GLOBE REPORTER CLAIMS TAPE RECORDED KERRY 'MORE' LEADERS NOT 'FOREIGN' LEADERS; TRANSCRIPTION 'SCREW-UP'

March 15, 2004 6:34 PM

GLOBE REPORTER CLAIMS TAPE RECORDED KERRY 'MORE' LEADERS NOT 'FOREIGN' LEADERS; TRANSCRIPTION 'SCREW-UP' A BOSTON GLOBE reporter at the center of a growing controversy over comments made by John Kerry last week in Florida now claims he "screwed-up" -- and John Kerry never bragged how "foreign leaders" privately backed his presidential bid!
posted by Postroad (39 comments total)

I was completely unaware of this "growing controversy." I'm so uncool.
posted by raysmj at 6:51 PM on March 15, 2004

The link to Drudge could also be a subtle hint, X.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:54 PM on March 15, 2004

This really is funny--everything they throw at Kerry gets knocked down right away--and this time even Powell got into the act.
posted by amberglow at 6:55 PM on March 15, 2004

Why was this a controversy in the first place? Would Kerry want to damage a "foreign leader's" relations with the Bush administration by betraying their trust and revealing their dislike of Bush? Not that dislike of Bush is exactly a big secret from some leaders. And this...

"I think Kerry will win. I want Kerry to win."
--José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (Spain's newly elected leader)
posted by punishinglemur at 6:59 PM on March 15, 2004

Wow. That whooshing sound you hear is Kerry breathing a sigh of relief.

Though it's transparently stupid of the administration to start the mudslinging so early in the race. One of the reasons Edwards did as well as he did for as long as he did was because the primary voters have been responding poorly to what the industry calls "negative" campaigning.

I mean, really. Kerry has no credibility because he may or may not have exaggerated about a few foriegn powers backing him? Since when does the Bush administration care about the opinions of foriegn leaders, anyway?

What jobs? What troops dying overseas every day? Who's Osama bin Laden again? Didn't we catch him in Iraq or something? No?

Hey Bush, you know what foriegners are probably backing Kerry? Probably about 90% of the Spanish people. Asshole.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:59 PM on March 15, 2004

Kerry still owes America an explanation for this!
posted by homunculus at 6:59 PM on March 15, 2004

Even with this correction, if you read the pool feed, it's pretty clear that Kerry's context was indeed foreign leaders. And of course they want to see Bush defeated. Why is this an issue?
posted by Slagman at 6:59 PM on March 15, 2004

Powell Should know better.
posted by Elim at 6:59 PM on March 15, 2004

Powell Should know better.
It's sad. Remember when we all thought he was the normal one out of that bunch?
posted by amberglow at 7:01 PM on March 15, 2004

and why would this be surprising? while impolitic for him to say (and apparently, he didn't) we've been hearing from foreign leaders about thier declining confidence in duhbyuh since shortly after 9/11. once he made it clear that he was going to war no matter what the hell anyone else thought, they were coming out of the woodwork in droves. half the damn panet is waiting for us to exterminate this scourge.
posted by quonsar at 7:04 PM on March 15, 2004

Drudge's site gives me a headache. Literally. The bold courier typeface is unreadable.
posted by jpoulos at 7:04 PM on March 15, 2004

Powell scolds staffer at meeting. This transcript shows how sensitive Powell is to propaganda and media manipulation to the point of paranoia. Wonder why he is so paranoid and quick on the trigger.
posted by stbalbach at 7:18 PM on March 15, 2004

Hmmm...

So, why did Kerry say this?

Or this?

Odd, if this wasn't the original intent of John "Windsock" Kerry... the next 8 months are going to hilarious.
posted by hadashi at 7:26 PM on March 15, 2004

This was important since Pyongyang had made some statements about hoping for Kerry's election around the same time. This plus the quote plus doctored photo of Kerry with Jane Fonda = Manchurian Candidate.
posted by destro at 7:27 PM on March 15, 2004

Odd, if this wasn't the original intent of John "Windsock" Kerry... the next 8 months are going to hilarious.
I think he took the lemon they threw at him and made lemonade.
posted by amberglow at 7:30 PM on March 15, 2004

It's mostly a moot point now whether this was a misquote or not, since Kerry has said that he stands by his statement when questioned further about it. He didn't claim it was a misquote.
So even if he didn't say it in the first place, he's sticking to the claim either way.
See for yourself.
posted by Wingy at 7:30 PM on March 15, 2004

I thought John McCain was the Manchurian Candidate.

Kerry/McCain, Manchurian Party 2004!
posted by homunculus at 7:37 PM on March 15, 2004

Good Lord. I don't think there's a finger's worth of difference between the unthinking Bush supporters and the unthinking Kerry supporters.
posted by CRS at 7:46 PM on March 15, 2004

I do believe that Rove has misplaced his mojo
posted by Fupped Duck at 8:04 PM on March 15, 2004

Hey, rest of the world: Tony Blair and his pals would prefer John Kerry as President over George Bush. Put that in your inbox and read it, right wing pundits.
posted by tapeguy at 8:26 PM on March 15, 2004

I fail to see how any of this crap matters. And if this is what the next 8 months are going to be like, I think political junkies are going to start OD'ing and checking into rehab.
posted by Tin Man at 8:31 PM on March 15, 2004

I still think Kerry will lose because people think he's a Yankee. Yankees are the most sneered at ethnic group this side of the French.

Laugh if you must, but both political parties agree.
posted by kablam at 8:34 PM on March 15, 2004

OK, I'll say it.

Kerry and Bush: Same shit, different pile.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 8:34 PM on March 15, 2004

I still think Kerry will lose because people think he's a Yankee. Yankees are the most sneered at ethnic group this side of the French.

I wonder what would happen if the unwashed masses were made aware of Bush being a yankee in a cowboy suit. New Haven, Connecticut ain't exactly the deep God-lovin' south, after all.
posted by snarkywench at 9:02 PM on March 15, 2004

New Haven, Connecticut ain't exactly the deep God-lovin' south, after all.

Never mind New Haven ... ever been to Kennebunkport?
posted by anastasiav at 9:41 PM on March 15, 2004

I still think Kerry will lose because people think he's a Yankee. Yankees are the most sneered at ethnic group this side of the French.


Is it because George Steinbrenner keeps buying the best players for them?
posted by gyc at 9:52 PM on March 15, 2004

As a crusty Yankee, Kerry would have a hard time any other year, no question. This time, Bush is going to be completely radioactive eight months from now -- he's in a descent he just can't control. And now he's saying things like, "God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear." (See the latest Slate Bushisms)

Kerry probably would have lost to Bush Sr. or Dole. But the weak support for Bush is quickly coming apart, and he's on the fast-track to a long stint in conventional wisdom as one of the worst presidents of all time. Maybe in 2040 someone will write a book about how he wasn't really as bad as everyone assumed.
posted by inksyndicate at 9:54 PM on March 15, 2004

Good Lord. I don't think there's a finger's worth of difference between the unthinking Bush supporters and the unthinking Kerry supporters.

But between the thinking supporters, now there's where the yawning gulf of philosophical disputation lies!

Oh wait, Bush hasn't got any of those, does he? [/obvious tongue-in-cheek troll]

Seriously, and to mess with ol' uncle Tolstoy a bit : all unthinking voters resemble one another, each thinking voter thinks in their own way.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:07 PM on March 15, 2004

So is this going to be the new Kerry™ defense, backpedaling with lies that lack any link to reality?
posted by jazzkat11 at 5:39 AM on March 16, 2004

I'd be surprised if foreign leaders didn't prefer John Kerry. Last week's Economist had a nice piece called "Europe's candidate for president."

His family ties, and the fact that he actually knows "European" languages like French, and German; his wife is from Portugal. He went to a swiss boarding school,

"Bush quotes the Bible, Kerry Pablo Neruda. Bush likes local novels, Kerry loves Shakespeare. While Bush doesn't read the newspaper and is proud of it, Kerry reads Le Monde."

The article stresses that European leaders might not be as open about it, since they obviously have to be prepared for the fact that Bush may win, in which case, it would be undeniably awkward, especially with the pre-existing tension between the US and countries like France and Germany.
posted by aubin at 6:09 AM on March 16, 2004

Perhaps the Bush administration simply doesn't like the bigger implications of this: foreign leaders are talking to the leader of the NEXT administration a little early, that's all. The current, out-going administration would obviously scream bloody murder once they realized that Bush's power is leaking away. But I think they see that that is what is happening. Ooops!
posted by mooncrow at 7:09 AM on March 16, 2004

The Democrats who think this wasn't a misstep by Kerry are mistaken -- it was a blunder. The reporter's revision doesn't change the overall content of Kerry's remarks, or his explanations later. The Republicans who are trying to make this a big issue are also full of shit. This whole thing is Dean Scream Lite, and the purpose is to stir up a little shit storm to see if anything sticks to the challenger. It has worked to some extent, at least for the Fox News gang.
The average voter may not care. But if you want Kerry elected, you better hope he learns from this (and the open mike incident) and thinks out his message a little better. "The foreigners like me" has never been a winning political meme in America. Get back to message.
posted by Slagman at 7:22 AM on March 16, 2004

i love how every issue the repubilicons try to bring up boomerangs back and hits them squarely between the eyes.


backpedaling with lies that lack any link to reality?

jazzkat - i don't have time today to start with this one ... but look at them fore a second and think about them ..... those words could be the bush/cheney campaign slogan...
posted by specialk420 at 7:58 AM on March 16, 2004

It's all just more utter hypocrisy from the Bushies, because:

"During the run-up to the Iraq war, the Bush administration frequently cited support from up to 40 nations, but declined to name them, saying the countries wished to keep their support quiet."
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 9:56 AM on March 16, 2004

I WANT THIS TAPED ANAL
IZED (Q, GET IN IT)
i WANT THE TRUTH.

this is may favorite little piece of dirt about Kerry

what till the big ballons come POPPING OUT
Kerry will be 2 dimensional by late august and will have to have his staffer shave him for fear of myopic lemonade backpeddling.

So, if some Presidential candadite said he was taking to foreighn leaders, as Sec. of State, would you not want to know who this thin hack is selling?

Filmmaker Otto Preminger, author George Plimpton, composer Leonard Bernstein, and other celebrities backed Kerry, who spent $279,746 on the primary and general election. The fifth district was the most expensive congressional race in the country that year.


It gets better....

To win the primary, the newcomer overcame the election eve arrest of his brother, Cameron, and campaign field director Thomas J. Vallely, both then 22, in the basement of a Lowell building that housed the headquarters of Kerry and another Democratic contender, state Representative Anthony R. DiFruscia of Lawrence. It was almost 2 a.m. - 30 hours before the polls opened - when the two were arrested on charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny.

That day's Sun blared a memorable, double-deck headline: "Kerry brother arrested in Lowell `Watergate."' DiFruscia, getting some extra ink in the campaign's waning hours, had drawn the parallel to the break-in at Democratic headquarters in Washington three months earlier.

The Kerry camp declared it a setup, saying that the two responded to an anonymous phone call, minutes earlier, threatening to cut the campaign's 36 phone lines on the day before its get-out-the-vote effort. Lowell Police arrested the pair in an area near the trunk line for all of the building's phones.

and more

One of the cases that exploded into the news in the weeks before the primary was a scandal involving the sale of county jobs. A gusher of news leaks suggested a wider conspiracy of government higher-ups and organized crime involvement. A defense lawyer for one of two suspects charged with selling low-level jobs accused Kerry directly of violating grand jury secrecy by leaking stories to the press.

"We never leaked any grand jury information," Kerry said recently. "Not me, man .... We would call people in and try to find out where it was coming from, and I believe I know. I'm not going to say it on the record, here, now, but we had a considerable amount of concern, and you know, a few feathers were ruffled in the process of trying to find out who was leaking that."
posted by clavdivs at 10:17 AM on March 16, 2004

Kerry will be 2 dimensional by late august and will have to have his staffer shave him for fear of myopic lemonade backpeddling.

I could just sit here and reread that sentence all day.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:35 AM on March 16, 2004

..... those words could be the bush/cheney campaign slogan...

And here could be the Kerry camp slogan: "Bush does it, so I can too!"

..Or better yet, we can forgo all sense of accountability for candidates because we have entered that new age of public acceptance for (obvious) lies, regardless of platform or party affliations - all in the name of 'Bush does it, so I can too'.

Or is it that people feel Kerry is the only contender against Bush, and are willing to look the other way in terms of his lackluster voting record and honesty?
posted by jazzkat11 at 12:43 PM on March 16, 2004

Bush Wants Kerry to Identify Supporters So He Can Invade Them

Political insiders say this election could come down to who is voted "most popular" by the other world leaders at the fall "World Leaders Homecoming Dance" scheduled to be held in Helsinki this year.
posted by amberglow at 6:18 PM on March 17, 2004

I was just reminded seeing Cheney on TV that he never released the names of the people in his secret energy meetings, or the minutes of those meetings...let him name names first.
posted by amberglow at 9:16 PM on March 17, 2004