What Kerry's 20 years of Senate votes reveal

MSNBC ^ | April 15, 2004 | Tom Curry

[presidio9]

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's more than 5,000 roll call votes over his nearly 20 years in the Senate create a composite sketch of his ideology.

The mosaic that takes shape as one examines Kerry’s votes is one of a Democrat who has been skeptical of weapons programs such as the B-2 bomber but who has supported U.S. military action in some cases, as in Bosnia in 1995 and Iraq in 2003.

[Sybeck1]

Bosnia! what a waste of US money!

[mewzilla]

Kerry sat on the Senate's intell committee too, didn't he? What did Kerry know about our intell situation and when did he know it?

[KellyAdmirer]

Kerry isn't really a Senator, he just plays one on tv.

[RebelBanker]

Kerry isn't really a Senator, he just plays one on tv.

Badly.

[presidio9]

Read the full article. MSNBC makes us excerpt, but this particular article is highly enlightening.

[KansasGirl]

How people could read that article and then vote for Kerry in the poll is beyond me?

[Preachin']

It seems to me that MSNBC is attempting to paint him as a middle of the roader.

[JoeSixPack1]

...MSNBC is attempting to paint him ...

That's 95% of the reason PMSNBC sucks so bad. They don't lay out facts, they paint(spin), just like the rest.

[John Thornton]

But on two high-profile votes, welfare reform and the 2002 Iraq war vote, Kerry took stands that drew fierce fire from fellow liberals in his party.

Yeah, and he disavowed the Iraq vote as soon as Howard Dean became the frontrunner. A real "Profile in Courage."

[cinFLA]

How people could read that article and then vote for Kerry in the poll is beyond me?

1) The didn't read the article, or

2) They just hate Bush, or

3) Both of the above.

[Badeye]

Everything coming from the left side of the political spectrum at this point is designed to distract from the Junior Senator from France's voting record of the past twenty years.

It won't work. You cannot "unring the bell" on something like this.

[iceskater]

According to vote analyses done by the non-partisan Congressional Quarterly, Kerry voted in opposition to Reagan 75 percent of the time in 1985 and 73 percent of the time in 1986.

In 1993, according to Congressional Quarterly, Kerry voted in support of Clinton’s positions 93 percent of the time. The following year, Kerry voted in support of Clinton 89 percent of the time.

This pretty much tells you all you need to know.
In fact, one could make the case that he has gotten more liberal as time has gone on since he supported Clinton's policies almost 100% of the time

[Piquaboy]

Kerry on the intelligence committee! Thats an oxy-moron and I do mean moron.

[VadeRetro]

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kerry, like many other Democrats, became a predictable vote against adding weapons systems to the arsenal.

Actually, quite well in advance of said collapse, which might never have come had Kerry's opinions carried the day. He first ran for Senator in 1984 while proposing to cancel the Aegis Cruiser, B-1, B-2, F-14, and F-15, simultaneously curtailing spending on the F-16, M-1 Abrams, Tomahawk Cruise missile, ... I can't remember it all. Much of the modern military hardware we have today would have been stopped in its tracks twenty years ago.

[VadeRetro]

When Kerry’s opponent in the 1996 Senate race, William Weld, criticized him for voting against the death penalty for terrorists, Kerry replied that many nations would refuse to extradite accused terrorists to the United States if they faced the death penalty. “Your policy would amount to a terrorist protection policy," Kerry told Weld. "Mine would put them in jail."

(Kerry says he now favors the death penalty for terrorists.)

So, Weld was right, huh John? John?

[Arrowhead1952]

What Kerry's 20 years of Senate votes reveal

Acutally, I voted for ___________ before I voted against it.

What does Kerry's past year of Senate votes reveal?

AWOL

[MEG33]

Some info here.

[mewzilla]

Well, here's what ticks me off. Mueller and Tenet said yesterday what a mess everything was in, tech and budget wise. Well, where the H-E-double-hockey-sticks was the Congressional oversight? All those intell committee members, and Kerry was one, and they didn't know/care about the lack of computers and other tech necessities? Where the heck was the OVERSIGHT??

[phugg]

Can somebody please tell me if we have used the B2 bomber for anything other than flyovers for Thunder Over Louisville, which just so happens to be this weekend. Have the B2 and the B1, for that matter, been worth the money?

No matter though, the B52 will always have the special place in my heart. It's the bomber of my childhood.

P.S. Thunder is Awesome!