WASHINGTON

KERRY REFLECTS ON ELECTION

As President Bush prepares for his inauguration, Senator Kerry is gearing up to help rebuild the Democratic Party – and possibly refocus his strategy for the next election in 2008. In an interview with Newsweek magazine after the election, Mr. Kerry said he was going to keep up pressure on the Republican majority. “I’m not going to go lick my wounds or hide under a rock or disappear. I’m going to learn. I’ve had disappointments and I’ve learned to cope.” Mr. Kerry’s spokesman, David Wade, said the Massachusetts senator is realistic about his prospects for running in 2008. “He realizes it’s impossible to predict. In December of 2003 he was dead. In January of 2004 he was the nominee,” Mr. Wade told Newsweek.

Another adviser, however, said Mr. Kerry “thinks he’s the front runner for ’08 without recognizing that he needs to do some soul-searching. If he wants to come back, he’ll have to come back as a different candidate, not the stiff who plays it safe and takes four sides of every issue,” said the aide, who is a member of Mr. Kerry’s foreign policy team which is reportedly still meeting in case they are needed in 2008.

Mr. Kerry has also reportedly hired a new political organizer, John Giesser, to run his political action committee.

Speaking with Newsweek, Mr. Kerry acknowledged (“in an inferential, roundabout way,” according to the reporter) that part of the reason for his loss was his trouble connecting with voters, along with the fact that Mr. Bush was a popular wartime incumbent who had a three-year head start in campaign fund-raising.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

REV. JACKSON CLAIMS ELECTION IN OHIO WAS ‘RIGGED’

The Reverend Jesse Jackson says the presidential election was “rigged” to ensure that Democrats wouldn’t be able to vote in Ohio.

The Rev. Jackson said voters were forced to stand in line for six hours in Columbus, Cincinnati, Youngstown, and Cleveland on November 2 because Ohio’s secretary of state, Kenneth Blackwell, did not secure enough voting machines, even though voter registration had increased.

“It was under his domain to have enough machines; the machine calibration, tabulation issue,” The Rev. Jackson said in an interview with Newsweek magazine. “You could rig the machines. We have reason to believe it was rigged.”

The Rev. Jackson is planning a rally in Columbus today to protest the alleged voting irregularities in Ohio.

“In Ukraine, there’s an exit poll gap, they say, ‘Let’s have another election,'” he said. “Kerry pulled out too early. The scrutiny pulled out with him.”

Senator Kerry, President Bush’s opponent in the presidential election, should ask the Senate to debate the subject Thursday, when Congress is scheduled to certify the vote, the Rev. Jackson said.

“If we deal with the anomalies, a fair random count, the urban-suppressed vote, Kerry would get at least 60,000 more votes. At least! I believe that. I don’t know that,” he said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOUTH

HUNDREDS FLEE HAZARDOUS-WASTE FIRE

EL DORADO, Ark. – A fire at a hazardous waste incineration plant forced hundreds of residents to evacuate yesterday, officials said.

No injuries were reported and officials were monitoring air quality as thick smoke rose from the Teris plant in southern Arkansas, said Union County Sheriff Kenneth Jones. Mr. Jones said the fire began yesterday morning at the plant east of El Dorado, apparently at a warehouse that stores hazardous waste. Police estimated about 1,500 people within a few miles of the plant were evacuated. Residents reported hearing a series of explosions and one person said it rattled the windows of his home.

Doug Riley, vice president of operations for El Dorado-based Teris LLC, said the fire was out by yesterday afternoon, except for a small fire in a storage area that was being allowed to burn out. Thirty people were working at the plant when the fire broke out. Teris disposes of hazardous wastes from industries and government operations around the country. The plant receives spent solvents, waste oils, chlorinated hydrocarbons, herbicides, and insecticides, as well as dirt, residues, and contaminated water from cleanup activities from other sites.

Chris Ruhl, the EPA’s on-scene coordinator, said the air quality was fine for people outside evacuation zones. He wouldn’t comment on the air inside the zones, saying the EPA was continuing to monitor air quality along with state officials, and was making sure their readings were consistent with the company’s. Mr. Ruhl added that due to the nature of this fire, the materials being released into the air could be changing frequently.

Authorities advised people not to use their air conditioners and to keep their doors shut as a precaution.

Residents of two nursing homes were evacuated to churches.

– Associated Press