I think Ed, from Captain's Quarters, best nails the goose hunting thing.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/002833.php

There's something terribly hypocritical about toting a gun out for a campaign
event and killing an animal that you have no interest in eating. In fact, it
confirms the worst impulses often assigned to hunters -- that their guns are an
extension of their genitalia and the hunt's only significance is to affirm one's
masculinity. Most hunters I know don't fall into that category; they hunt for
the food and for the camaraderie, the tradition.

Kerry sold that out yesterday just to prove his manliness. If his base can't
admit to the irony in that, then they've bought into the hypocrisy.

And even worse, Kerry couldn't be bothered to handle his own kill, as the
Washington Post points out:

Seriously, who goes out an kills a dumb animal in order to get votes. I find it sick on its face. Kerry's a busy man. He doesn't have time for recreation for recreation's sake in the final days of a presidential election. Killing the goose is about one thing, and one thing only: a transparent and ridiculous attempt to appear to be something he's not. In doing so, as is often the case, he exposed more about himself than he had wished.

- served up by Nomad @ 11:27 AM