Less than 48 hours after suffering an upset in New Hampshire, Barack Obama was dealt another serious setback when Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) endorsed his candidacy for president yesterday.
Without warning, Senator Kerry - who ran a masterfully inept 2004 presidential campaign, stewarded by Bob Shrum, The Worst Campaign Manager on the Face of God’s Green Earth™ (as stated on his business card) - blindsided the charismatic Obama in South Carolina. As Mr. Obama addressed a cheering crowd in Charleston, Kerry broke through security and took the stage. With what Senator Obama would later describe as “a mixture of deference and horror,” he initially played along, allowing the battle-worn Massachusetts senator to present his prepared speech.
“I’m John Kerry and I am reporting to duty…to tell you, the audience, on this day, Thursday, January 10, 2007, that I, John Kerry, have decided to support Barack Hussein Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, in his quest to become the next president of these United States of America,” Mr. Kerry began. “I know Barack Obama,” he continued, as Mr. Obama turned to the crowd and shook his head, mouthing the words, “No, he doesn’t.” “History gives us moments, my friends, such as when I decided to take a stand against contesting a fraudulent election at a time when our country needed me most, when our citizens cried for accountability and mourned the inevitable tragic and bloody prospect of four more years under the Bush administration. I believe this moment is the moment we should make Barack Obama president of the United States. I know our country needs this leader to take us forward in the coming years, to build a new way to a better future and to reinvigorate the ideas bestowed upon us by our Founding Fathers, those wise men who, like me, today, embraced hope, the hope in people and places and things, the hope in the universe surrounding us, hope in the starry sky aloft at night as we lay in reverie, dreaming of the glory of hope beyond every hill and mountaintop, into every hamlet and haberdashery. And, of course, change. I believe, my friends, that we need change that revolutionizes. I believe we need a change that changes the way we ponder the meaning of change, a change that changes the earth beneath us in heretofore unforeseen, unimaginable and immeasurable ways….”
Forty minutes later, someone in Obama’s camp signaled security, who, to the relief of the stunned, long-silenced crowd, led Mr. Kerry off the dais. Not quite finished, Senator Kerry did put up a struggle as he neared the exits, crying out, “Excuse me, sir, but please remove your mitts from my lapels! I did nothing untoward to you, sir, nothing that warrants your creasing my suit’s sleeve! May I ask what you’re doing with that particular instrument?! I should forewarn you, my good man, not to apply that taser to my being! I believe that would be a rather ill-conceived act on your part should you decide to tase me, bromide…” At which point Mr. Kerry was tased.
The crowd erupted in applause, concluding the rally. U2’s “Beautiful Day” boomed from the loudspeakers as Mr. Obama waded through a sea of shaken admirers, pumping hands and apologizing for Kerry’s endorsement and hijacking of the event.
Having yet to schedule a campaign stop in South Carolina, rival candidate Senator Hillary Clinton broke down when she heard news of Kerry’s endorsement of Obama.
“Wow,” Clinton said, beaming, tears streaming down her cheeks as she met with reporters outside her Chappaqua, N.Y., home. “You know, I work hard every day. I go out there and try to do the right thing for America. I listen to people. But sometimes, sometimes things are out of your control. Those little blessings you don’t expect but receive in return for all of that work.” Clinton added, “I’d just like to thank Senator Kerry for once again serving his country.”
At a fair in Columbia, S.C., Senator John Edwards, before biting into a mustard-drenched corndog, said, “Elizabeth and I just want to send our deepest condolences to Barack Obama and his family for this tragic turn of events. I speak from experience when I say that Barack did nothing - nothing - to deserve this. It’s one thing to attack a candidate’s record, but quite another to defame someone’s character as Senator Kerry did to Mr. Obama today. My heart goes out to him and his former supporters.”
“Senator Obama thought the endorsement was a bit of a cheap shot,” Obama’s campaign spokesperson Bill Burton explained. “But Mr. Obama has nothing personal against Senator Kerry. It’s just politics. Our reaction was no different from the tactics Mr. Kerry applied in the jungles of Vietnam. If you’re getting hit, you have to hit back. We learned our lesson in New Hampshire.”
Pundits differed over the fallout from Kerry’s endorsement.
Speaking with Joe Scarborough on MSNBC, commentator Pat Buchanan said, “Look, I think Kerry’s sneak attack in endorsing Obama was a test for the junior senator from Illinois. I think Obama did the right thing. He showed he’s got that fire in the belly. Obama passed the test. With the way he handled it there in the end, I don’t think Kerry’s endorsement will have a lasting effect the way some are predicting.”
Yet only hours after Kerry’s endorsement, MSNBC projected Hillary Clinton the winner of South Carolina, which is scheduled to hold its primary on January 26. “You don’t have to be Nostradamus here, folks,” Chris Matthews asserted. “Hillary’s a lock for South Carolina now and most likely the nomination.” Matthews added, “Hey, tell Brokaw to suck it.”
But maybe the most dire assessment occurred on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, where Gary Hart, former Colorado senator and one-time Democratic presidential hopeful, declared John Kerry’s endorsement “worse than seventeen Donna Rices sitting on Obama’s lap on a luxury yacht called ‘Monkey Business.’”
Obama Calls Kerry Endorsement A Cheap Shot
Posted by: Brad Jacobson | January 11, 2008 at 04:41 PM
John Kerry was never my favorite person; but he did sound sincere when he delivered his announcement.
My reaction was -he wants to be the VP.
Hopefully he didn't hurt Obama's chances of succeeding in SC or elsewhere.
Thanks, Charmaine
Posted by: charmaine | January 11, 2008 at 05:18 PM
looks like obama just got swift boated
Posted by: redneck | January 11, 2008 at 07:16 PM
The dipsh*t endorsement by quitter Kerry will turn Obama into the O-bomb.
Posted by: simian | January 12, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Even so they would all kill for Kerrys mailing list of 3 million.
I still get updates and queries from Kerrys organization as do others I know.
Still funny stuff, keep up the good work.
Bob
Posted by: Bobswire | January 12, 2008 at 01:50 PM
Love the snark, but wasting bullets on a guy who was inept but far from the worst in the Dem fold. [see Dogs, Blue]
Posted by: Kevin Hayden | January 12, 2008 at 08:40 PM
nice post there :)
Posted by: americangoy | January 17, 2008 at 05:26 PM
That gives some shame on that thing, Well as for Obama he should take some thanks for that thing that a senator given a good words for him. Well as a matter of fact ther54e are things that really made these issue very bad which is not so good for these political persons.
Posted by: cheap international calls | November 03, 2010 at 11:35 PM