Kerry's October Surprise

Senator John Kerry is not up for re-election in 2006.

Yet, he is a high-profile Democrat, possibly the most recognized face of the Democratic Party to your average man on the street, and he has been out trying to rally the progressive base into electing Democrats in the most important mid-term election the United States has had since 1974, which ultimately determined the fate of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

In September of 1988, Michael Dukakis made public relations history when he got in the an M1 Abrams tank, in a safety helmet too big for his head. The embarrassing footage was used successfully by the Bush campaign to portray Dukakis as uncomfortable in a military setting, and therefore, unfit to command.

On January 19, 2004, Howard Dean delivered what would be remembered as the “I Have A Scream” speech, or the “Dean Scream,” which symbolized him as a reactionary who lacked self-control necessary to run the country for the remainder of the presidential bid.

On October 30, 2006, John Kerry did a “stand-up comedy routine” on the topic of education at Pasadena City College in Southern California that fired up a distressed Republican Party with much needed ammo to depict Democrats as defeatists with no desire to win the war.

Here is the “joke” that could very well serve as the turning point in the final week before the election.

Heavy debates are circling around whether or not this was insulting to the American troops who are serving in the military. “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

Would it have been condemned as “racist” if someone said, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in the ghetto?” Of course it would. And you can expect decent people to be outraged over it, even if the comment was not directed towards any specified minority.

While reasonable people could agree that Kerry didn’t deliberately intend to insult the troops, he has given the Republican Party a goldmine of material in a quote that deserves criticism for emphasizing shame on those in the military, not the administration, as Kerry has suggested.

Kerry’s defense mechanism has been ineffective. Instead of offering an apology to soldiers and their families, or anyone who was offended at his comments, and come to his senses enough to admit that he could have worded his slam on the Iraqi War a little differently, he has slung mud back at the administration to cover his own butt.

Was the “bad joke” a laughing matter? It has been played on every major news network, yet there is little, if any, laughter after Kerry’s arrogant remark. It’s certainly not a laughing matter to military families, whether or not their sons and daughters joined because they couldn’t afford college, wanted good pay with military benefits, or out of patriotism, to insinuate that many young people are in Iraq because they were dunce kids.

Paul A. Morin, The National Commander of The American Legion didn't care much for Kerry's comment either. The American Legion, 2.7 million members strong, is the largest veteran's organization in the country.

"As a constituent of Senator Kerry's I am disappointed. As leader of The American Legion, I am outraged. A generation ago, Senator Kerry slandered his comrades in Vietnam by saying that they were rapists and murderers. It wasn't true then and his warped view of today's heroes isn't true now."

It appears that the Democrats are baffled on how to respond to John Kerry. Bob Casey, who is running against Rick Santorum for Senate - and leading in the polls, has backed Kerry. According to Casey, Kerry "botched a joke."

Harold Ford of Tennessee wasn't so sympathetic.

“Whatever the intent, Senator Kerry was wrong to say what he said,” Ford said. “He needs to apologize to our troops.”

Needless to say, the unraveling of the Mark Foley scandal may not hurt the Republicans as much as the Democrats hoped. Most would admit that the scandal was politically calculated, but both parties were at a fault. Republicans who knew about Foley’s contacts with teenage boys did what they could to cover it up. Democrats with the same information withheld it until the election gained momentum.

Not surprisingly, President Bush used the occasion to fire up the conservative base at a rally in rural Georgia. "The members of the United States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave,” Bush proclaimed, with an eruption of applause. “And the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology,"

It’s no surprise that the Republicans up for re-election have distanced themselves from President Bush. While Bush has drifted from the conservative base on spending and border security, his appeal to Middle America is of growing concern. He has emphasized on partisan issues without the ability to advance much support on the Iraqi War.

However, homeland security has been a winning issue for him in the past, and is likely to serve as a key issue this mid-term election, not to mention an unemployment rate at only 4.6%. It also didn’t hurt that he signed the Secure Fence Act, which will build more than 700 miles of fencing at critical points along our southwest border, and requires the Department of Homeland Security to install cameras, ground sensors, and unmanned aerial vehicles in an effort to prevent illegal immigration.