John Kerry was in Colorado yesterday for his first public campaign appearance in the state. He spoke in downtown Denver's Civic Park--where more than 1,000 people showed up in the rain to welcome him--and attended a fundraiser at a private home in Aspen, where he addressed his choice of Vice Presidential candidate. The man has a great sense of humor: [link now fixed]

Earlier Monday in Aspen, Kerry attended a brief fundraiser at the home of Michael Goldberg, president of the Miami-based airline leasing company Aerolease International. Kerry netted about $500,000. While there, Kerry started his speech by saying:

"Just to put your minds all at ease, I have four words for you that I know will relieve you greatly. How does this sound? Vice President Hunter Thompson."

Hunter was in attendance at the gathering. In Denver, Kerry stressed the need for funds for stem-cell research, among other things. You can read the text of his speech here.

by TChris

For the moment at least, President Bush has lost his long-held advantage as the candidate most likely to protect the country from terrorism.

Exactly half the country now approves of the way Bush is managing the U.S. war on terrorism, down 13 percentage points since April, according to the poll. Barely two months ago, Bush comfortably led Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, by 21 points when voters were asked which man they trusted to deal with the terrorist threat. Today the country is evenly divided, with 48 percent preferring Kerry and 47 percent favoring Bush.

As the public continues to watch soldiers and contractors die with no apparent increase in security for the U.S., doubts about Bush's ability to combat terrorism are likely to grow, particularly among those who aren't closely allied with either party.

Virtually all of the recent movement against the war has occurred among political independents. Among those with no firm party ties, the proportion who said the war was "not worth fighting" increased from 48 percent in May to 59 percent in the latest poll.

Interest in the upcoming election is high. Kerry is seen as more "honest and trustworthy" than Bush by a margin of 52 to 39.

Bush's overall job approval rating held steady at 47 percent, at its lowest point in Post-ABC News polls, while his disapproval rating reached a new high of 51 percent. That leaves Bush in a shaky position politically, based on the rankings of other recent presidents seeking reelection.

The New York Times has an editorial today on the problem of Native Americans being denied the right to vote in South Dakota during the June 1st special election that elected Democrat Stephanie Herseth to Congress.

Americans who happen to have voted strongly for Democrats in recent years and who are now being denied the right to vote -- either through systematic efforts to intimidate and harass and/or through haphazard implementation of voting laws, is a serious issue. It happened in 2002, it happened in Stephanie Herseth’s election on June 1st, and after comments like Congressman Tom Davis’ (R-VA) crack about the June 1 election that “If you take out the Indian reservation, we would have won,” we believe strongly that it may happen again this November when both Tom Daschle and Ms. Herseth are on the ballot.

You need to be aware of what’s going on in South Dakota. Sen. Daschle has launched a new public campaign to address this – with an effort to encourage the South Dakota Secretary of State to investigate and hold hearings, and to fund election lawyers at polling places this fall. Please support his effort. Please support Tom Daschle.

The AP reports on bloggers who have applied for media credentials to attend the Democratic National Convention in Boston. We're not mentioned in the article, but we have applied, and if TalkLeft gets a press pass, we'll be there. We're actually very excited about the prospect.

Bloggers are used to 24/7 coverage and getting their thoughts online immediately, without waiting for editors or approval. The national networks will be covering the stars of the conventions, and so will bloggers, but bloggers also will take the time to interview and observe the participants and those behind the scenes. Who are these delegates? Why is the convention meaningful to them? What issues do they care most about? What's it like to be in the madhouse of a convention, on your feet for hours on end and days in a row?

Most bloggers have day jobs. Even with a press pass, attending the convention means taking a week off from work and spending their own money to fly to Boston and stay in a hotel. It's a commitment. Regardless of who ends up with the coveted press passes, we hope you readers will appreciate their effort--and the opportunity they provide you to view the convention through an alternative lens.

This reporter for the Independent thinks the beheadings of Nicholas Berg and Paul Johnson may be the final straw for Americans when it comes to President Bush and his war on terror. [link via Buzzflash]

Is this the horror that will finally undo George Bush's presidency? First Nicholas Berg, now Paul Johnson: in two months and in two different countries, two US civilians have been kidnapped and beheaded by their al-Qa'ida-affiliated captors, becoming not only pawns in a deadly geopolitical game but also symbols of the complicated feelings of revulsion unleashed by the Bush administration's "war on terror".

...the overall mood is slipping away from the President. Two recent polls show that a majority believe the war against Saddam Hussein was not worth it. The Abu Ghraib torture scandal remains incendiary. And the recent traumatic events in Saudi Arabia - the siege of a residential compound in the oil town of al-Khobar last month, the shootings of Americans and other Westerners, and now the grisly fate of Mr Johnson - have raised anxious questions about the direction of US foreign policy and its ostensible goal of diminishing the terrorist threat.

One can only hope.

John Kerry, the next President of the United States, will be in Denver on Monday June 21 for a Rally for a Stronger America. Gates open 1:00 pm.

WHERE: Greek Theater at Denver's Civic Center Park

For Kerry's best supporters, pick up your VIP tickets to get up front at the rally. Please stop by the Colorado Democratic Party HQ at 777 Santa Fe. Hours for ticket pick up are as follows:

Friday 4 PM - 7 PM
Saturday 10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday 10 AM - 6 PM
Monday 8 AM - 1 PM

Alternatively, general admission tickets are available online

A new Harris Poll finds voters see little difference between Bush and Kerry on gun control--leading to the conclusion it won't be a big issue in the Presidential campaign. We never thought it would be, but since the news is reporting it, so will we:

By 29% to 25% a modest plurality thinks President George Bush would be better on the gun control issue than Senator John Kerry, but 22% see no difference, and 24% are not sure....These findings suggest that gun control is not an issue which is influencing voters in their choice of presidential candidates.

There's an important Colorado congressional race in which you can make a difference. Support Stan Matsunakas. His opponent is Marilyn Musgrave, woman on a mission to ban gay marriage and increase the power of the radical-theological right. Stan says:

"People's eyes are wide open. The community now knows her conservative right-wing agenda," said Matsunaka, who is clearing up cases at his law practice for a second run. "Voters gave her the benefit of the doubt last time," he said. "Now, they're angry." "She was more involved in what was going on in San Francisco and Boston than in the district," he said. Both cities issued marriage licenses to gay couples... There are Republicans who backed Matsunaka in 2002 who say he has a better shot this year... "The Christian social agenda is big in Weld County, but new people have moved in from Boulder County," said Ruth Gartrell, a retired teacher who lives in Greeley. "No one knows how the county will vote," she said. ...Dana Williams of the Colorado secretary of state's office, said the district's registered voters include 163,509 Republicans, 102,874 Democrats and 128,421 unaffiliated. "When I go out in public now, people at the grocery store, hardware store and on the street tell me they didn't vote for me last time, but this time they will," Matsunaka said.

We're proud to have Stan as a new TL advertiser. Give to Stan . If you end your contribution with ".11", Stan will know it's from a TalkLeft reader. My DD has more on recent polling in the race. Daily Kos has made Stan one of his dKos8 candidates.

by TChris

TalkLeft has frequently taken note of Florida's efforts to assure that people who once committed a felony are never allowed to vote, no matter that they've paid their debt to society, changed their attitudes, and lived productive and law-abiding lives for many years. Apologists for Florida -- one of only seven states to disenfranchise felons even after they've completed their punishments -- argue that felons can apply to reinstate their right to vote. Sure they can, but unless they have connections, it's obvious that most of the applications won't go anywhere.

The Office of Executive Clemency has a backlog of 44,000 requests for reinstatement.

Today at its quarterly meeting in Tallahassee, the governor's Executive Clemency Board will consider just 56 applicants from the waiting list.

"It's kind of embarrassing" for the state, contends state Sen. Mandy Dawson, D-Fort Lauderdale, who's been trying unsuccessfully for many years to change the law. Like other advocates, the Daytona Beach native points to the disproportionate number of minorities affected by the original law that went into effect in 1868, shortly after blacks got the right to vote.

Roger Clegg (a former high-level official in the Justice Department) makes the absurd argument that ex-felons shouldn't be allowed to vote because they might vote for legislators who would be "soft on crime." By that reasoning, the government should disenfranchise all voters who might not cast their ballots for politicians favored by Clegg. Clegg's point isn't that reformed felons are unworthy of voting, but that they might not vote for Republicans. And that's exactly the reasoning that secretly underlies Florida's unwillingness to restore the voting rights of the 600,000 disenfranchised Floridians who once commited a felony.

Ex-felons work, pay taxes, and send their kids to school just like everyone else. They should have the same right to representation as everyone else, even if people like Roger Clegg fear that they might vote the "tough on crime" folks out of office.

Between March and May, John Kerry has raised a Democratic record $100 million for his campaign. He's not on easy street though. While his total is $140 million, Bush has raised $216 million and gets an extra month to fundraise because his party's convention is a month later than that of the Dems. So, if you haven't given yet, or if you can give some more do it now. Kerry's fundraising ends with the Democratic convention and then he only gets Government financing.

When you donate, drop him a line asking him not to pick Dick Gephardt as his veep candidate. Matt Yglesias, writing for American Prospect , tells you why. So does Left Coaster.

Both candidates are vying for the single, female voter. It's a big untapped block. The Village Voice examines their efforts, and says Bush is behind. From their press release on the article:

Almost 22 million single women voters sat out the last election. Since
pollsters recently realized that never married, divorced, and widowed females
make up the largest untapped voting bloc, both major parties have been engaged in a desperate scuffle for their votes. There's no question the candidates want single women, but do single women want the candidates? Sharon Lerner looks at the parties' pitiful pitches for the young, unattached female vote.

From the article:

Another one of our all-time favorites moves into the "hero" category tonight. Jon Bon Jovi held a fundraiser at his home and raised a cool $1 million for John Kerry:

Kerry arrived via helicopter from Atlantic City, where he was staying the night and speaking to an AFL-CIO convention Tuesday morning. ``I know it makes a lot of you nervous,'' Kerry told the guests, ``the idea of my coming here to a fund-raiser, leaving at 8:30 with a million dollars and then 11 o'clock I'm on the news at the blackjack table in Atlantic City. I promise I will not gamble with your money the way George Bush has gambled with the money of this country.''

As to Bon Jovi, here's what he had to say:

Musician Jon Bon Jovi says criticism and intimidation won't stop him from speaking out in support of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who raised $1 million at the singer's home Monday night. ``I've received hate mail at my house. I've had people drive by my home and shout things out,'' Bon Jovi told guests gathered outside his home along the Navesink River. ``And I think that they question my patriotism because I decided to stand up and have a voice. And I stood up to have a voice because I think that's the most American thing that you can do.''

The guest list?

More than 300 people attended the fund-raiser, including actors Meg Ryan, James Gandolfini and Steve Buscemi, both of HBO's ``The Sopranos,'' and Richard Belzer of NBC's ``Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.''