'Unfit for Command' coauthor eyes Senate run against Kerry

Boston.com ^ | Oct 14, 2005 | Scott Helman

[Hadean]

An architect of the swift boat campaign that contributed to the derailment of John F. Kerry's presidential bid has created an exploratory committee for a run for the senator's seat in 2008.

Jerome R. Corsi, a 59-year-old author from Denville, N.J., who co-wrote the antiKerry book ''Unfit for Command," took his first formal step toward challenging the four-term junior senator from Massachusetts.

Corsi said Kerry was not fit to be senator. He said he was ''testing the waters to see if there's enough interest to support me to make the run feasible."

Corsi has not yet registered with the Federal Election Commission, but his committee has received an employer identification number from the Internal Revenue Service, an early step that candidates for any office must take.

Corsi said that he will consider running regardless of whether Kerry seeks reelection but that he would relocate to Massachusetts only if it were clear he could attract the financial support to mount a serious campaign.

''If I have no backing, it may not work," he said.

If Corsi does run, it would revive for Kerry perhaps the most painful episode of his failed 2004 presidential bid.

A group of Vietnam veterans called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth launched an extensive, well-funded campaign questioning Kerry's combat service and antiwar activities. Corsi is not a veteran, but he wrote ''Unfit for Command" with John O'Neill, a Navy veteran and ally of the Nixon White House incensed by Kerry's role in the antiwar movement.

The Kerry campaign did not immediately respond to the attacks in hopes that the issue would wither.

Asked about a prospective Kerry-Corsi race, Kerry spokesman David Wade wrote in an e-mail yesterday, ''Although I could say plenty about Jerry Corsi, John Kerry is focused on his work for the people of Massachusetts."...

[gidget7]

I agree, and would like to see him run.

[beezdotcom]

I'd like to see someone take Kerry's seat - but can't they find anyone already IN the state? The "carpetbagger" label doesn't seem to stick to Democrats (a la Hillary), but it sure seems to stick to Republicans.

[Gay State Conservative]

Bill Cosby lives in Shelburne, Western Ma. Although he is no Republican, he is moderate enough and intelligent enough to get MY support to run against The Swimmer

From what I've heard from Mr Cosby,he'd be light years better than *any* of the Gay State's representatives in DC!