BigBadBrian
08-07-2004, 08:25 AM
In Mo., hecklers try to derail Kerry team
By Patrick Healy, Boston Globe Staff | August 7, 2004
SEDALIA, Mo. -- Harry Truman gave 'em hell when his whistle-stop train tour pulled into Sedalia in 1948, but it was the townspeople of this pro-Bush burg who made life rough for John F. Kerry, John Edwards, and their wives just before midnight Thursday.
In a vivid display of the political perils of Kerry's cross-country trip, the Democratic running mates were relentlessly heckled in Sedalia as they championed cheaper health premiums and good-paying jobs from the rear platform of their 15-car train. Although anti-Kerry protesters are not unusual at his events, the Sedalia visit laid bare Kerry's determination to take his message into the heart of Bush country and forced the Democrats to deal at times with hostile foes.
Campaign aides said that they had taken a calculated risk, hoping to spread Kerry's message in Bush country, but arguing that this was a gutsier performance than the invitation-only events the president generally sticks to. But it also included some of the most revealing moments yet of how the Democratic ticket reacts while caught off guard and under fire.
Edwards's trademark smile melted in the floodlights to a stony stare at times as Bush supporters waved posters with messages such as ''Flush the Johns," and he tried to shame them by mentioning that his children were on board the train. Teresa Heinz Kerry, meanwhile, began her remarks by contending that Missouri Democrats would treat Laura Bush better than the local Republicans were treating her. Heinz Kerry, who prides herself on ''speaking my mind," spoke haltingly through catcalls of ''Go home."
The foursome tried to plow through the 20-minute stop in Sedalia in relatively good cheer, their second of the trip -- not counting the brief ''slowdowns" of the train where the two families, joined by several of their children, waved and greeted small crowds of supporters, some of whom would run after the train on the tracks.
The five-day trip reflects Kerry's own attempt to embrace ''mainstream heartland values." In Missouri -- a 2004 battleground with 11 electoral votes and a bellwether of presidential victories that Bush won narrowly in 2000, when most small towns swung in favor of the Republican -- Kerry's presence has riled some voters, who have received encouragement from local GOP leaders to show their colors for Bush as the challenger passes through.
Kerry fans outnumbered protesters, but the latter dozens made their point with greater zeal, in some cases shockingly so. As the Democrat waved to some 500 supporters in Warrensburg late Thursday, one woman swore at him and then added, ''I hate you!" Kerry shrugged it off, remarking inside: ''She was so drunk. Did you see how drunk she was?"
Yesterday marked Day 2 of the ride from St. Louis to Arizona aboard the train, which includes cars reserved for the Secret Service, domed observation decks, formal dining cars, and Pullman coach No. 403, built in 1913 and used by Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. Kerry slept last night in the ''Georgia 300" car -- which carried Franklin D. Roosevelt to his Warm Springs, Ga., retreat -- while Edwards repaired to the dark-wood paneled No. 403.
The Democrats' train has a whistle toward the back that Edwards's 4-year-old son, Jack, has enjoyed pulling as Kerry holds him up. And in a nod to modern-day campaigning, there is a powerful sound system that blares Bruce Springsteen's recent hit ''The Rising" at most stops.
It was the 10:30 p.m. stop in Sedalia that drew the largest crowd, more than 1,000 enthusiastic Kerry supporters and 100 or so Bush supporters, and it provided genuine political theater.
Edwards tweaked the protesters with humor at first for booing the Democrats' job creation plan -- ''Are you guys really booing? . . . That's amazing" -- then tried to shame them into better manners.
''I just want to say to those folks who don't want to hear from us, my children are on this train," the North Carolina senator said. ''Show 'em some good Missouri manners, if you don't mind."
Heinz Kerry, who appeared a bit shocked by the reception, offered a hello to Missouri and then said, ''If Laura Bush was here, I would say hello politely to her, and I would expect all Democrats to do that too . . . In a free democratic country, we have our opinions, but we respect other people's place. So enjoy your democracy."
She paused at times during the shouts of ''four more years" and ''Bush, Bush, Bush" -- which the larger Kerry base drowned out at some points, but not at others -- and called on the crowd to stick to ideas in the 2004 race. As the Bush chants continued, Heinz Kerry said, ''Excuse me . . . let's enjoy the moment and let's give our great welcoming to John, my husband."
Kerry then announced that Amtrak had just informed an aide that the Democrats' stop was holding up another train. Still, he launched into an abbreviated stump speech amid the booing.
''When I listen to some people who say four more years, I say to myself, four more years of adding deficit and debt to the children of our country?" Kerry said to cheers from his side.
''Harry Truman came through here, 1948. He's your Harry Truman. And when Harry was talking, people used to yell, 'Give 'em hell, Harry.' And Harry would say, 'I just tell 'em the truth and they think it's hell.' "
As the candidate made note of all the young children staying up late to greet him, the crowd cleaved into choruses of ''We want Bush" and ''Kerry!"
Kerry then said: ''That's all right. Let 'em chant, ladies and gentlemen, because they've only got three more months to chant. They don't want to hear the truth! . . . But John Edwards and I are going to tell America the truth."
Yet even the four-term senator from Massachusetts seemed a bit rattled, making an odd promise that ''graduate school is going to be there" someday for the children who turned out that night to see a man who would be president.
By Patrick Healy, Boston Globe Staff | August 7, 2004
SEDALIA, Mo. -- Harry Truman gave 'em hell when his whistle-stop train tour pulled into Sedalia in 1948, but it was the townspeople of this pro-Bush burg who made life rough for John F. Kerry, John Edwards, and their wives just before midnight Thursday.
In a vivid display of the political perils of Kerry's cross-country trip, the Democratic running mates were relentlessly heckled in Sedalia as they championed cheaper health premiums and good-paying jobs from the rear platform of their 15-car train. Although anti-Kerry protesters are not unusual at his events, the Sedalia visit laid bare Kerry's determination to take his message into the heart of Bush country and forced the Democrats to deal at times with hostile foes.
Campaign aides said that they had taken a calculated risk, hoping to spread Kerry's message in Bush country, but arguing that this was a gutsier performance than the invitation-only events the president generally sticks to. But it also included some of the most revealing moments yet of how the Democratic ticket reacts while caught off guard and under fire.
Edwards's trademark smile melted in the floodlights to a stony stare at times as Bush supporters waved posters with messages such as ''Flush the Johns," and he tried to shame them by mentioning that his children were on board the train. Teresa Heinz Kerry, meanwhile, began her remarks by contending that Missouri Democrats would treat Laura Bush better than the local Republicans were treating her. Heinz Kerry, who prides herself on ''speaking my mind," spoke haltingly through catcalls of ''Go home."
The foursome tried to plow through the 20-minute stop in Sedalia in relatively good cheer, their second of the trip -- not counting the brief ''slowdowns" of the train where the two families, joined by several of their children, waved and greeted small crowds of supporters, some of whom would run after the train on the tracks.
The five-day trip reflects Kerry's own attempt to embrace ''mainstream heartland values." In Missouri -- a 2004 battleground with 11 electoral votes and a bellwether of presidential victories that Bush won narrowly in 2000, when most small towns swung in favor of the Republican -- Kerry's presence has riled some voters, who have received encouragement from local GOP leaders to show their colors for Bush as the challenger passes through.
Kerry fans outnumbered protesters, but the latter dozens made their point with greater zeal, in some cases shockingly so. As the Democrat waved to some 500 supporters in Warrensburg late Thursday, one woman swore at him and then added, ''I hate you!" Kerry shrugged it off, remarking inside: ''She was so drunk. Did you see how drunk she was?"
Yesterday marked Day 2 of the ride from St. Louis to Arizona aboard the train, which includes cars reserved for the Secret Service, domed observation decks, formal dining cars, and Pullman coach No. 403, built in 1913 and used by Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. Kerry slept last night in the ''Georgia 300" car -- which carried Franklin D. Roosevelt to his Warm Springs, Ga., retreat -- while Edwards repaired to the dark-wood paneled No. 403.
The Democrats' train has a whistle toward the back that Edwards's 4-year-old son, Jack, has enjoyed pulling as Kerry holds him up. And in a nod to modern-day campaigning, there is a powerful sound system that blares Bruce Springsteen's recent hit ''The Rising" at most stops.
It was the 10:30 p.m. stop in Sedalia that drew the largest crowd, more than 1,000 enthusiastic Kerry supporters and 100 or so Bush supporters, and it provided genuine political theater.
Edwards tweaked the protesters with humor at first for booing the Democrats' job creation plan -- ''Are you guys really booing? . . . That's amazing" -- then tried to shame them into better manners.
''I just want to say to those folks who don't want to hear from us, my children are on this train," the North Carolina senator said. ''Show 'em some good Missouri manners, if you don't mind."
Heinz Kerry, who appeared a bit shocked by the reception, offered a hello to Missouri and then said, ''If Laura Bush was here, I would say hello politely to her, and I would expect all Democrats to do that too . . . In a free democratic country, we have our opinions, but we respect other people's place. So enjoy your democracy."
She paused at times during the shouts of ''four more years" and ''Bush, Bush, Bush" -- which the larger Kerry base drowned out at some points, but not at others -- and called on the crowd to stick to ideas in the 2004 race. As the Bush chants continued, Heinz Kerry said, ''Excuse me . . . let's enjoy the moment and let's give our great welcoming to John, my husband."
Kerry then announced that Amtrak had just informed an aide that the Democrats' stop was holding up another train. Still, he launched into an abbreviated stump speech amid the booing.
''When I listen to some people who say four more years, I say to myself, four more years of adding deficit and debt to the children of our country?" Kerry said to cheers from his side.
''Harry Truman came through here, 1948. He's your Harry Truman. And when Harry was talking, people used to yell, 'Give 'em hell, Harry.' And Harry would say, 'I just tell 'em the truth and they think it's hell.' "
As the candidate made note of all the young children staying up late to greet him, the crowd cleaved into choruses of ''We want Bush" and ''Kerry!"
Kerry then said: ''That's all right. Let 'em chant, ladies and gentlemen, because they've only got three more months to chant. They don't want to hear the truth! . . . But John Edwards and I are going to tell America the truth."
Yet even the four-term senator from Massachusetts seemed a bit rattled, making an odd promise that ''graduate school is going to be there" someday for the children who turned out that night to see a man who would be president.