Kerry Rallies Democratic Lawmakers in Seattle

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Kerry Rallies Democratic Lawmakers in Seattle
By Austin Jenkins

OLYMPIA, WA 2005-08-19 - Massachusetts Senator John Kerry spoke in Seattle Friday, rallying the Democratic troops attending a national legislative conference. He said despite his defeat, and his party's losses in Congress, Democrats have made headway in state governments across the country.



Idaho remains a Republican stronghold. Bert Marley is a Democratic Senator from Pocatello. He says his party needs to craft a message that better fits the West, in order to win more votes:

Bert Marley: I think things like healthcare, education come to the forefront as issues I don't think the Republicans are doing a good job on and that we can do a better job than they're doing. I think that's the area where our message is going to have to come from.

Senator Kerry added that national Democratic strategists need to listen more to state and local lawmakers in order to understand the issues their constituents are dealing with.

"Kerry is trying to build the party's ground game by electing more Democratic state legislators across the country."

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