"A spokeswoman for Kerry said the incumbent does not need to... tell voters his positions"
Oh, yeah, it is TIME for KERRY to GO -- like it is time to kick ALL INCUMBENTS OUT!!!!!
"Road show pressuring candidates to respond to questionnaires" by John C. Drake, Globe Staff | October 24, 2008
A traveling political road show is in Boston this week highlighting what organizers say is a lack of responsiveness on issues by Bay State politicians.
The Project Vote Smart bus is on a tour of college campuses across the country, attempting to pressure candidates for public office to respond to questionnaires about abortion, tax policy, gun control, healthcare, and a host of other issues. Yesterday Project Vote Smart parked at Boston College, and today it will stop at Harvard.
Massachusetts elected officials have a poor record of responding to the group's questions: 11 percent of legislative candidates responded, and 38 percent of the Massachusetts candidates for Congress provided answers. Among the nonresponders are both candidates for US Senate.
"Their response rate is pretty lousy," said Kay L. Schlozman, a Boston College political scientist. But a spokeswoman for one campaign said that not responding to Project Vote Smart does not mean a candidate is scared to answer questions.
"Jeff Beatty's out there talking to voters about what voters are concerned about," said Christine Hunsinger, a spokeswoman for Beatty, a Harwich Republican running against US Senator John F. Kerry. "We get a ton of these surveys, and there just isn't enough time in the day to fill them out when you're out meeting the voters."
A spokeswoman for Kerry said the incumbent does not need to reply to the Project Vote Smart questionnaire to tell voters his positions. "After 24 years in the Senate and the 2004 presidential election, Senator Kerry's legislative record is one of the most vetted in the country," said Brigid O'Rourke, Kerry spokeswoman. Voters with questions about his record should visit the senator's website, she suggested.
Project Vote Smart started out surveying candidates in 1992 and opened a research center at Northeastern University in 1994 with the help of Michael Dukakis, a former governor of Massachusetts and a member of the group's board. Massachusetts candidates also have received questionnaires from the American Institute of Architects, the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Common Cause, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the list goes on.
Did Kerry answer their questions?
Project Vote Smart is based in Philipsburg, Mont., an out-of-the-way location that could dissuade some politicians from taking it seriously. But Schlozman said pointed questions posed by Project Vote Smart may also discourage participation. The bus started its journey in October 2007 in Orlando, Fla. After Harvard, it will head to Washington, D.C., for a week. --more--"
Another reason to dumb the stumblebum Kerry!!!!
