Kerry loses Wisconsin

[BigBadBrian]

Steve Chaggaris of CBS News reports:


On Wednesday, Kerry made his third visit to Green Bay, Wis., this year and made it a point to focus on the main thing the city revolves around: football and the Green Bay Packers...

As he was taking questions from the audience, he referred to the legendary Packers stadium, Lambeau Field (which has been called that for 39 years) as "Lambert Field."


If the voters catch wind of that gaffe, it could take Kerry another three visits to Green Bay to make up for it.


(shaking head) Lambert field? Lambert field? Has this man never watched Sportscenter? Never listened to Chris Berman? Has he never heard John Facenda's NFL Films voice? The low, rumbling Voice-of-God?As in, "the Frozen tundra of (already-deep voice dropping another four octaves) Lammmbeauuuu Field..."

[Lincoln]

Wow that was about as good as his delivery of the opening pitch at the Red Sox game. Kerry is great in sports stadiums.

[MAX]

"Lambert Field?" LMAO!!!! What a dumbass!!!! That's just plain sacrilege for a grown man not to know the stadium in Titletown.

Are you just fucking with us Brian? This can't be true?

Well nevermind, coming from Kerry I expect it. The only fucking stadium that he's aware of is the one in Pittsburgh.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by MAX
"Lambert Field?" LMAO!!!! What a dumbass!!!! That's just plain sacrilege for a grown man not to know the stadium in Titletown.

Are you just fucking with us Brian? This can't be true?

Well nevermind, coming from Kerry I expect it. The only fucking stadium that he's aware of is the one in Pittsburgh.

Nope....this is true.

See my post below for related story.

[BigBadBrian]

Kerry Campaigns In Wisconsin
Thu 05-27-2004 , 10:53 pm

Thousands turn out to see John Kerry in Ashwaubenon

ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (AP) -- Vietnam veteran Michael Mack went to listen to presidential hopeful John Kerry Thursday for just one thing.
'I want to hear the exit strategy for the war (in Iraq),' the 58-year-old Suamico man said. He joined about 2,000 people at a rally at Shopko Hall, across the street from Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers.

Mack said it was time for a policy change on Iraq, which is why he came to hear the Massachusetts senator.

'I do think he will build a better coalition than the president has done,' Mack said. 'That is really important to get other nations buying in, such as Germany. We can't carry that burden ourselves.'

Kerry's stop in the Green Bay area is part of an 11-day campaign to focus on national security. The Democrat will also make another stop Friday at the National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon.

Kerry speech, more of a stump speech than a policy speech, thanked the crowd for letting him be so close to Lambeau Field.

Kerry said for the past eight presidential elections if the Washington Redskins got beat on the Sunday before election day the presidential challenger has won. Kerry said the Packers play the Redskins this fall.

'On October 31, when the Redskins play against the Pack you are looking at the biggest cheesehead in America right here,' he said drawing a roar from the crowd.

Kerry did touch on the Iraqi war, saying working with other countries is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

'I will never be a president who sends our troops into harm's way without enough troops to get the job done.'

He criticized Bush's 'unaffordable, unfair tax cuts for wealthy Americans.'

'On every issue there's a better choice than this administration is offering us,' he said.

After the speech, Mack said he never heard an exit strategy about Iraq but he heard enough to like the direction that Kerry would take.

But Mack said he was still undecided who to vote for.

'I probably won't make my decision until election time,' he said.

World War II veteran Bob Schmitz, 81, of Green Bay, said the war in Iraq is going 'terrible' and there needs to be a change in the White House.

'If you were a veteran you would have to be absolutely blind to vote for a guy like Bush,' Schmitz said. 'We should not have gone there. The lies that we were told to drag us in there in the first place would be enough for me to support Kerry.'

'Where the hell are the weapons of mass destruction?' he said. The weapons' existence was President Bush's key argument for the war that removed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power.

Before Kerry's appearance, about 100 people attended a Republican rally across the street at the Brown County Veterans Memorial. Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay organized the rally, which included speeches by him, U.S. Senate candidates Tim Michels of Oconomowoc and state Sen. Bob Welch of Redgranite and veterans.

Army Sgt. Nicole Delvaux, who received a Purple Heart Wednesday, still limps from shrapnel wounds suffered in Iraq. But she said in an interview that it was important to her to attend a rally for President Bush.

'I want people to know that he is getting support from the people who are over there and recently came back,' she said after a down pour rain sent those at the rally scurrying for cover.

Delvaux, a member of the National Guard's 32nd Military police company out of Milwaukee and Madison, was wounded last December in Iraq.

The soldier said being in the United States as war has become open to criticism in a presidential campaign was difficult.

'It is hard to see the negativism and then see it used as a ploy in the campaign,' the 23-year-old Green Bay woman said.

Cathy Rauwald, 48, of Green Bay, criticized Kerry's military service with the sign she carried: '3 Purple Hearts over a few scratches ... then 1 quick discharge. Kerry War hero? Not.'

'I don't like his character,' Rauwald said. 'I don't think he is leadership material. I don't see it in him. I don't feel it in him.'

Joe Repya, 58, a retired military officer from Eagan, Minn., told the crowd he volunteered to serve another two years and expects to be back in uniform soon and go to Iraq.

'We have a president with a strong backbone. Appeasement does not work,' Repya said. 'Ask yourself, who does Osama bin Laden want to be president?'

[Sgt Schultz]

Besides Lambert Field Kerry will also be making campaign stops at Wrickley Field, Comitsky Park, Fenbay Park, the Metronome, and Soldiers Fields!

[Sgt Schultz]

Football Fans for Truth

New political group pokes fun at Kerry's football gaffes
By Brian Tumulty, Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has a new political attack group to contend with.

Two Washington-based lawyers supporting President Bush's re-election have registered an advocacy group, Football Fans for Truth, as a Section 527 organization allowed to accept unlimited political donations. They plan to publicize Kerry's recent sports misstatements such as his reference to home of the Green Bay Packers as "Lambert Field" instead of Lambeau Field.

Other gaffes they hope to bring wider attention to include Kerry's talk of the Buckeyes — the nickname of Ohio State University's team — while campaigning in University of Michigan Wolverine territory.

Lawyers Jeff Larroca and Dino Panagopoulos, both members of the law firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, said in a conference call Wednesday they have no plans to raise large amounts of cash.

Instead, they hope to get free publicity from sports talk radio and other media.

"Our goal is to basically find ways to get out the political humor about John Kerry's unsuitability to be sportsman-in-chief," Larroca said.

Greg Le Duc, a Green Bay native who has written a screenplay about the life of Packers founder Earl "Curly" Lambeau that he is shopping around Hollywood, indicated in an e-mail Wednesday that Kerry's mistake is understandable.

"For John Kerry, it was probably just a slip since Lambeau is such a unique name compared to Lambert," said Le Duc, who would like to see Burt Reynolds play Packers co-founder George Whitney Calhoun in his movie.

Larroca and Panagopoulos characterized Kerry as a "sports poser" who said his favorite Boston Red Sox player was someone never on the team.

"Some people like the fact that he is an avid dove hunter," Larroca said.

Asked about their involvement in the Bush campaign, they would only say, "We both have yard signs."

This campaign season, both gave $1,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaign and $250 to moderate Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who had a tough primary battle in the spring against a conservative challenger. Larroca also gave $250 to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., according to Federal Election Commission records.

Meanwhile, the Bush campaign has played up its tenuous affinity to the Packers with Wisconsin voters.

Last week Vice President Dick Cheney visited Green Bay, Sheboygan and Milwaukee with former Packers quarterback Bart Starr.

In Green Bay, Cheney pointed out he worked 38 years ago for then-Wisconsin Gov. Warren Knowles.

"And one of the privileges of working for the governor was he was a great Packer fan," Cheney said. "And we used to catch football games."

The founders of Football Fans for Truth claim they came up with their idea about a week ago — neither could remember the exact day — during a fantasy football league draft when friends were laughing about Kerry's lack of sports knowledge.

"As the chuckles drew roars, somebody said, 'You should start a 527,'" said Larroca, referring to the section of Internal Revenue Service code that allows political advocacy groups to receive tax-exempt donations.

Panagopoulos, a former Texan who is a Dallas Cowboys fan, and Larroca, who grew up in the Washington area as a diehard Redskins fan, agreed Wednesday that Lambeau, for whom Lambeau Field is named, was one of the original Three Stooges.

They were joking, right?

"I'm serious," Larroca said. "I believe Curly Lambeau was one of the Three Stooges, and that's my final answer."

"We know it has been named Lambeau Field for several years," Panagopoulos added. (1965 to be exact.)

True Packers fans know that Lambeau is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and coached the team for 31 years, winning three consecutive championships from 1929 to 1931.

So will the founders of Football Fans for Truth care if the Packers have a winning season, building on their impressive victory on "Monday Night Football" against the Carolina Panthers?

"I root for the Packers when they play the Redskins," said Panagopoulos, the Dallas fan.

[ODShowtime]

What riveting journalism on display.

[FORD]

Originally posted by ODShowtime
What riveting journalism on display.

No shit.... now if Kerry didn't know the name of where the Patriots played, it might be a valid issue.

Funny thing is, Junior probably couldn't tell you where the Texas Rangers play - and he used to "own" the damn team!

[John Ashcroft]

Heh heh heh... I think it's kinda funny really.

Have you lost your sense of humor guys?

[FORD]

No, my sense of humor's great - which is saying a lot after yesterday - but the fact that there ARE those who would take this kind of shit seriously.... Shit, if you asked half the politicians around here where the Seahawks played, half of them would probably say "The Kingdome" and the other half wouldn't know because they just changed the fucking name again "Qwest Field" - which would be a lameass name even if I didn't despise that corporation.

[ODShowtime]

that was my sense of humor