The New York Daily News reports some of the behind-the-scenes stories from the long presidential campaign revealed in a special Newsweek report out today:
"I can't believe I'm losing to this idiot," the Massachusetts Democrat sighed to a staffer when President Bush's poll numbers surged in April.
"Why the f--- didn't he take it?" he wondered when Republican Sen. John McCain refused to be his running mate a half-dozen times.
"It's a pack of f---ing lies, what they're saying about me," he shouted at an adviser as a group of Swift boat veterans stepped up attacks on his Vietnam War record while his team refused to let him respond.
According to the Daily News, Kerry was stunned that McCain declined Kerry's offer of a Kerry/McCain ticket.
The Daily News also offers a little background on Kerry's infamous "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" comment:
After it was clear Kerry would be Bush's challenger, the Republicans set about attacking him, hoping he would overreact - and got their wish.
An ad mocking Kerry for voting against the $87 billion appropriation was prepared as the Democrat headed to West Virginia to speak to a veterans' group.
That led a heckler to start hammering at Kerry's vote during his speech, and the candidate fell for the bait, infamously explaining he voted for the funds before voting against them.
"The second we saw it, we knew we had a new ad," Bush ad man Mark McKinnon gloated.
Kerry was also baited into saying he still vote to authorize the Iraq war, even after WMDs were not found. The Bush campaign had the President start asking in every speech whether Kerry, with the benefit of hindsight, would still vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq. In response to the President's challenges, Kerry responded:
"Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it was the right authority for a president to have. (Washington Post via the Atalanta Journal Constitution "Kerry says Bush was right to invade Iraq" 8/10/04)
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