The timeline I saw said the second plane hit at 9:38....still, that is at least 35 minutes of just sitting there.
And while Kerry was not POTUS in that situation, his statement of WHY he was there that long raise into serious doubt how he would have handled the real thing.
More explicitly, the 9/11 Commission Report calls it 9:37:46 (Chapter 1, page 10).
In the Larry King interview, Kerry said that they stayed in Daschle's office until they got a call from the White House, saying that it was being evacuated and that's when they evacuated the office. Again, according to the Report, the White House started evacuation at 9:45. So they probably did sit around for 40 or more minutes total.
Well, look at this:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/bush-911.htm
According to this video -- which is actually on a site bashing Bush for "just sitting there" -- it was only 5 minutes!!!!
WARNING: Anti-Bush site.
It comes down to this. In a pinch, Kerry froze. Maybe not the kind of guy you'd want beside you in combat, or in charge of the country.