Kerry got a Gita but....

[Guest guest]

John Kerry obviously thinks great men should go out and kill innocent animals.

Geese, ancient symbols of victory since Roman times, definately wont be voting

for Kerry.

 

By Nedra PicklerASSOCIATED PRESS 7:49 a.m. October 21, 2004

ReutersDemocratic presidential nominee John Kerry (right) pets hunting dog Woody

as Bob Bellino looks on after a goose hunting outing in Springfield Township,

Ohio. BOARDMAN, Ohio – Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said he

bagged a goose on his swing-state hunting trip Thursday, but his real target

was the voters who may harbor doubts about him. Kerry returned after a two-hour

hunting trip wearing a camouflage jacket and carrying a 12-gauge shotgun, but

someone else carried the bird he said he shot. "I'm too lazy," Kerry joked.

"I'm still giddy over the Red Sox. It was hard to focus." The Massachusetts

senator was referring to Boston's American League championship Wednesday night.

He stayed up late cheering his hometown team onto victory, then got up for a 7

a.m. hunting trip at a supporter's produce farm.

Kerry adviser Mike McCurry said it's important in the final days of the campaign

that voters "get a better sense of John Kerry, the guy." That means the

Democratic senator is spending some of the dwindling time before Election Day

hunting, talking about his faith and watching his beloved Red Sox. It's all

part of an effort to win over swing voters who may be open to voting against

President Bush but aren't sure they feel any connection with Kerry. While the

Democrat campaigns as an all-American, his political opponents are working to

leave voters with a different impression. Bush tells voters that Kerry is on

the "left bank" of society, opposing a constitutional amendment to ban gay

marriage. Kerry does not support gay marriage but says the matter is for states

to decide, and he favors civil unions for same-sex couples. "We stand for

marriage and family, which are the foundations of our society," Bush said

Wednesday in Mason City, Iowa. "We stand for the Second Amendment, which

protects every individual American's right to bear arms." The National Rifle

Association said it bought a full-page ad in Thursday's Youngstown newspaper

that says Kerry is posing as a sportsman while opposing gun-owners' rights.

Kerry has denied NRA claims that he wants to "take away" guns, but he supported

the ban on assault-type weapons and requiring background checks at gun shows "If

John Kerry thinks the Second Amendment is about photo ops, he's Daffy," says the

ad the NRA said would run in The Vindicator. It features a large photo of Kerry

with his finger on a shotgun trigger but looking in another direction.

Meanwhile, labor unions have been circulating fliers among workers that say

Kerry won't take away guns. "He likes his own gun too much," says one of the

fliers from the Building Trades Department of the AFL-CIO that features a

picture of Kerry aiming a shotgun. Kerry's aides said he spent about two hours

hunting at a blind set up in a cornfield. More than two dozen journalists were

invited to the farm outside of Youngstown to see Kerry emerge from the field,

but none witnessed Kerry taking any shots. Kerry was accompanied by Ohio

Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland; Bob Bellino, a board member for the local Ducks

Unlimited; and Neal Brady, assistant park manager of Indian Lake State Park in

western Ohio. Each of his companions carried a dead goose on the way back,

while Kerry walked beside them with his 12-gauge in one hand and the other free

to pet a yellow Labrador named Woody. Kerry said each of the four men shot a

goose. The last time Kerry went hunting was October 2003 in Iowa, a state where

he was trailing in the Democratic primary but came from behind to win. Hunting

is of particular interest in several of the states that are still up for grabs

in the presidential race. Kerry bought his hunting license last Saturday in one

of the most critical – Ohio, which has 20 electoral votes. Kerry bought the

nonresident license and a special wetlands habitat stamp, which lets him hunt

waterfowl. Kerry plans to deliver a new speech on faith this weekend in

Florida, McCurry said, focusing on an explanation of his values. "The fact that

Senator Kerry is a person of faith is something that might help voters who are

undecided," McCurry said. Kerry has been explaining it more in recent weeks as

he campaigns in socially conservative areas like rural Ohio. At a town hall

meeting Saturday in Xenia, he talked about taking his rosary into battle during

the Vietnam War. "I will bring my faith with me to the White House and it will

guide me," Kerry said. The faith, the baseball, the hunting all come at the end

of a long fight against Kerry's liberal elite image – an image promoted by his

political enemies but perhaps aided by Kerry as well. The candidate disregarded

concerns from other Democrats that he shouldn't go windsurfing or vacation at

his homes on Nantucket and in Idaho's ski country. McCurry said Kerry is simply

doing the things he loves in the final days of the campaign. Asked if it will

include windsurfing, McCurry smiled. "It's too cold this time of year," he

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