Post by human on Nov 2, 2004 4:26:51 GMT -5
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Less than 36 hours before the presidential election, John Kerry (news - web sites) had pumpkins on his mind. It was Halloween and the man who hopes to be the next leader of the free world wanted to carve jack o'lanterns.
In the waning days of his two-year quest for President Bush's job, the
Democratic senator from Massachusetts has been a little looser, a bit worn and quite sanguine about the outcome. His aides are confident he can "bring it home" on Tuesday.
For Kerry, a Boston blueblood who traces his roots to his home state's first governor John Winthrop, it has been a trip back from the political dead and a personal journey from reserved and aloof to not quite unplugged, but at least relaxed.
He delivers a shortened stump speech more forcefully now and hits punch lines with better timing. His longwindedness can still surface occasionally and sometimes he cannot resist going a touch overboard.
At an Asian American conference, he was explaining his credentials for dealing with the region's issues.
"I've worked on the foreign relations committee for 20 years, I've been from India all the way further east through Burma," he said. 'I've met with Aung Sun Suu Kyi in house arrest, I talked to the junta about freedom, I've been to Cambodia and negotiated in Cambodia the tribunals that the Khmer Rouge did under Pol Pot, I've been to Vietnam and negotiated to make peace, I've been to China, been to Malaysia, went to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore."
When he gets tongue-tied, often his way out is simply to add "whatever" to the end of the sentence.
Warning seniors in Florida on Sunday about Bush's convention pledge to partially privatize the Social Security retirement system, he urged them to "go to one of those, you know, dot com president, whatever" to read the president's speech.
Kerry the candidate has come a long way since pundits declared him a sure loser in the months before the first contests for the Democratic presidential nomination.
While still no Bill Clinton -- the former president with an uncanny knack for instantly connecting with people -- the 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran has proved himself an apt pupil, opening up more to audiences about his life, his faith and his experiences commanding gunboats in the Mekong Delta.
He spoke recently about how his Roman Catholic religion was put to the test in Vietnam where he saw friends "blown away' and was asked to take life himself.
"But I got through it," he said. "I came home with a sense of hope and a belief in a higher purpose."
MORE ADEPT
Since his early forays into Iowa and New Hampshire, where presidential wannabees face their first tests, Kerry also has become more adept at drawing out voters on the campaign trail.
In Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, he was talking about lost jobs, falling wages and rising health care costs when a woman at the back of the crowd slowly stood up, her voice quivering and said: "You just told our story."
A cautious and pragmatic politician, Kerry also has an independent streak that allows him to pursue sports like kite surfing in Nantucket without a second thought.
"I've been doing it for years," he explained. "I'm doing what I do. Be who I am in every respect. And I think people who aren't get in trouble.'
In the last days of the campaign though, Kerry has eaten at Dayton's Golden Nugget Pancake House, bagged a goose on a hunting trip in Boardman, Ohio, bought a round of beers at Francie's sports bar and grill in Des Moines, Iowa, and snacked on salsa and chips at the Red Rooster Cafe in Anthony on the Texas-New Mexico border.
With his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry on the road campaigning separately, Kerry has surrounded himself with family and friends, fondly introducing his older sister Peggy at rallies, and tossing a football with his former brother-in-law David Thorne or a baseball with his daughter Vanessa.
He visits the media section on his campaign plane only briefly, usually to talk sports or music or restaurants and, late on Sunday, to ask where his pumpkins were.
"I got them so we could carve them and have them tonight," he told reporters. "My costume is future president."
story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=584&ncid=584&e=11&u=/nm/20041101/pl_nm/election_kerry_style_dc
Mon Nov 1,10:54 AM ET Politics - Reuters
By Patricia Wilson
In the waning days of his two-year quest for President Bush's job, the
Democratic senator from Massachusetts has been a little looser, a bit worn and quite sanguine about the outcome. His aides are confident he can "bring it home" on Tuesday.
For Kerry, a Boston blueblood who traces his roots to his home state's first governor John Winthrop, it has been a trip back from the political dead and a personal journey from reserved and aloof to not quite unplugged, but at least relaxed.
He delivers a shortened stump speech more forcefully now and hits punch lines with better timing. His longwindedness can still surface occasionally and sometimes he cannot resist going a touch overboard.
At an Asian American conference, he was explaining his credentials for dealing with the region's issues.
"I've worked on the foreign relations committee for 20 years, I've been from India all the way further east through Burma," he said. 'I've met with Aung Sun Suu Kyi in house arrest, I talked to the junta about freedom, I've been to Cambodia and negotiated in Cambodia the tribunals that the Khmer Rouge did under Pol Pot, I've been to Vietnam and negotiated to make peace, I've been to China, been to Malaysia, went to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore."
When he gets tongue-tied, often his way out is simply to add "whatever" to the end of the sentence.
Warning seniors in Florida on Sunday about Bush's convention pledge to partially privatize the Social Security retirement system, he urged them to "go to one of those, you know, dot com president, whatever" to read the president's speech.
Kerry the candidate has come a long way since pundits declared him a sure loser in the months before the first contests for the Democratic presidential nomination.
While still no Bill Clinton -- the former president with an uncanny knack for instantly connecting with people -- the 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran has proved himself an apt pupil, opening up more to audiences about his life, his faith and his experiences commanding gunboats in the Mekong Delta.
He spoke recently about how his Roman Catholic religion was put to the test in Vietnam where he saw friends "blown away' and was asked to take life himself.
"But I got through it," he said. "I came home with a sense of hope and a belief in a higher purpose."
MORE ADEPT
Since his early forays into Iowa and New Hampshire, where presidential wannabees face their first tests, Kerry also has become more adept at drawing out voters on the campaign trail.
In Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, he was talking about lost jobs, falling wages and rising health care costs when a woman at the back of the crowd slowly stood up, her voice quivering and said: "You just told our story."
A cautious and pragmatic politician, Kerry also has an independent streak that allows him to pursue sports like kite surfing in Nantucket without a second thought.
"I've been doing it for years," he explained. "I'm doing what I do. Be who I am in every respect. And I think people who aren't get in trouble.'
In the last days of the campaign though, Kerry has eaten at Dayton's Golden Nugget Pancake House, bagged a goose on a hunting trip in Boardman, Ohio, bought a round of beers at Francie's sports bar and grill in Des Moines, Iowa, and snacked on salsa and chips at the Red Rooster Cafe in Anthony on the Texas-New Mexico border.
With his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry on the road campaigning separately, Kerry has surrounded himself with family and friends, fondly introducing his older sister Peggy at rallies, and tossing a football with his former brother-in-law David Thorne or a baseball with his daughter Vanessa.
He visits the media section on his campaign plane only briefly, usually to talk sports or music or restaurants and, late on Sunday, to ask where his pumpkins were.
"I got them so we could carve them and have them tonight," he told reporters. "My costume is future president."
story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=584&ncid=584&e=11&u=/nm/20041101/pl_nm/election_kerry_style_dc
Mon Nov 1,10:54 AM ET Politics - Reuters
By Patricia Wilson
They cannot even remember how to spell "Loser" ha, ha!