Monday, August 02, 2004
Marines for Kerry?
An unfortunate encounter between Kerry and a group of Marines:
Earlier, their bus convoy pulled over at a Wendy's fast food restaurant for a photo opportunity lunch that provided an awkward moment.
Spotting a group of US Marines, Kerry, who has made his Vietnam War service a cornerstone of his campaign, went over to chat. The Marines, who all turned out to be staunch Bush reporters, were not impressed.
"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one of them told reporters afterwards. "I'm 100 percent against" Kerry, he said. "We support our commander-in-chief 100 percent."
More here.
The Marines — two in uniform and two off-duty — were polite but curt while chatting with Kerry, answering most of his questions with a "yes, sir" or "no, sir."
But they turned downright nasty after the Massachusetts senator thanked them "for their service" and left.
"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one Marine said, adding, "I'm 100 percent against [him]."
A sergeant with 10 years of service under his belt said, "I speak for all of us. We think that we are doing the right thing in Iraq," before saying he is to be deployed there in a few weeks and is "eager" to go and serve.
Paterrico notes that this wasn't news to the L.A. Times, though they did find space to feature a note about a single Bush protestor.
Let's turn the tables. Let's pretend that Bush stops at a factory and approaches a couple of factory workers, with whom Bush poses for a photo-op. Bush asks the workers some questions, to which they give terse responses. After Bush leaves, the workers tell reporters that they are offended that Bush took advantage of them for a photo-op, and they support Kerry 100%, because Bush's policies are costing factory workers jobs.
Do you think a story like that would make its way into that day's Los Angeles Times story about the Bush campaign?
And Captain Ed notes that, gasp, Kerry didn't really eat at that Wendy's. He had a $200 per plate meal waiting for him on the bus.
I have nothing against Shrimp Vandallo or scallops, or even spending $200 on a lunch from time to time. But making a big show of eating at Wendy's because it's an Edwards family tradition, making it a photo op for the campaign, all the while knowing you have a $200 lunch waiting for you ... that demonstrates a level of artifice that is not only shameful, but dreadfully clumsy. If nothing else, it shows that Kerry can't even fake populism effectively.
