PARIS - Sen. John Kerry's French connection was treated as a liability during his bid for the U.S. presidency. On Friday, he used his popularity here to try to help rebuild strained ties between Paris and Washington, and expressed confidence that would happen. The Massachusetts Democrat was in Paris at the close of a tour of Europe and the Middle East that included trips to Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Israel and the West Bank. In a more than 45-minute meeting with President Jacques Chirac, the former presidential candidate discussed frayed relations between France and the United States. ``I'm...