Kerry Lashes Out Against Extremist Republicans and Bush's Radicalism

John Kerry lashed out at the extremists in power yesterday at the Democratic State Convention, rankling Republicans before heading to New Hampshire to campaign. I was there and it was inspiring; you can read about it in the Boston Globe.

"''This is not the normal contest of Democrats vs. Republicans,'' Kerry told a crowd of 2,265 attending the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee's annual convention at Paul E. Tsongas Arena. ''This is a contest between common sense American values and extreme ideologues whose agenda is to dismantle 50 years of Democratic achievement, and we're not going to let them do it. We're going to say, `No.' '

Hours earlier, speaking to labor union members at a breakfast sponsored by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, Kerry was even more critical, arguing that even trademark conservative Republicans would not approve of the administration's relentless efforts to cut taxes at a time of exploding federal budget deficits.

''This is radical. Radical,'' the senator said. ''Radical in the way that they're willing to transfer the money. Radical in the way they're driving up our deficits. Radical in the way they're doing it at the expense of working people, taking from Social Security trust funds and transferring it to the wealthiest people.''