March 06, 2004
Kerry in Houston

I got a recorded phone call yesterday about attending this John Kerry event, but it was scheduled for 7:30 AM, and I really needed the sleep. If anyone reading this did attend, please leave a comment.

One item of interest:


Just days after forcing the last of his rivals from the race for the Democratic nomination, Kerry was seeking to show the flag in the South, probably his toughest region in which to build support. He was spending Saturday in Texas before flying to Mississippi.

While few argue seriously that the president's home state or reliably Republican Mississippi are up for grabs in the November election, campaign aides said Kerry was making the point that he'll compete everywhere. He was heading later to Florida, a crucial swing state.

Kerry argues that his focus on jobs and the economy will sell in all regions, but the issue of Iraq and the war on terror injected itself into the fray today.


I'm glad to hear that Kerry will not be pursuing a "non-Southern strategy". While I firmly believe that the Midwest (in particular, Ohio and Missouri) and the Southwest (Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado) are much riper electoral vote targets, contesting the South and bolstering Democratic turnout here will help with those crucial Senate and Congressional races elsewhere on the ballot. I hope this is not the last time we see John Kerry down here between now and November.

UPDATE: Steve Bates attended the event, got his hand shaken by John Kerry, and came away quite impressed with the man.

UPDATE: Greg was there too, and so was Rob. Obviously, I'm a total lame-o. I'll go hide my face in shame now.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on March 06, 2004 to The making of the President | TrackBack
Comments

Instead of visiting Bush states, he better pay attention to traditional Democratic voters like Catholics in the Mid West, Latinos in California and African Ammerican church goers. They are leaving the Democratic party in droves, because of Kerry's attack on marriage with his support for gay marriages.

Posted by: Ricky Vandal on March 7, 2004 8:17 AM

Charles, my partner and I attended the Kerry speech. We arrived late, and were (just in the nick of time) seated in the overflow area, where we watched Kerry on a large screen and heard him through a sound system inadequate to the hallway in which we were seated. There's a post near the top of my site with my reaction to the Kerry event, written, to my regret, in my usual breathless style. :) Short version: I like the man very much, and so does my partner... and unlike me, she went to the rally with no preconceived ideas. (Well, not quite... she and I will both, with certainty, vote for the Democratic nominee in November.) I plan to vote for Kerry on Tuesday. I never prompt my s.o. about her vote, but my sense is that she will do the same. For more details, <blogwhoring> see my post here. </blogwhoring>

Posted by: Steve Bates on March 7, 2004 10:01 PM

Jenn and I got their at about 8:30AM and there were about 1000 people in front of us. We didn't even get into the overflow rooms. We did get to cheer the motorcade as it arrived and I caught a glimpse of Kerry getting out of his car, waving, and going into the venue. Because the turnout was so large, I was not disappointed that I didn't get in.

Posted by: Rob Humenik on March 8, 2004 11:53 AM