Posted on 09/23/2004 11:54:58 PM PDT by jerod
Toronto — The sister of U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry on Thursday urged the more than 500,000 Americans living in Canada to register to vote in the November election.
Diana Kerry was a keynote speaker at a reception at the University of Toronto Faculty Club on Thursday night, joined by the former U.S. ambassador to Canada, James Blanchard and other high-profile Democratic supporters.
The younger sister of the Democratic presidential candidate says her brother is relishing the challenge of mobilizing this large group of American expatriates for the Nov. 2 vote.
“John has always been a fighter, and he has a reputation as a closer at the end, who comes from behind to win,” she said.
Ms. Kerry chairs American Overseas, an organization affiliated with her brother's Democratic party. Over 10,000 people have registered for voting on the organization's website in the last six weeks, she said.
She is the third of four siblings. Their father was a foreign service officer, and she spent much of her life overseas, teaching English and drama in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Fluent in both German and French she also served as a translator and interpreter at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, where 11 Israeli athletes, five Palestinians and one police officer were killed after a dramatic and violent hostage-taking.
“I think that both my brother and I are aware that there is a world out there, and that we need to function within it as a partner and a co-operative member of the global community,” she said.
“Violent solutions to problems is not the way to go . . . I welcome the idea that military force is not the only way to go about solving problems.”
She balked at her introduction as the “future First Sister” by Mr. Blanchard, and joked about her fumblings with the microphone in spite of all the years she's spent teaching drama.
“We're in the final stretch. This is when the debate has to intensify. This is when the voters are really beginning to focus and pay attention . . . I think people are going to understand that it really is John Kerry who knows and has a plan.”
Other high-profile supporters, meanwhile, said Thursday that a Kerry win in November could smooth out diplomatic tensions plaguing Canada-U.S. relations for more than a year.
“I think they would change for the better,” said Mr. Blanchard, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada.
Mr. Blanchard cites Mr. Kerry's “internationalist” leanings, his promise to hash out solutions in consultation with other countries, his use of the same advisers as former Democratic president Bill Clinton.
But a Democratic victory wouldn't necessarily guarantee an improvement in relations between the two countries, says Christopher Waddell, a professor at Ottawa's Carleton University who has studied Canada-U.S. trade relations.
Mr. Kerry's emphasis on multilateralism in foreign policy may seem encouraging, but Democrats — who have been traditionally supported by trade unions — tend to fall along protectionist lines, says Mr. Waddell.
And with Mr. Kerry's early rumblings about the problems free trade was causing in the United States, any move to alter the agreement — if elected to office — may not benefit Canada.
“But in all those things, it comes down to the details, doesn't it?” says Mr. Waddell.
Some of Mr. Kerry's policies, however, have already rubbed Canada the wrong way, including his promise to close Michigan's border to Toronto garbage, adding that the state has become “Canada's landfill” under Republican President George W. Bush.
“If Detroit was sending 150 trucks a day to Toronto, people would be marching in the streets,” said Mr. Blanchard, who also co-chairs the senator's Michigan campaign.
“I think people in Michigan have been quite patient. And yeah, there are ways lawfully to stop the large-scale movement of trash, and the fact that he is sensitive to that bodes well. Everyone in Michigan supports him.”
Mr. Blanchard, who also spoke at the reception, says Mr. Kerry's opposition to the garbage shipments — which average about 180 truckloads every day — stems from his environmental concerns, which he says Canadians will agree with.
“But remember,” he says with a laugh, “John Kerry is running for office in the United States.”
I wonder how many of the 500,000 are former draft dodgers?
You know it's desperate for the Leftists when they're begging the draft-dodgers to vote. LOL!
That's why he went to the head of the line at the dispensary to get his band-aid and sucker, he had to rush back to the boat to get a couple more Purple Hearts and plan his trip to Paris.
This Kerry sister I keep hearing about--does she have the unfortunate Kerry horse-face as well? (like his daughters inherited from him, no questioning they're his brood for sure).
But - he's keeping that plan a secret.
You have to mail in 25 box tops and he'll send you the secret code ring and the plan.
Taranto had a great column on this. It is archived a couple of days back on his site but easy link to it and the article in the Weekend Australian newspaper where she made the quote can be found GoGov.com Link Here.
She was also in Mexico a few months back, and in Australia one or two weeks ago.
Hopefully Americans living abroad will be smart enough not to get their news from local sources only, because world media is even more anti-Bush than US "mainstream" media.
This X-Pat in the PI will be voting for BUSH! As well as many of the retired military X-Pats out here....
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