Kerry's comment draws fire from Cheney, wife [How to spin a blatant gaffe]

The Boston Globe ^ | October 15, 2004 | By Yvonne Abraham

[johnny7]

Senator spoke of VP's gay daughterMILWAUKEE -- It was a brief mention, a few seconds in Wednesday night's 90-minute presidential debate. But Senator John F. Kerry's reference to Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary, who is a lesbian, touched off a campaign-trail tempest yesterday.

[johnny7]

Once again, the Boston Globe turns news into editorials and obscures the event for their stinking agenda. The 'shame' that Liz Edwards so piously refers to is in reality, the shameless lengths the sKerry campaign has gone to in this election.

So Mary Cheney is 'fair game'? I guess that Barney Frank, who is a 'very gay' MA Rep. and friend of sKerry never even entered his mind. In fact... he might NOT be 'fair game' to sKerry or the DNC. No need to mention a gay Rep.(D) who had a pimp-boyfriend with the nickname 'Hot Bottom'!

What a stinking, load of $hit! Kerry didn't have to mention Mary Cheney... he was TOLD to SPECIFICALLY mention Mary Cheney. What if the topic was about abortion and sKerry said “Look... your daughter Jenna(just an example) had an abortion... she knew it was the right thing to do.”

The point I'm trying to make is that these kinds of issues are PERSONAL... they're akin to your religion. Kerry could have addressed the question using another name... or better yet... no name at all.

But you see... sKerry WANTED to make it PERSONAL... personal to any moron who hates homo's more than they like Bush!

[Question Liberal Authority]

"We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Barney Frank's boytoy Hot Bottom, who is a homosexual, he would tell you that he's being who he was, he's being who he was born as."

[Brilliant]

Remember when, at the beginning of the campaign, Kerry predicted that Bush would rant and rave about gay marriage throughout the campaign in order to divide America?

That did not happen, but then at the end, Kerry himself tries to divide America by making this an issue. It may backfire, though. Not only did Kerry shoot himself in the foot by making it appear that he "outed" Cheney's daughter, but he drew attention to his own weakness on this issue. He would have been a lot smarter to keep mum about it. He exposed the upopularity of his own position, and he can't blame it on Bush.

[EagleUSA]

I keep saying it -- THE FAR-LEFT LIBERAL DEMS WILL SAY ANYTHING, DO ANYTHING, HURT ANYONE, ALL AT ANYONE'S EXPENSE -- JUST TO REGAIN POWER IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

It is sad that the greatest country in the world has a political party that is so empty, so useless to America, that this kind of trash is all they can put forth.

Wake up America!!! See what these people are.

[normy]

Or if the question came up concerning Americas obesity problem, Bush could have said. Well my opponents running mate has a wife that is ..well..obese..and I think its a difficult thing for families to controll sometimes.

[AmishDude]

For the record, this was not a gaffe. This was calculated. Edwards brought up Mary in the debate and Cheney responded by refusing his remaining time for that question. Dumbass should have taken the hint. Kerry decided to bring it up again. If you're going to argue that Kerry is an excellent debater and master of facts (and look at the statistics he was able to recall in all three debates) then it's not an accident or a goof that he brought up Mary Cheney.

Others have pontificated on why he would have done this. It was all strategy. It backfired. A challenger gets scrutinized in the last weeks of the campaign. The debates give him higher visibility but then every statement gets combed over. The Democrats forget this because Bill Clinton avoided scrutiny due to the presence of Ross Perot.

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

I believe that the lesbian was a calculated campaign strategy. The Kerry campaign was losing a big part of the religious vote due to his pro choice abortion stance. So the libs circled the wagons and picked on Mary Cheney for her sexual orientation in hopes of shaking some of the religious voters away from Bush / Cheney.

In another calculated strike, the libs had Liz Edwards accuse Lynne Cheney of being ashamed of her daughter's sexual orientation. This was in case some of the gay voters looked and saw that the Cheneys love their daughter no matter what, and support her. So they have tried to alienate the gay vote from going to Bush / Cheney as well.

This whole scenario shows how desperate the Kerry campaign is. They are worried that they are going to lose on Nov. 2.

[AirBorn]

How can a person ( and party) stand before Americans and ask for their TRUST in Pulling TOGETHER the Country and be the Honest, Fair, Even keeled LEADER of them....when they spend so much time Dividing: pitting one class,sex,age,race,social class and now what THEIR OWN PARTY calls a " life style issue " against eachother??

I guess the Democrats won't have to worry about the PATRIOT ACT giving away anyones "privacy"--not when you can have your " Leader/Defender of YOUR LIBERTIES and PRIVACIES" expose your PRIVATE LIFE SECRETS on NATIONAL/Worldwide television??

He could have done / SAID ANYTHING ELSE --but he didn't.

THAT by itself is a reflection of Character....or lack of it.

(Has anyone got a good computer?? one that--if you were to try to load up ALL the Democrat SCANDALS that have been uncovered -it wouldn't crash your computer??)

Tom

[JoeBob255]

I don't believe your title is correct. This was NOT a gaffe or a mistake. This was PLANNED because Mary Cheney is fair game.

[TomGuy]

The 'shame' that Liz Edwards so piously refers to is in reality

Neal Boortz is talking about this issue. He is talking about Liz's statement. He is also discussing Liz's, uh, need for more fabric in her dresses. [Per Near, much much more fabric.]

Liz didn't mind slinging mud at Lynn Cheney; paraphrasing what Cahill said about Cheney's daughter, Liz is fair game.

[Joann37]

Normy, I have been thinking the same thing. It would have been so easy for anyone to bring up Edward's portly wife when speaking about health problems, obesity, etc. She's fair game, right?

[mwl1]

I don't recall the MSM sanctioning Dick Armey's misstatement of "Barney Fag" as "fair game."

[Guillermo]

Using another's children to hurt them is evil.

[EllaMinnow]

Kerry's remark, in that same answer, about men with supportive wives who "finally come out" is so obviously the perfect time to mention McGreevey, which of course Kerry didn't.

The reprehensible mention of Mary Cheney's name isn't the only weird thing in that answer.

[normy]

Oh yeah! She's out there saying the Cheneys are ashamed of their daughter, she needs to be hit hard on by Leno or Dennis Miller or SNL. The Pres and VP are to above the fray to bring it up.

[johnny7]

I think it's correct. A gaffe can be a mistake... a flub... an error.

The way sKerry tried to use this in his debate is as 'gaffe' as they get.

[igoramus987]

For the record, this was not a gaffe. This was calculated. Edwards brought up Mary in the debate and Cheney responded by refusing his remaining time for that question. Dumbass should have taken the hint. Kerry decided to bring it up again. If you're going to argue that Kerry is an excellent debater and master of facts (and look at the statistics he was able to recall in all three debates) then it's not an accident or a goof that he brought up Mary Cheney.

Others have pontificated on why he would have done this. It was all strategy. It backfired. A challenger gets scrutinized in the last weeks of the campaign. The debates give him higher visibility but then every statement gets combed over. The Democrats forget this because Bill Clinton avoided scrutiny due to the presence of Ross Perot.

It was definitely calculated. In an interview straight after the debate with Chris Wallace, Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, said "it [referring to Cheney's daughter] is fair game".

The damage has been done to Kerry. I hope that our side doesn't harp too much more about it, unless dumbarses such as Edward's wife make further stupid comments, otherwise it will look like out side is calculating too.

[wbill]

My 2c.......Any man that would attempt to use another man's family against him is completely reprehensible. The only caveat I can think of would be if the family member directly brings themselves into the limelight (Hillary! on health care, maybe Bob and Elizabeth Dole - they're both public figures...).

Edwards and Kerry dragging Cheney's daughter into this race, served as a good reminder for me as to why I'm voting for Bush.

Finally, IMHO, I think that it's too bad that John Edwards is stooping this low. Yes, I know he's an ambulance chaser. And he's remarkably unqualified to be VP. However, the one thing that I liked about him was that he seemed to run a clean presidential primary race.

[WoodstockCat]

Jesus said hate the sin, love the sinner, that's what those of us who are true Christians practice.
You did a very nice job of copying the DU strategy book.
Welcome to FR, enjoy your short stay.

[WoodstockCat]

no profile, posting suspect.

[johnny7]

Just joined up huh?

[JoeBob255]

Homosexuality is a SIN! How could Cheney accept this in his own daughter? The bible tells us that this is a SIN and homos will burn in hell.

Last time I checked there are plenty of things that are a sin. If I only accept people who are sinless there aren't any people I can accept - including myself. It must really be something that you and your loved ones are perfect.

[Texas Songwriter]

I believe this is a moral equivalent statement from President Bush....."Mr. Schieffer, my faith is very important to me. I believe it is important to maintain the sanctity of the family. If you ask Mr. Kerry about his annullment of his first marriage, I believe he loves his bastard daughters. I believe in marriage, but the bastard kids should not feel any shame , nor should the Senator."

[TomGuy]

The way sKerry tried to use this in his debate is as 'gaffe' as they get.

It wasnt' a 'gaffe'; it was a calculated statement.

Edwards bridged the topic in the VP debate. It went over about like a lead balloon. It didn't elicit a significant response. Kerry used the topic specifically to create a gap in Bush's core base.

Both Dem candidates bridging the subject is not a 'gaffe'. It is an intentional, calculated, planned jab at Cheney and the core conservative base. Kerry-Edwards needed something besides Halliburton. They selected Mary Cheney's sexual orientation.

The evidence that it was an intentional, calculated, planned jab comes from Cahill's statement to Chris Wallace on FoxNews immediately following the debate. Cahill said that Mary Cheney's sexual orientation was 'fair game.' The Kerry team were on the same page.

Dirty politics?

Sure. But Kerry is still running even with GWB in the polling. Expect more dirt and mudslinging.

[Gucho]

"In response to a question on whether he thinks homosexuality is a choice, Kerry responded: ''We're all God's children . . . And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice."

Kerry, your a pathetic COCKROACH.