SEN. KERRY: Yes.
MR. RUSSERT: Completely?
SEN. KERRY: Yes."
In this one exchange you can see that Senator Kerry has lost. He is clearly following President Bush's lead now, but who would vote for Bush-lite when they can have the real thing?!
In all fairness, Senator Kerry had no good choice. The mood of America has shifted firmly for *solutions* to terrorist problems, rather than on *talking* about what to do. Thus, Joe Sixpack and his wife want to see tangible results against terrorists everywhere, be they in Israel or Iraq. Military action against such problems is one clear thing that the public now supports.
BUT...Senator Kerry has been wishy-washy on supporting military solutions to world problems. Sometimes he votes for them, other-times not. His anti-war supporters certainly aren't going to like his newfound support of unilateral Israeli military action. They are going to go for Nader or stay at home now.
Heck, even the unions may begin to question their support of pro-NAFTA Kerry over anti-NAFTA Nader now.
However, this shift isn't going to show up in the polls anytime soon. Senator Kerry's anti-war supporters are going to take some time to fully turn against him. Meanwhile they are going to tell pollsters that they are still voting for him.
On issues, Senator Kerry has now lost the majority on:
1. His opposition to the death penalty
2. His support of abortion
3. His wavering support of unilateral action against terrorists
4. His gun control views/votes
5. His support and votes to raise taxes
Consider, all that President Bush has to do is win in 2004 the same states that he won back in 2000. That alone would give GWB an 18 electoral vote win this year.
On the other hand, Senator Kerry has to win more than 18 electoral votes away from GWB in heartland states...without losing any of the close Gore states (from back in 2000) like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, New Mexico, Iowa, etc.
That's just not feasible for the most liberal Senator in America. Sen.Kerry is a high-praise pick for uber-liberals in groupthink enclaves like San Francisco...not for Jane Average who goes to church on Sunday in Tennessee.