August 03, 2004

It Got Ugly in Milwaukee

Oh, to have been in downtown Milwaukee at the Kerry rally last night. I'm sure the Journal Sentinel's coverage didn't do it justice. During the rally, Bush supporters used a bullhorn and air horns to disrupt things. Tom Lange, a jerk who let his name get into the paper, fully admitted to wanting to drown out Kerry. He also told the reporter, "probably not nice, but it's my beliefs."

The Kerry side wasn't better:

There were several incidents of scuffling between Kerry and Bush supporters during the rally, including one in which it appeared a Kerry supporter attempted to throw a large Bush-Cheney sign into the Milwaukee River. Police and sheriff's deputies on foot and on horseback moved into the crowd several times and ordered people to move on and to break up their confrontations. No arrests were made, although one man was pinned to the ground by a sheriff's deputy at one point.

Then we have another Teresa moment. The Bush backers were chanting, "Four more years!" Teresa replied, "They want four more years of hell."

But wait! There's more...

In her remarks she questioned Bush's brainpower:

It is important to have a president who not only understands, but enjoys complexity.

It is important to have a president that believes having friends and making friends in this world is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength . . . It is important to have a president who can actually admit to success and failures, that learns from both. And it's vital for anyone intelligent to acknowledge mistakes and maybe change a position.

She not only insulted the President but all his supporters. While I know of no election where a candidate was done in because of what his spouse said on the campaign trail, there's always a first time.

The Kerrys appear to be desparate after the dinky bounce from last week's Democratic convention. Kerry droned on about all the problems that Bush failed to fix, then told his audience that "Everything is at stake." Then there's Teresa's "four more years of hell" statement. I'll admit times have been tough for some and hellish for an unfortunate few, but the Kerry's made it sound like the Great Depression was Disneyworld compared to Bush's term in office.

"'Everything is at Stake,' Kerry Tells Riverfront Crowd"

UPDATE: Tomorrow, the two candidates will be holding rallies only a few blocks from each other in Davenport. I hope it doesn't get ugly there.

UPDATE II: Hindrocket at Power Line calls the Kerrys' remarks "hysteria."

UPDATE III: Milwaukee radio yapper Charlie Sykes has some examples of Kerry's "civility."