achtungbaby
08-07-2004, 06:16 PM
Ahh, acknowledgement. Now maybe they'll move past lip service.
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Thursday that America remains a nation divided along racial and economic lines, and pledged to ``lift up those who are left out.''
In an appearance before minority journalists, the Massachusetts senator said he would have jumped into action more quickly than President Bush did on Sept. 11, 2001, when he learned of terrorist attacks.
The president spent seven minutes reading to Florida elementary school children after learning that hijacked planes had been flown into the World Trade Center in New York.
``Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whisper in my ear that America is under attack, I would have told those kids very nicely and politely that the president of the United States has something that he needs to attend to,'' Kerry said.
Kerry also ridiculed President Bush's claim that the nation has ``turned a corner'' in an era marked by terrorism and economic recession.
``Just saying that you've turned a corner doesn't make it so. Just like saying there are weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) doesn't make it so. Just like saying you can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it so. Just like saying 'mission accomplished' doesn't make it so,'' Kerry said.
``The last president who used that slogan, who told us that prosperity was just around the corner, was Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression,'' he said.
In an appearance before a group of minority journalists, Kerry drew applause when he referred derisively to Bush's recent decision not to speak before the NAACP. He said that as president, he would meet with the members of the Black Congressional Caucus, civil rights groups and other minority organizations as part of an effort to build a more united nation.
``America is still a house divided, in health status, living standards, access to capital, schools, all the things that make a difference,'' he said.
Kerry cited statistics that 50 percent of black men in New York City are without work, while in some cities 40 percent of Hispanic children are school dropouts.
``How can we accept the fact that one of every five Asian-Americans attempting to buy or rent a home faces discrimination?'' he asked.
Kerry also pledged to ``open the doors of the White House to Native Americans.'' And in an unusual pledge, he said he would prod the nation's news executives to increase the number of jobs for Native Americans in the media.
Kerry's appearance marked a detour from his two-week, post-convention campaign swing through battleground states. He was returning to the Midwest later in the day, boarding a train in St. Louis with stops planned in Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
Poll indicate Kerry and Bush are running even in Missouri, though strategists with both parties say the state tilts Republican. Bush won the state narrowly in 2000, and his Democratic challenger has visited four times since wrapping up the Democratic nomination.
Kerry arranged to campaign with state auditor Claire McCaskill, the newly minted Democratic nominee for governor. She defeated Gov. Bob Holden in Tuesday's primary -- a victory that means a polarizing incumbent governor will not be on the November ballot.
On that same day, Missouri voters approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Bush had hoped to use the issue to increase conservative turnout in November, but Holden countered with a move that had the issue settled on primary day instead.
Kerry has been campaigning by bus since leaving the Democratic National Convention. The switch to a train -- in Harry Truman's home state of Missouri -- was meant to echo the famous whistlestop tour of 1948.
Truman won that race in an upset for the ages. By contrast, polls show Kerry and Bush locked in a tight race.
Ray Geselbracht, special assistant to the director of the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., said Truman believed he could win the presidency by meeting as many people as possible. Republicans ridiculed Truman's visits to so many tiny towns. Geselbracht said Truman played it as if they were ``demeaning small town America.''
``I think Truman today would probably adopt the tactic that Senator Kerry is adopting, that is combine the train with the bus,'' he said.
One of the cars used on Kerry's tour was built by Pullman in 1914 and used by Truman, as well as Presidents Clinton, Carter and Johnson.
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Thursday that America remains a nation divided along racial and economic lines, and pledged to ``lift up those who are left out.''
In an appearance before minority journalists, the Massachusetts senator said he would have jumped into action more quickly than President Bush did on Sept. 11, 2001, when he learned of terrorist attacks.
The president spent seven minutes reading to Florida elementary school children after learning that hijacked planes had been flown into the World Trade Center in New York.
``Had I been reading to children and had my top aide whisper in my ear that America is under attack, I would have told those kids very nicely and politely that the president of the United States has something that he needs to attend to,'' Kerry said.
Kerry also ridiculed President Bush's claim that the nation has ``turned a corner'' in an era marked by terrorism and economic recession.
``Just saying that you've turned a corner doesn't make it so. Just like saying there are weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) doesn't make it so. Just like saying you can fight a war on the cheap doesn't make it so. Just like saying 'mission accomplished' doesn't make it so,'' Kerry said.
``The last president who used that slogan, who told us that prosperity was just around the corner, was Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression,'' he said.
In an appearance before a group of minority journalists, Kerry drew applause when he referred derisively to Bush's recent decision not to speak before the NAACP. He said that as president, he would meet with the members of the Black Congressional Caucus, civil rights groups and other minority organizations as part of an effort to build a more united nation.
``America is still a house divided, in health status, living standards, access to capital, schools, all the things that make a difference,'' he said.
Kerry cited statistics that 50 percent of black men in New York City are without work, while in some cities 40 percent of Hispanic children are school dropouts.
``How can we accept the fact that one of every five Asian-Americans attempting to buy or rent a home faces discrimination?'' he asked.
Kerry also pledged to ``open the doors of the White House to Native Americans.'' And in an unusual pledge, he said he would prod the nation's news executives to increase the number of jobs for Native Americans in the media.
Kerry's appearance marked a detour from his two-week, post-convention campaign swing through battleground states. He was returning to the Midwest later in the day, boarding a train in St. Louis with stops planned in Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
Poll indicate Kerry and Bush are running even in Missouri, though strategists with both parties say the state tilts Republican. Bush won the state narrowly in 2000, and his Democratic challenger has visited four times since wrapping up the Democratic nomination.
Kerry arranged to campaign with state auditor Claire McCaskill, the newly minted Democratic nominee for governor. She defeated Gov. Bob Holden in Tuesday's primary -- a victory that means a polarizing incumbent governor will not be on the November ballot.
On that same day, Missouri voters approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Bush had hoped to use the issue to increase conservative turnout in November, but Holden countered with a move that had the issue settled on primary day instead.
Kerry has been campaigning by bus since leaving the Democratic National Convention. The switch to a train -- in Harry Truman's home state of Missouri -- was meant to echo the famous whistlestop tour of 1948.
Truman won that race in an upset for the ages. By contrast, polls show Kerry and Bush locked in a tight race.
Ray Geselbracht, special assistant to the director of the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., said Truman believed he could win the presidency by meeting as many people as possible. Republicans ridiculed Truman's visits to so many tiny towns. Geselbracht said Truman played it as if they were ``demeaning small town America.''
``I think Truman today would probably adopt the tactic that Senator Kerry is adopting, that is combine the train with the bus,'' he said.
One of the cars used on Kerry's tour was built by Pullman in 1914 and used by Truman, as well as Presidents Clinton, Carter and Johnson.