Kerry set to move on '04 run

The Boston Globe ^ | 11/10/2002 | Glen Johnson

[cloud8]

Kerry set to move on '04 run

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 11/10/2002

NASHUA - Senator John F. Kerry will file a statement of candidacy for the presidency this month, according to a top aide, the first official step toward a campaign the senator believes can be won largely in northern states with an aggressive defense of Democratic ideals.

The Massachusetts Democrat is expected to offer a detailed prescription for restoring the economy, including restructuring the president's tax cut toward the middle class, a major component of his campaign.

On Friday, Kerry met with an array of Democratic leaders in the first presidential primary state and blamed his party's poor showing in the midterm elections on its failure to offer a clear, positive vision for the country. He also credited President Bush's success in focusing the nation on the national security risks posed by Iraq.

Kerry told the Globe in an interview that Iraq poses a threat with potential weapons of mass destruction, but none greater than it has posed for years and not one that had to be addressed with a congressional debate in the two months before an election.

Click here for the rest of the article.

[jrlc]

Kerry for President and PeLOUSEY or is it PeLEFTY for the Senate -- maybe the RATS can re-run McGovern in their deja vu style.

[cloud8]

Your points 1-5 well taken...
"I suspect there's a lot more depth to John Kerry than the vacuous boob from North Carolina, John Edwards..."

Yes, and that's exactly what worries me. But upon rereading the Glob article, he appears to both endorse and criticize a war with Iraq. Again he says that he's liberal in some things and conservative in others. Well, what is he then? Hopefully when Kerry is pressed to say what he really believes in, and his legislative record is scrutinized, it will become plain that he's just another tax and spend dem with unruly hair. also Mass. politicians are not viewed especially kindly by the Rest of the Country.

[veronica]

My prediction is the 2004 Dem. ticket will be Kerry-Edwards.

A New England Liberal, and a Southern moderate, or at least Edwards will pretend to be a moderate.

[cloud8]

"Kerry had no Republican opponent last Tuesday, he only got 80% of the vote in Massachusetts. The other 20% went to a totally obscure Libertarian. As one writer (in the American Prowler) put it, the 20% decided to vote for anyone other than "that b@$tard". I was one of the 20% ;-)"

I was too...I suspect that we all know each other by name :) For those in the Rest of the Country, it isn't that unusual for a Mass. candidate to poll in the mid-80% even when there is opposition. The media refused to give Cloud, the Libertarian, any coverage whatsoever. There was no debate. So Kerry's re-election was hardly a stunning accomplishment.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

John Kerry is a male bimbo.

What? another male bimbo in the Democrats party?

Shock.

Dismay.

Amazement.

Hart...Clinton...Edwards...Kennedy(s)...Condit...Jesse Jackson...fingers getting tired now...

[katze]

You bet he is, also a gigolo. When his first wife divorced him, he whined how "broke" he was, then Teresa Heinz took the bait and bought him. He is one sad puppy thinking he oculd be president; can't imagine his own party nominating him. He also asked a few years ago if he could use his wife's money for campaigning.

[elenchus]

We can't afford to gloat or be complacent when at any moment we might lose the Republican Senate majority. See the winning strategy available:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/786126/posts

[tomahawk]

Kerry is the ONLY potential DemonCrap Presidential contender that worries me. He's incredibly smart, even though wrong on almost everything.

[cgbg]

Kerry is going to be a more formidable opponent than Dukakis.

I have seen this guy up close and personal in various stages of his career.

Strengths

(1) Women do love the guy. He has to fight them off with a stick. I actually saw him on CSpan have to fight off the attentions of one female staffer who just didn't want to get out of his face.

(2) He is very intelligent and probably will avoid the obvious stupid mistakes. He will run in the primary as a moderate and run from the center in the general election. He is a liberal but is too smart to admit it outside Massachusetts and the halls of the Senate.

(3) His wife's money.

(4) The media will suck up to him if the going gets tough.

(5) Vietnam Vet.



Weaknesses:

(1) Aloofness, arrogance. He thinks he is God's gift to the planet and he has a hard time hiding it. His tone of moral superiority should grate blue collar voters.

(2) Conventional thinking. He is used to a closed environment where everyone agrees with him on political matters in Massachusetts. He has never had to weather a frontal assault by determined adversaries (at least in politics).

(3) He is from Massachusetts. That alone should lose him every state in the South. It is the equivalent of the Republicans nominating a candidate from Alabama.

(4) He is part of a corrupt Massachusetts machine. Political contributors can buy favor from the state government through his machine. Eventually this could come back to haunt him.

(5) Has he always been successful in fighting off those female advances? Rumors are he may have submitted to temptation from time to time. Could he have a "Gary Hart" problem in his future?

[jwfiv]

This rich, privileged, whiny and duplicitous Yankee has loser written all over his hound dog face

He's as real and genuine as algore.

Maybe I should say, he's as real and genuine as the medals he threw away, once upon a time.

[tomahawk]

Great analysis. Kerry knows that to win, he will have to be tough on national security, so he will be. He will play up the "choice" issue, also trying to target tax cuts to the middle class. Kerry will try to occupy the Left and Middle, and Bush will need to stay in the Middle as much as he can, because the Middle decides elections. Fortunately, Rove knows this.

[BuddhaBoy]

The only way that Kerry gets the nomination, is if Hillary is his running mate. Otherwise, Gore destroys him in the primaries.

I believe that either Kerry or Edwards runs Hillary as their #2, and whoever does gets the nomination.

Then, we will see New Jersey all over again, where bad polling against Bush moves Hillary to the top of the ticket.

[SamAdams76]

Good analysis. And you are correct, people down South are never going to warm to this guy. If he gets the nomination, Bush will have a lock on the South.

Up here, Kerry had the nickname "Liveshot Kerry" because whenever there was any news out of Washington, local Boston stations would always do the obligatory liveshot of Kerry on the Capitol lawn. Howie Carr used to say that the most dangerous place to be was to be between Kerry and a TV camera. Kerry is telegenic and he'll play this to his advantage (to many women voters, being telegenic is often the most important thing). But he'll annoy the hell out of the men with his East-coast Ivy League "I'm-superior-to-you" attitude.

[ladyjane]

Kerry's wife is a piece of work. When she says "my husband" she is referring to Heinz, not to John. She is NOT a nice lady. Stories about her on Beacon Hill are amazing. I sort of feel sorry for him, in a weird way.

[tomahawk]

I'm pulling heavily for Gore, since Bush will kick his tail this time around.

[FreeTheHostages]

oh good, I love it when the Democrats run dorks for President. shades of Dukakis.

[BuddhaBoy]

I'm afraid that Gore is toast.

Hillary cant run if Gore is elected, so I expect the DNC to work against Gore big time. They cant keep him out of the primaries, so I am counting on Gore's attack-dog methods to beat up on the other dems.

This is why Hillary wont run accept as a VP candidate, so she wont have to worry about primaries and debates. If she becomes VP, the head guy needs to wear body armor 24/7 and hire a food taster.

[ppaul]

Another sacrificial lamb.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Kerry is the ONLY potential DemonCrap Presidential contender that worries me. He's incredibly smart, even though wrong on almost everything.

He's a typical RAT liberal who believes that government engineering will solve people's problems....don't let him scare you if he runs he'll only carry his home state Assasschusetts.

[lawdude]

"...for one thing he isn't very appealing
before the camera...."

Has anyone EVER seen a democrat with a genuine smile? Not the fake kind ala Bill, Dashole, Hill, etc., but a true infectious, genuinely likeable, smile like that of Mr. President Dubya.

Of course, what the heck would a dem have to smile about? All they represent is doom/gloom.