| Dear Friends,
I campaigned for my dad back in 2004 on a lot of campuses, and of course, one of the main subjects that many young people talked to me about was Iraq. People in college have had and continue to have friends in Iraq, or know someone who joined the Reserves to pay for college and ended up in Baghdad; I have friends who have served this way also. Knowing this, I've always been especially proud of what my dad did last year, when he stepped out ahead of his party and started demanding we set a deadline to get the troops out of Iraq.
Now his position has become the unified Democratic position, and I have noticed that a lot of reporters in the last week or so are realizing that fact: John Kerry's position is now the Democratic position. And I just wanted to share a few of those articles with you.
Over the weekend, the AP wrote an article about how nervous Republicans are getting over Iraq, and included this part about my dad, John Kerry, and his efforts last year to set a deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq: Democratic strategists fretted about the impact on senators seeking re-election and challengers to Republicans in swing states.
The plan drew the support of 13 Democrats.
"Now it's the unified Democratic position," Kerry correctly e-mailed his supporters last week. "In May, Republicans were dismissing even tough questions about the escalation. Now, they're falling all over themselves to distance themselves from the president" And the Boston Globe remarked: "Another of his bold moves -- leading the filibuster against confirming Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito -- now looks very smart to liberals, after Alito provided crucial votes to eviscerate liberal positions on school desegregation, late-term abortion, and campaign finance restrictions." And the Chicago Tribune does a good job of putting this political fight in the context of my dad's life: Few living American politicians have had their lives so defined by war as Kerry. His wartime service and wartime protest stoked his political career in Massachusetts. His military background burnished his credentials among Democrats seeking a nominee to run against an incumbent president during wartime in 2004. And now, in a quieter time, his hair gray and reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, he finds himself again opposing his government's conflict. "It's very dismaying to me at this stage of my life and career and being in the Senate, seeing us repeat those mistakes," said Kerry (D-Mass.). "It's very disturbing. We are owed something better than that." This fight is far from over, of course, but people like us, who believe that we have to get a new course in Iraq, need to keep up the pressure. It will make a difference as we are beginning to see. My dad will write soon with more everyone can do to help; but I wanted to share those articles and let you know he is continuing to fight everyday and making a difference. Thanks, Vanessa Kerry
John Kerry For U.S. Senate
129 Portland Street, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02114-2014
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