence he will steer our country in the right direction.  He was, after all, right about the war in Iraq from the very beginning!

It’s time for South Carolina and our country to take stock of Barack Obama – to understand the strength of a man who grew up without his father, whose mother and grandparents couldn’t give him money or privilege but gave him passion and purpose, values and vision. Measure the character of a young man who graduated from an Ivy League college and could have gone anywhere – but chose the streets of Chicago as a community organizer going door to door to make hope burn a little brighter for the people who had seen the steel mills shut down and the jobs disappear. Measure the character of the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, who could have found fame and fortune on Wall Street or in a high priced law firm, but who instead chose cause and commitment as a civil rights lawyer giving voice to the voiceless. Measure the character of that young lawyer who chose public service over private gain and went to the legislature where he fought the old divisions and brought people together to put money in the pockets of working poor families; put early childhood education ahead of giveaways for the elected and connected; and brought Democrats and Republicans together to stand up for civil rights and civil liberties. Measure the character of a United States Senator who passed landmark ethics reform to restore faith in government, and who stood up to the bureaucrats to get Illinois veterans the disability pay they were promised, and traveled to the other end of the earth to work to end the genocide in Darfur. That is the true measure of character – character we need in the White House, character we need to help America retake its rightful place in the world starting in 2009.

I was recently in Africa and then at the Climate Change talks in Bali.  From afar you can sometimes have a clearer view than when you are in the middle of the maelstrom.  I saw and felt how important it can be to America’s interests in the world – to our ability to reach across great divides and speak the truth from a different experience in our own land. I saw how Barack Obama could strengthen our nation and set us back on the path of our time-honored values.

On the Foreign Relations Committee where Barack and I serve together, I have seen his special talent, a leader who knows how to listen. Just think about the difference it will make after eight years of bluster and ideology to have a president who reaches out to other nations, a president who wants America to lead by example, and a statesman who recognizes that even the most powerful nation on earth needs to make some friends on this planet.

Like Barack, I lived abroad as a young man and I share with him a healthy respect for knowing and understanding other cultures and countries – not from a book or a briefing – but by personal experience – by gut – by instinct. Good statescraft has always relied on leadership that sees other nations and leaders not just through American eyes and expectations, but sees them as they see and hope for themselves. Barack will be a president who marshals all our resources – military, diplomatic, economic, and moral – and first and foremost will always tell the truth to the American people. After years of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, with Barack Obama in the White House, we will have a President who treats our moral authority as a precious national asset that does not limit our power, but magnifies our global leadership.

Some have suggested in this campaign that Barack is guilty of raising “false hopes.” So I ask you, was it a false hope when Thomas Jefferson said the United States should make available to every child a free education in public schools?  Was it a false hope when Franklin Roosevelt said that half of our senior citizens no longer had to live in poverty? Was it a false hope when Harry Truman said that every veteran of World War II could go to college on the G.I. Bill? Was it a false hope when John Kennedy said we would go the moon in a decade?  My friends, the only charge that rings false is the one that tells you not to hope for a better tomorrow. Don’t let anyone tell you to accept the downsizing of the American Dream – not in our America, not today, and not tomorrow when Barack Obama is President of the United States.

President Kennedy’s call to service brought me into the United States Navy and to Vietnam.  A war gone wrong, a country divided, and politicians content to keep us that way made me an activist when I came back home.  Knocking on doors that wouldn’t always open, I saw the cynicism of Washington, but I also saw that brothers and sisters standing together could bring about great change.

Thirty five years later, I’m a little older and grayer, and I see a Washington that is even more divided today than it was then.  I see Americans by the millions turned off from our democracy itself. I hear about voters who want to turn off the television -- take their phones off the hook -- stop opening the mail -- because to them politics has become a dirty word and we’ve all seen too much of a politics that sells out the conscience of our country just to win an election.

I am here today because we need new leadership that can call us back together,  and leaders who look out at America, and see, not an electorate to be sliced and diced and pitted against each other, but citizens who want to do great things together. Sometimes the hardest thing for the established political world to do is make a clean break with the past – to readily embrace new thinking and a new beginning. The Old Guard sometimes has a hard time acknowledging an individual who breaks the mold. Well let me tell you something, Barack Obama isn’t just going to break the mold – together, we are going to shatter into a million pieces!

The country is yearning for bipartisanship, yearning for a change in our politics, yearning for an end to the battles of the past. People want innovative, nonpartisan and especially non-scripted ways of fixing problems. That is what Barack brings to this race and South Carolina and the country have the chance to guarantee that we get it.

I am here because we need leadership that understands as another young man from Illinois once said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand” and more than ever we need leaders who have lived and breathed the politics of unity.

In life, we all travel different journeys which shape our character.  We learn.  We make mistakes. We grow - hopefully.  One thing is clear:  Washington isn’t the only teacher – and in recent years Washington DC hasn’t been the best teacher.  I support Barack Obama for President because he has the judgment to know that Washington must change, the character to have already fought to change it, and the best ability of anyone running to unite Americans in that cause.

I support him because he doesn’t seek to perfect the politics of Swiftboating, but to end it.   

I support Barack Obama because he will help bring the country together again, lead the world and show by example, not by words, that here in America anything is really possible for those who dare to dream and those determined to work for it.

History gives us moments.  We get to decide what to do with them. I believe, this moment is the moment we should make Barack Obama President of the United States.  And I welcome him to Charleston, South Carolina - Barack Obama.

Posted by Mike on January 10, 2008 | Permalink

John Kerry Announces That He Will Run For Re-Election To The Senate And Not For President In 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2007

John Kerry: Still Fighting

Senator Kerry today sent the following email to the 3 million person johnkerry.com community.

Please visit www.johnkerry.com to view Senator Kerry’s webcast to hear John Kerry’s announcement on a new mission for the johnkerry.com community.

Below is a copy of the email:

Dear Friend,

I wanted to start by just saying thank you -- thank you to each and every one of you who have come together in the johnkerry.com community.

Thanks to you, we have a new Democratic Congress that is fighting to stop the administration's disastrous course in Iraq, thanks to you we can be a Congress that addresses issues like climate change and health care, and thanks to you, change is coming to Washington.

Over the last two years, when you could've walked off the field after getting knocked down in 2004, you didn't walk away, you kept fighting. Together, three million strong, you helped provide $14 million to more than 260 candidates, committees and progressive causes. Nineteen of those candidates received over $100,000 each in donations from our community. Just think of the special support that you helped us provide to veterans running for office -- helping to make Chris Carney, Tim Walz, Joe Sestak, and Patrick Murphy members of Congress today. And because you dug in early when a lot of people said it couldn't be done, you helped a courageous Vietnam veteran Jim Webb on his march to become the 51st Senator and give Democrats our majority in the Senate.

I hope you are as proud of what you've accomplished as I am. But this isn't a time to rest on our accomplishments.

The work isn't over. Today I hope you'll help me with another big mission.

35 years ago, I got into public life to end a war that was wrong. I believe now as strongly as I did then that it is wrong to ask more young Americans to die for anyone's mistakes. And I believe that a Congress that shares responsibility for getting us into this war must bear responsibility for getting us out.

Americans went to the polls and voted for change in Iraq. They sent a strong and clear message to all of us, on both sides of the aisle, that they wanted real change in Iraq. They certainly did not vote for us to sit by while some national leaders actually advocate escalating the war and sending more American troops into the middle of an Iraqi civil war. We must stand for a change in Iraq, or we don't stand for anything at all.

This mission, this responsibility, is something all of us must accept. As someone who voted for the resolution that gave the president the authority to go to war, I feel the weight of a personal responsibility to act.

I sought the presidency to lead us on a different course. There are powerful reasons to want to continue that fight now. But I've concluded this isn't the time for me to mount a presidential campaign. It is the time to put my energy to work as part of the new Democratic majority in the Senate, to do all I can to end this war and strengthen our security and our ability to fight the real war on terror.

The people of Massachusetts have given me an incredible privilege to serve in the Senate, to represent the birthplace of freedom, the cradle of liberty, and a state where in Faneuil Hall patriotic dissenters stood on principle. I want to continue representing Massachusetts, and that's why I am running for reelection so I can use my voice all day every day to end this war and galvanize grassroots action to force Washington and our Democratic Party to live up to its responsibility.

Together, all of us, starting with the three million of you who have built this online community, must remain steadfast in protecting the principles we fought for every day of our campaign. You have a responsibility to urge those who are running this time to step up and address those issues, and particularly on Iraq to find not just a new way forward, but the right way forward.

Above all else, the mission we must all join is to end the war in Iraq.

Our first step toward that goal is to force President Bush to set a deadline to redeploy our troops.

I hope you will...take the opportunity to speak out on the importance of setting a deadline to redeploy our troops and bring our heroes home.

Now that a new Democratic Congressional majority has convened in the U.S. Capitol, a deadline must be set. Working together as Americans, holding leaders accountable, is our best hope to ensure that it is.

Thank you,

John Kerry

Posted by Mike on January 24, 2007 | Permalink

John Kerry Supports Keeping Iowa and New Hampshire First

John Kerry supports keeping Iowa and New Hampshire first in his guest commentary in the New Hampshire Union Leader.

'I support Iowa and New Hampshire’s first-in-the nation status in our Presidential nominating process. The special role that Iowa and New Hampshire play in Presidential politics has strengthened our democracy by insuring that citizens at the grassroots engage directly with candidates for the Presidency. We should preserve the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in their traditional forms."

Posted by Mike on April 23, 2006 | Permalink

John Kerry Campaigns in St. Paul for Chris Coleman

John Kerry campaigned for Chris Coleman at a rally Monday, October 10th at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Kerry endorsed Coleman for mayor of St. Paul in an email to the Minnesota members of the johnkerry.com grassroots community. This was Kerry's second trip to Minnesota this year. He traveled to Saint Paul in May for a town hall meeting on his Kids First legislation.

Posted by Mike on October 10, 2005 | Permalink

John Kerry Hosts KidsFirst Town Hall Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota

John Kerry traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota on Tuesday, May 3rd for the second in a series of town hall meetings to highlight the growing need for health care coverage in this country and promoting his KidsFirst bill to provide health care coverage to 11 million uninsured children in America.  Kerry will visit Seattle, St. Paul, Baton Rouge and Miami during the tour.

In St. Paul, Kerry was joined by Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN), The Minnesota Nurses Association, KidsFirst coalition partners, health care providers and citizen KidsFirst activists for a town hall meeting on children’s health care coverage.

He spoke about how his KidsFirst legislation can help and how they can get involved to hold their leaders accountable on children’s health care issues.

On the first day of the 108th Congress, Kerry introduced legislation in the Senate, the “Kids First Act” – S. 114, to provide health care coverage to the 11 million American children who currently go without. Kerry’s legislation also helps Governors and states save on health care costs by reducing the burden on state’s Medicaid rolls. 

Posted by Mike on May 03, 2005 | Permalink

John Kerry Web Site Transition

The 2004 presidential campaign johnkerry.com web site in 2005 transitioned into a place for his supporters to stay involved.

John Kerry addressed his supporters with these words, "I understand the strength, commitment, and passion that are at the core of what we built together -- and I am determined to make our collective energy and organization a force to be reckoned with in the weeks and months ahead. Let's roll up our sleeves and get back to work for our country."

Posted by Mike on January 21, 2005 | Permalink

2008 Candidates

  • General
    Barack Obama McCain Palin
  • Republicans
    John McCain Mitt Romney Rudy Giuliani Fred Thompson Mike Huckabee Ron Paul Duncan Hunter Tom Tancredo Sam Brownback Tommy Thompson Jim Gilmore
  • Democrats
    Barack Obama Joe Biden Hillary Clinton John Edwards Chris Dodd Bill Richardson Dennis Kucinich Mike Gravel Tom Vilsack

Categories

  • 2008 DNC Convention (43)
  • 2008 GOP Convention (137)
  • 2008 Poll (7)
  • 2008 Presidential Campaign (100)
  • 2012 (2)
  • Alan Keyes (4)
  • Barack Obama (374)
  • Bill Frist (4)
  • Bill Richardson (104)
  • Bob Barr (3)
  • Books (2)
  • Chris Dodd (90)
  • Chuck Hagel (3)
  • Coins (10)
  • Debates (145)
  • Democratic National Committee (27)
  • Dennis Kucinich (13)
  • Duncan Hunter (22)
  • Electoral College (4)
  • Evan Bayh (3)
  • Film (1)
  • Fred Thompson (81)
  • George Pataki (1)
  • Gerald Ford (2)
  • Hillary Clinton (333)
  • Howard Dean (2)
  • Inauguration (18)
  • Iowa (1)
  • Iowa 2008 (47)
  • Jim Gilmore (13)
  • Joe Biden (77)
  • John Cox (4)
  • John Edwards (169)
  • John Kerry (7)
  • John McCain (648)
  • Mark Warner (2)
  • Mike Gravel (3)
  • Mike Huckabee (93)
  • Minnesota Politics (154)
  • Mitt Romney (324)
  • Newt Gingrich (1)
  • Podcasting (2)
  • Presidential Campaign 2000 TV Ads (1)
  • Presidential Campaign History (207)
  • Presidential Campaign TV Ads (379)
  • Ralph Nader (5)
  • Religion (1)
  • Republican National Committee (38)
  • Ron Paul (50)
  • Rudy Giuliani (194)
  • Russ Feingold (1)
  • Sam Brownback (45)
  • Tom Tancredo (20)
  • Tom Vilsack (21)
  • Tommy Thompson (34)
  • Web Sites (57)
  • Web/Tech (10)
  • Weblogs (1)
  • Wes Clark (2)
  • White House (4)
  • Wisconsin (5)
See More

Recent Posts

  • New 2012 Presidential Campaign Blog Feed
  • Mike Huckabee Wins Values Voter Summit Straw Poll
  • 56th Inauguration Features NASA Astronauts, Lunar Rover, Panoramic Photos and Live Twitter
  • President Obama's Inaugural Address Speech Text
  • Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov, The New White House Website Is Live
  • Live Streaming Video Of The Inauguration Of Barack Obama
  • Presidential Inaugural Committee Releases Planned Order of Inaugural Parade
  • The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) Unveils Interactive Web Tools To Bring Neighborhoods Together For The Neighborhood Inaugural Ball
  • Microsoft Silverlight Selected By Presidential Inaugural Committee To Enable Online Video Streaming Of Inauguration Events
  • President Obama to Christen New Cadillac Presidential Limousine

Ad