Kerry On

With a crowd estimated at 10-15,000, the Kerry rally at Phil Chacon Park last Thursday was a much-needed re-invigorator for many who are working hard for the cause. Of course it was also a good chance for undecideds to see the candidate in the flesh and make their own decisions. Governor Bill Richardson, Lt. Governor Diane Denish, Congressional candidate Richard Romero, Senator Jeff Bingaman, Rep. Tom Udall, Dist. 26 State Rep. Al Park, Speaker of the NM House Ben Lujan and others warmed up the crowd.

Accompanied by Wesley Clark, who added some crowd-pleasing gung ho, and several other veteran brass, Kerry took the stage to wild cheering and dedicated sign waving. This was a tough bunch who had braved tight security and baking in the late-summer sun for hours, standing in a soccer field with an expansive view of our Sandia Mountains and a trademark hot air balloon.

Kerry gave Bush hell. He said the only place with more hot air than the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was the Bush administration. He called Bush out on making the WRONG decision on everything from education, to health care, to the economy, to the war on terror, to the Iraq war. W is for WRONG! And he layed out his own vision of America, where the middle class is just as valuable as the monied elite at the top, where hard-working people of all shades and persuasions can get a fair shake and a fair chance and some health care. And where war is the last resort, not the preferred strategy.

Kerry finished with mucho hand-shaking and autograph signing while the setting New Mexico sun turned our Watermelon Mountains 10 shades of pink, red and purple. Only a few people fainted. A good time was had by everyone around us, anyway, and as people trickled out to the packed parking lots, they seemed very motivated and up for all the work to come as we count down the last weeks before regime change.

Kerry spent the night in Albuquerque, sharing a dinner with the Guv and others at the Artichoke Cafe. On Friday, he held a town hall meeting at Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center and hammered Cheney on his Halliburton connections and their billions of dollars in no-bid contracts, all courtesy of their cozy relationship with the VP.

Still on a roll, Kerry gave an important and pointed (and may I say kickass) policy speech today at New York University on the war on terrorism and what's really going on in Iraq, despite Bush's constant sugarcoating and outrageous spin. A must read or see the video. Go here. This is an excellent New York Times article with the nuggets. It's clear that Kerry intends to keep the badly faultering Iraq war at the top of the issue heap from now until November. As Bush rapidly loses his somewhat concocted post-Convention bounce, now is the time for the big push. Are you ready?

(Click photos for larger versions. Photo Credits: Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. from Sharon Farmer)