Posted on 05/29/2007 9:00:58 AM PDT by seanmerc
John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, voted for the Iraq war resolution in 2002 after weighing the political ramifications and being told by his future campaign manager that he would never be elected president in 2004 unless he sided with President Bush on the issue, according to a forthcoming book by Mr. Kerry's former strategist. The book by veteran Democratic Party strategist Robert Shrum, titled "No Excuses," paints a portrait of an often-dysfunctional Kerry presidential campaign in which senior strategists clashed with each other, the Boston Globe reports. An advance copy of the memoir of Mr. Shrum's years in politics, slated for release in early June, was provided to the Globe. Mr. Shrum provides a vivid description of events leading up to Mr. Kerry's decision to vote for the war. He writes that Mr. Kerry telephoned him on the eve of the Oct. 11, 2002, vote. Mr. Shrum said that Mr. Kerry was skeptical of Mr. Bush's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that he "didn't trust Bush to give the diplomatic route a real chance." Nonetheless, Mr. Kerry asked Mr. Shrum whether he would "be a viable general election candidate if he was in the small minority of senators who voted no." Mr. Shrum wrote that he told Mr. Kerry that it was "impossible to predict the political fallout if we went to war." But he wrote that Jim Jordan, Mr. Kerry's former Senate press secretary and future campaign manager, "was insisting that he had to vote with Bush." Mr. Shrum wrote that Mr. Jordan had "hammered" Mr. Kerry with a warning: "Go ahead and vote against it if you want, but you'll never be president of the United States." Mr. Kerry voted for the war resolution, and Mr. Jordan became Mr. Kerry's campaign manager three months later.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
I'm not sure why anyone regards Bob Shrum as an expert on political campaigns. I don't think he has ever been on the winning side.
P.S. I heard a rumor that Jean Francois had been to Vietnam. Can anybody else verify that?
He says he has this hat . . . but you know what liars those politicians can be . . . .
Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
I wonder if he took the Scaramouche out for a spin this weekend?
What might make Kerry President was his top priority. What was good for the country was not factored into the discussions.
This guys track record is 0-8 in POTUS elections - enough said.
The poor man is like Jimmy Carter - he is grasping for a positive legacy.
It's not there.
Kerry should run for President again.
I am calling BS on that!
NOTE THE DATE:
"Dear Mr. President: ... We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraq sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Sincerely,
Letter to President Clinton
Signed by Senators Tom Daschle, John Kerry and others
October 9, 1998
http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Letters,%20reports%20and%20statements/levin-10-9-98.html
I see a moonbat a risin’
I see much troubles on the way,
I see a hurricane a blowin’
I see a Hillary campaign!......
I thought it was Cambodia?
He never has won on the Presidential Side. He is such a creep I almost feel sorry for Kerry.
He’s trying to get a new gig. 2008 is approaching and he’s not employed yet.
I was there for 2 1/2 years and I never saw him. He didn’t hang out in the To Doc street joint that I patronized.
My suggestion: Any article that includes a quote from Bob Schrum - STOP READING - turn the page
This guys track record is 0-8 in POTUS elections - enough said.
Exactly. You want to lose a national election cycle?
Hire Bob Shrum.
From your lips to God’s ear...
Bingo - maybe we should express fear that “BOB SHRUM IS COMING”
With his record - if someone hires him - we should rejoice
I was in Cambodia, (Not officially) for about an hour and I didn’t see him there.
His track record for elections is bad, but his story mirrors what Edwards just went through...asking advisors what their vote should be. Edwards even copped to it, saying he shouldn’t have listened to advisors.
That should be enough to make sure you never win another election, but, alas, he has a (D) next to his name.
well said...
Jake, everything you said about Shrum is absolutely, 100% true - but ain’t he fun to watch, particularly at this time!!
He is - I love watching politician eat their own.
It’s sad - but always good theater
You goota give Schrum credit eith JFKerry, he came within 60,000 votes of winning (Ohio) and the whole Election with a hopeless idiot and anri-American flip-flopper. Thats SCARY!
I'm wondering how a kiss-and-tell book is going to cause anyone to confide in him...
‘You goota give Schrum credit eith JFKerry, he came within 60,000 votes of winning (Ohio) and the whole Election with a hopeless idiot and anri-American flip-flopper. Thats SCARY!’
I give the ‘credit’ to the MSM, not Bob ‘I can’t win national elections’ Shrum.
Hell, Dan Rather did more for Kerry than Schrum did.
After this book, he won't be either. Who would let this guy run his campaign, only to write a tell-all book a few years later? This means Shrum is sticking to punditry from now on.
Bob Shrum “King of the Losers” nips back. Serious can anyone challenge Shrum for having a worse national campaign record?? Even Harold Stasser probably hired different managers over the years. Shrum must have offended a goat somewhere in the past (a not-so-viled reference to the Chicago Cubs and their angry goat).
So Lurch decides the weightiest matters of war and peace by putting his finger up to the political winds..... what a surprise. I very much doubt he had any real doubts about the WMD issue then — virtually everyone from multiple intel agencies to both parties was agreed on the problem, the question (then) was only what to do about it.
Lurch put on his secret CIA hat from his secret mission to Cambodia and pondered which vote would be best for his personal political prospects. No surprise there....
Agree............Shrum makes me get diahrea whenever
his bald, blank face appears with Chrissie...Schrum
has an easy name to rhyme..as in Crumb!! Also is
very appropriate for his half/ass advice to anyone
for anything???????? JK
I think he’s aiming for a gig at CNN
He throws like a girl!
'Her New York crew is fighting . . . with her D.C. folks, and it's worse than the normal stuff, real serious tensions,' said a Democratic Party source. 'The New York folks are the ones who got her elected to begin with. They've done it and know what to do. The D.C. folks are the "geniuses" who do "national elections" and think everyone here is a rube.'
Probably upset that she spilled the beans and advocated naked socialism over personal liberty and responsibility.
We Are All in It Together, Clinton Says [Shared Prosperity Should Replace "On Your Own' Society"] (AP May 29, 2007 Holly Ramer)
These presidential contenders wouldn’t get very far telling the voting public that their stance was based up campaign advisers and polling data, so they tell the public that “Bush lied” instead.
They don’t even read the briefings themselves.
Hillary is too focused on choosing a campaign theme song.
(s) so it was not the candidate, the message was not dumbed down enough for the stupid people to understand(/s)
I believe others have dubbed it “The Curse of the Shrummy.”
Good line - I’m taking it and pretending it’s mine. Yuk Yuk
Of course, it could just be the candidates and their messages are bad too :) Supposedly, he has “helped” candidates in NON-Presidential races (big city mayors...).
GREAT point. Maybe his family had an intervention and he figured out more money from becoming a writer than ruining csmpaigns.
Thank you, the picture you posted says it all! Lurch in full form!
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