GLANCING AT THE SCHEDULE
These are the appearances by the presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses (and Bill Clinton, just for kicks) for today the last Tuesday before Election Day:
9:00 am: Sen. John Kerry holds an event (homeland security speech) at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI
9:25 am: President Bush holds a rally at the Onalaska Omni Center, Onalaska, WI
10:00 am: Vice President Cheney holds a rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, West Palm Beach, FL
10:30 am: Sen. John Edwards attends a community gathering with, Ashton Kutcher, Scott Wolf and his wife Kelley Limp, musician Max Weinberg, Chris Heinz, and Andre Heinz at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
11:00 am: Ralph Nader speaks at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, WI
11:00 am: Elizabeth Edwards holds a town hall discussion at North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, IA
11:30 am: Teresa Heinz Kerry holds a conversation about health care at St. Joseph's Community Center, Lorain, OH
12:30 pm: Vice President Cheney holds a rally at the Columbia County Fairgrounds, Lake City, FL
12:30 pm: Former President Bill Clinton speaks to the B'nai Torah Congregation, Boca Raton, FL
12:40 pm: President Bush holds a "Focus on the Economy with President Bush" at the Richland Center High School, Richland Center, WI
2:00 pm: Ralph Nader speaks at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI
2:35 pm: Elizabeth Edwards holds a town hall discussion at Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN Who will she insult today?
3:15 pm: Vice President Cheney holds a rally at Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola, FL
3:25 pm: Sen. Edwards attends a community gathering at the Sovereign Center, Reading, PA
3:30 pm: Teresa Heinz Kerry and Rep. Dennis Kucinich speak with community leaders at Czech Karlin Hall, Cleveland, OH
This is the event to watch closely. You have two loose cannons speaking at this event. Who will say "shove it" first?
3:55 pm: President Bush speaks at a rally at the Cuba City High School, Cuba City, WI
5:00 pm: Sen. Kerry holds a rally at Jaycee Park, Las Vegas, NV
5:25 pm: President Bush holds a rally at the Grand River Center, Dubuque, IA
6:45 pm: Sen. Edwards holds a Fresh Start for America rally at the Marts Center, Wilkes Barre, PA
6:45 pm: Elizabeth Edwards holds a town hall discussion at Central High School, Flint, MI Anpther opportunity for her to insult someone.
9:45 pm: Sen. Kerry holds a rally at the Civic Plaza, Albuquerque, NM
Busy day. By my score, the blue state of Wisconsin has five events, Minnesota has two, Iowa has two, Pennsylvania has two, and Michigan has one. The red state of Florida has four, Ohio has two, Nevada has one, and New Mexico has one.
Ashton Kutcher is obviously in Minneapolis to add heft and gravitas to John Edwards' event.
Ashton Kutcher? Who really cares what he has to say?
JUDGE THEM BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER
From the Orlando Sentinel:
For all the anecdotal evidence of heavy African-American turnout, there are hints that Kerry might not be doing as strongly as he needs to be. At a John Edwards rally in St. Petersburg on Saturday, white people held "African-Americans for Kerry-Edwards" placards.
As a strong supporter of a color-blind America, I believe this is a good sign, that in this country in 2004, one does not necessarily need to be African-American to hold an "African-Americans for Kerry-Edwards" sign.
Of course, perhaps these were the Teresa Heinz-style African-Americans
TAG TEAM [10/26 09:56 AM]
Note Mickey Kaus on Kerry's shifting position on what the U.S. should have done in Tora Bora:
[The comment on Kerry's site is] a deceptively truncated quote. Kerry is defending his previous criticism of insufficient U.S. boots on the ground — but he gives the impression, at least, that his criticisms have been addressed and he's now satisfied. Here's the complete quote:
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Well, why did you criticize the administration for failing to put in expeditionary forces earlier?
SEN. KERRY: I didn't criticize them for failing to put expeditionary forces in, John. I said we need to put some ground people in there in order to do the very things that I've just talked about, and ultimately, to do what we're doing now, which is —
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Well, you are —
SEN. KERRY: — which is chasing Osama bin Laden and moving the process forward.
Earlier in the interview — which, remember, took place two months after 9/11, in the middle of our Afghan campaign against the Taliban — McLaughlin asks Kerry "What do we have to worry about [in Afghanistan]?" Here's the last part of Kerry's answer:
I have no doubt, I've never had any doubt — and I've said this publicly — about our ability to be successful in Afghanistan. We are and we will be. The larger issue, John, is what happens afterwards. How do we now turn attention ultimately to Saddam Hussein? How do we deal with the larger Muslim world? What is our foreign policy going to be to drain the swamp of terrorism on a global basis? [Emphasis added]
Wait — I thought shifting the focus to Saddam was a "diversion" and distraction from the fight against Al Qaeda! Not, apparently, when Kerry saw an opportunity to score political points by advocating it. [But would he have rushed to war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace!-ed. Maybe not. But, given Kerry's recent he-took-his-eye-off-the-ball rhetoric, it's embarrassing that he brought up pivoting to Iraq "now" long before the Afghan campaign was over — indeed, when the Tora Bora battle against bin Laden's men had barely begun.]
And note the follow-up Megan McArdle:
This transcript is actually being pushed by the Kerry campaign, as proof that he called for more troops in Afghanistan. But if you look at the section where he's supposedly calling for more troops, you'll find that it's been rather creatively trimmed by the Kerry team. The good senator was actually referring to his past calls for more "boots on the ground", but reported himself satisfied with troop levels by the time of the interview, on October 16th, 2001.
Don't Kerry's people know about the Internet yet?
Senator, you are still not being straight with the American people.
The Kerry Spot on National Review Online
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