# Kerry takes the high road **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 7, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015 "2004-06-07T00:21:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/21 "2004-06-07T00:55:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Like I want to stay on a MB where the MOD’s don’t even know the Democrat Presidential candidate’s initials and closes a thread because … well never mind. And I was call stupid here … LMAO Oh, come on, please? If you at least pay the subscription fee, it’ll go a long way to start paying us back for you devaluing our subscriptions. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/22 "2004-06-07T00:55:47Z")
Back to the OP. I was planning on holding my nose and voting for Kerry. I’m begining to think, especially after this week, that I may well change my mind. About my nose, not my vote. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/23 "2004-06-07T00:56:20Z")
I wonder if limiting the posts of “guests” to something like 10 a day would cut down on these 3-5 takeovers a week by trolling twits like SillyStar. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/24 "2004-06-07T00:57:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Shit, this chick is fucking thick. Would have been better as: Shit, thick chick. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/25 "2004-06-07T00:57:25Z")
> [@SallyStar](#): > > I know I am being pitted, but you got to be a major moron … Bush learning something from jfk? I think I speak for, well, everyone when I say, “Um, What?” **Lib** , I think you’re reading more into this than is warranted by the available information. According to [this story](http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/politics-0/1086564560258020.xml), Kerry isn’t forsaking “all political rhetoric,” he’s just cancelling his appearances. TV ads will continue, as apparently will the issuance of position papers where he accuses Bush of [a cynical and misguided ploy for a few Florida votes.](http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0605a.html) (In fairness, he might have made his decision after that press release went out – the timeline is a little unclear.) It’s very smart for him to have cancelled those appearances, as they were fundraisers with big-name people who can’t be trusted to keep their yaps shut – people like Barbra Streisand. Showing up with her and having her say something stupid and devisive could hurt Kerry pretty badly. Bush, as near as I can tell, didn’t have any campaign events of that level scheduled [(cite)](http://www.georgewbush.com/Calendar/) – though the AP story indicates he did cancel a planned criticism of Kerry as regards the USA PATRIOT act (what that criticism might be, given that Mr. Kerry voted for it, is beyond me). ---
**Author:** ![SallyStar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SallyStar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyStar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/26 "2004-06-07T01:11:22Z")
> [@manhattan](#): > > I think I speak for, well, everyone when I say, “Um, What?” Ok, **manhattan** , I’m the major moron here. However, do you know the initials of the potential Democrat Presidential candidate John Kerry? Also, please note I did **not** use caps … ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/27 "2004-06-07T01:12:31Z")
To ignore our visitor for a moment (a course I recommend to all), it seem to me that the Senator’s decision is a class move. That is not to say that it is not a calculated move. President Reagan’s death was widely anticipated and may have been anticipated by Senator Kerry’s staff. Kerry’s announcement makes any campaigning by the President look like disrespect for what must be regarded as the patron saint of the modern conservative movement if not its actual father. It also goes a little ways toward ingratiating Senator Kerry with such Reagan Democrats as might be inclined to think that the party of Reagan has abandon his principles in favor of international adventures and profligate spending of the public treasury. In any event it isn’t going to hurt Senator Kerry much to back off for a week to see is the foreign adventure really goes south when the interim Iraqi government starts dealing with the Big Eight. I suppose Senator Kerry can be thankful that President Reagan did not die on the eve of or during the convention. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/28 "2004-06-07T01:27:09Z")
> [@](#): > > I note that he’s not going to pull his campaign advertising, which makes the gesture moot IMHO You reckon the networks would give his money back? I take it I will not see any **Bushco** campaign commercials for a couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/29 "2004-06-07T01:28:37Z")
> [@manhattan](#): > > Bush, as near as I can tell, didn’t have any campaign events of that level scheduled [(cite)](http://www.georgewbush.com/Calendar/) – though the AP story indicates he did cancel a planned criticism of Kerry as regards the USA PATRIOT act (what that criticism might be, given that Mr. Kerry voted for it, is beyond me). The ad that has ben running out here for the last week or so ( Iowa being a so-called battleground state, for the love of Pete) says that while Senator Kerry did vote for the USA Patriot Act his “liberal friends” have persuaded him to support changes to it that would deprive the US of important tools to fight terrorists when those same tools are available to fight drug dealers. There are, as you would expect, no specifics about what parts of the statute Senator Kerry wants to change and what vital weapons would be taken out of the FBI, etc.'s arsenal. Presumably the criticism would be for supporting changes to the Act – presumably with some specifics. Given that lots of people, including the ABA, is not overly enthused with some of the novelties in the Act, a decision to back off may not have anything to do with President Reagan’s death – it may be an unwillingness to expand on the advertisement and to just leave the innuendo hanging, twisting slowly in the breeze. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/30 "2004-06-07T03:02:36Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > You reckon the networks would give his money back? You reckon on reading past the first few lines of my post to find that I make EXACTLY THIS POINT IN MY OWN THREAD, dumbass? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cmason32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@cmason32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmason32)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/31 "2004-06-07T03:04:15Z")
It appears that Republicans haven’t figured out yet how much to make of Reagan’s death vis-a-vis the election. > **[THE 40TH PRESIDENT: THE POLITICIANS; Reagan Legacy Looming Large Over...](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/us/the-40th-president-the-politicians-reagan-legacy-looming-large-over-campaign.html)** > > Pres Bush and his advisers embrace legacy of Ronald Reagan, suggesting he was role model for Bush and that Reagan will be inspirational presence on campaign trail; Sen John Kerry also praises Reagan with speech and tribute on Web site, and cancels... > [@](#): > > Advisers to Mr. Bush said they had not determined how prominently Mr. Bush should identify his presidency with Mr. Reagan, whether Mr. Reagan’s image should be incorporated in Mr. Bush’s advertisements and whether Nancy Reagan might appear on Mr. Bush’s behalf in the fall. Some want to make a strong connection: > [@](#): > > Mr. Bush’s advisers said Sunday that the intense focus on Mr. Reagan’s career that began upon the news of his death on Saturday would remind Americans of what Mr. Bush’s supporters have long described as the similarities between the two men as straight-talking, ideologically driven leaders with swagger and a fixed idea of what they wanted to do with their office. > > “Americans are going to be focused on President Reagan for the next week,” said Ed Gillespie, the Republican national chairman. “The parallels are there. I don’t know how you miss them.” Others don’t appear so sure it will benefit GWB: > [@](#): > > Advisers to Mr. Bush said they had not determined how prominently Mr. Bush should identify his presidency with Mr. Reagan, whether Mr. Reagan’s image should be incorporated in Mr. Bush’s advertisements and whether Nancy Reagan might appear on Mr. Bush’s behalf in the fall. > > Some Republicans said the images of a forceful Mr. Reagan giving dramatic speeches on television provided a less-than-welcome contrast with Mr. Bush’s own appearances these days, and that it was not in Mr. Bush’s interest to encourage such comparisons. That concern was illustrated on Sunday, one Republican said, by televised images of Mr. Reagan’s riveting speech in Normandy commemorating D-Day in 1984, followed by Mr. Bush’s address at a similar ceremony on Sunday. > > “Reagan showed what high stature that a president can have — and my fear is that Bush will look diminished by comparison,” said one Republican sympathetic to Mr. Bush, who did not want to be quoted by name criticizing the president. > > Another senior Republican expressed concern that by identifying too closely with Mr. Reagan, Mr. Bush risked running a campaign that looked to the past, which this adviser described as a recipe for a loss. > > Several Republicans added that Mr. Bush’s hopes of enlisting Mrs. Reagan might be complicated by the differences between Mrs. Reagan and Mr. Bush on the issue of embryonic stem-cell research. Mrs. Reagan has been vocal in arguing that the research might help others suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which doctors diagnosed in Mr. Reagan after he left office, while Mr. Bush’s policy restricts public financing for this kind of research to existing cell lines. My guess is that Bush won’t lay it on too thick, but that many of his surrogates will. I expect Hannity, Limbaugh, et al, to really make a big comparison between the two over the next few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/32 "2004-06-07T11:15:26Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > JFK was not even mentioned by the OP. Don’t feel bad, Veb. I didn’t know it either, but I sensed an ambush and googled for Kerry’s full name. If I hadn’t gotten lucky, I would have beaten you to the gaffe. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/33 "2004-06-07T21:43:10Z")
> [@SallyStar](#): > > I know I am being pitted, but you got to be a major moron … Bush learning something from jfk? I know she’s gone, and everything, but I really thought she had a point with this post. I’m not prepared to argue for Bush being able to learn anything from anybody at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/34 "2004-06-08T04:17:02Z")
I don’t think Bush will say anything to associate himself with Reagan. That would be a bad move. He’ll continue with business as usual, and let other Republicans make the association for him. If he’s asked about it, his response should be, “While I am honored and flattered by the comparison, I believe Ronald Reagan was an American original” or some such non-committal remark. But I can tell you this much - prepare for the mother of all tributes to Ronald Reagan at this year’s Republican convention. That’s all the Pubs need to do to let everyone know who the torch-bearer is. Of course, if the Democrats are smart they might hold a little Reagan tribute of their own, to try to defuse the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/35 "2004-06-08T04:41:24Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > But I can tell you this much - prepare for the mother of all tributes to Ronald Reagan at this year’s Republican convention. That’s all the Pubs need to do to let everyone know who the torch-bearer is. But if they go _too_ far into a convention tribute, they’ll have to listen to Nancy Reagan promoting stem cell research. That could provoke a divisive floor fight. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/36 "2004-06-08T04:49:26Z")
I got an email today rescheduling a Bush-Cheney fundraiser I had tickets to. It was originally scheduled for Thursday night, the night before the funeral. It has been pushed off, now, to the 16th. It’s not Bush speaking, though. Head speaker is his campaign director, Ken Mehlman. There’s a lot of reshuffling going on this week. The fundraiser was a block from the White House, and that would have been a little tacky. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/37 "2004-06-08T04:51:34Z")
BTW, this will be a room full of non-rich Republicans. $50 a head, minimum. YP4W - Young Professionals for Bush ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/38 "2004-06-08T05:04:14Z")
GeeDubya has always been in favor of stem-cell research, especially as it relates to Alzheimer’s research. Its Kerry who keeps flip-flopping on the issue, first he’s for it, then he’s against it, but Bush’s record in supporting stem cell research to cure nice old men is perfectly clear. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/39 "2004-06-08T05:09:51Z")
Sarcasm aside, Bush supports research using adult stem cells and fetal stem cells from existing lines. This is hardly the position of an anti-science zealot. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015/40 "2004-06-08T06:02:23Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Bush supports research using adult stem cells and fetal stem cells from existing lines. [58 Senators Seek Looser Stem-Cell Rules](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&e=4&u=/ap/20040608/ap_on_he_me/stem_cells) > [@](#): > > Bush signed an executive order in August 2001 limiting federal research funding for stem cell research to 78 embryonic stem cell lines then in existence. > But the letter complains that only 19 of those lines are now available to researchers and those available are contaminated with mouse feeder cells which makes their use for humans uncertain. Bush’s claim of 78 lines was known to be bullshit virtually from the moment it left his mouth. With “support” like that, who needs enemies? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-takes-the-high-road/249015.md?page=3)