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As the race for the 2004 presidency heats up, so do the speeches and the allegations. Leading Democratic presidential candidates U.S. Sen. John Kerry and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean addressed a crowd of more than 500 supporters Nov. 8 in Saco. The agenda included discussions about Iraq, health care, the economy and the errors of current President George Bush throughout the course of his presidency.
Among the crowd at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner was University of Maine College Democrats President Bryan Kaenrath. Kaenrath, a Kerry supporter, has attended the annual dinner, a fund-raiser for the Maine Democratic Party, for the past few years.
“I agreed with both of them [Kerry and Dean] as any Democrat would, but I find Kerry’s message much more fitting for a presidential race and compelling,” Kaenrath said. “Either one would be more effective than Bush in getting our economy moving again, creating jobs and fostering an environment where not only just the top echelons of society can prosper.”
According to the Nov. 10 edition of the Bangor Daily News, both Dean and Kerry avoided criticizing each other, saving their remarks for the president.
“All across the country, there’s a trail of devastation,” Kerry said. “You see it and we see it, and all across our country there is evidence of why this is the beginning of the end of the Bush presidency.”
Dean also listed the reasons why Bush has faltered in Iraq.
“My job as commander in chief of the U.S. Military will never be to send our sons and daughters and our grandchildren and our brothers and sisters to a foreign country to fight without first telling the American people the truth about why it is that we’re going there,” Dean said, in the Bangor Daily News.
“The war in Iraq is going poorly, with American troops bearing nearly all the burden and coming under ever increasing attack by pro-Saddam loyalists,” Kaenrath said. “Bush has failed to internationalize this operation and we are now paying the price.”
Kaenrath said favor was split fairly evenly between Dean and Kerry at the dinner, and that some people supported lesser-known party candidates, including retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich. At rallies organized before the dinner, however, Kaenrath said Kerry supporters outnumbered the Dean supporters.
“Kerry by far has more qualifications to assume a position such as the presidency,” Kaenrath said. “He has the right balance of experience in foreign policy, domestic policy and military affairs to lead the nation in this critical post- 9/11 period.” He said he also believes Kerry’s experience over the span of 35 years in public office makes him qualified for the presidency.
Kaenrath also said Kerry offers a health care plan that will provide medical attention to millions, a plan to re-engage the international community to provide support in Iraq, supports a woman’s right to choose, and wants to develope renewable energy source. He said one of the most important topics the candidates discussed was the 3 million jobs lost in the U.S. under President Bush.
Dean and Kerry will go head to head once again in the presidential primaries, scheduled to take place in early 2004.
Bangor Daily News