Posted on 10/16/2007 5:54:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Here’s a burning question no one is asking: Whither John F. Kerry?
He is his party’s most recent presidential nominee. He came tantalizingly close to winning. And yet no one is looking for him to put his stamp on the 2008 Democratic primary or wondering aloud who he’ll endorse — even though Al Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile says that in the early-state contests, “most of the voters would be thrilled to know who Kerry would back and why.”
But the lack of an audible clamor for an endorsement by Kerry is more than a bit deceiving, as is the perception that he’s still wandering around in that wilderness to which all losing Democratic nominees are cast. The two top candidates who aren’t married to Elizabeth Edwards are quietly seeking his advice and support. An associate suggests that Kerry may hold off on endorsing until closer to the primaries, but when he does make his choice, that candidate will get access to a 3-million-name e-mail list, possibly the largest in the party.
When a Defense Department official accused Hillary Rodham Clinton of “reinforcing enemy propaganda” after she asked the Pentagon to start preparing for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, the Kerry associate says it was the Clinton team’s idea to have Kerry out front denouncing that accusation.
Kerry’s road back from the ashes of 2004 has been studded with self-inflicted setbacks. Ultimately, it won’t be as triumphant as Gore’s.
But nor will it take as long — and there are growing signs that the events of the post-2004 period have granted Kerry at least the right to say, “I told you so.”
For four years after winning the race but losing the presidency, Gore could do nothing right. He ignored his loyalists, got bloated and sweaty, embraced the unruly anti-war left and threw his support behind their 2004 presidential candidate, who then imploded spectacularly.
Kerry’s vindication is coming quicker, if more quietly. His party already has embraced his position on Iraq. His argument that no military solution exists for the situation there is now the de facto Democratic stance. In June 2006, when Kerry helped force a vote on a phased U.S. troop withdrawal, his colleagues gave him a serious razzing and only 13 votes. Just over one year later, this past July, the same measure got 52.
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden recently sang Kerry’s praises during the Senate floor debate over Biden’s proposed “soft partition” of Iraq: “I wish to tell him how grateful I am for his joining in this amendment ... because an awful lot of people around the world look to my colleague for his insights into what we do about the most critical issue facing American foreign policy today.”
The Bush administration recently achieved a new nuclear pact with North Korea by using the approach Kerry advocated in 2004. The Washington Post noted on Oct. 4, “The agreement was reached after bilateral negotiations between the United States and North Korea, held in parallel with the six-nation talks, just as Kerry had suggested.”
And then there’s Kerry’s long record on the enviro— OK, never mind.
The trick for Kerry is to keep his head down. He is still too-easy fodder for late-night one-liners, the swift-boated flip-flopper with a knack for disconnecting from people.
He may never lose his uncanny ability to make things worse for himself. Not only did he commit the sin in Democrats’ eyes of leaving George W. Bush standing on the field, but he also left $12 million in the bank unspent, subjecting himself to allegations that he didn’t give it his all. (Bush had money left over, too, but as Kerry aide David Wade says, “The bad moments only get remembered if you lose.”)
Then, after a laudable effort to help elect Democratic candidates in 2006 — the kind of effort Gore didn’t undertake after his loss in 2000 — came one botched joke about U.S. troops serving in Iraq. Donations of $14 million and visits to 35 states were instantly obscured a week before Election Day. The blowback was so severe that a few months later, Kerry had to exit the 2008 field before he really entered it.
His recovery has since been gaffe-free. Not coincidentally, his Senate colleagues who hope to trace his steps to the Democratic nomination seem to be recognizing the assets he brings to the table.
Which is the flip side of the swift-boat coin: The tactic may have damaged Kerry’s own chances in 2004, but his support could help inoculate other Democratic candidates against similar efforts to impugn their patriotism in 2008.
He also brings brass to the table — not only his own Vietnam service but also a small army of veteran supporters built during his presidential campaign and his efforts to support veterans who ran for office in 2006.
And Kerry projects something else the Democratic nominee may need, whoever he or she may be: masculinity. Of course, it is an effete, wet-suited masculinity compared to Bush’s frat-boy, towel-snapping version. But it’s a trait that is absent from the top of the Democratic field where, despite Barack Obama’s fondness for pickup basketball, none of the candidates is really known for being a guy.
Kerry’s assets are not inconsiderable given that the current president plans to hand off the Iraq war to his successor and the top Republican candidates seem to be lifting the weak-on-terror charge from the Bush campaign playbook. It seems unlikely that between 2004 and 2008, the need for Democrats to show some trappings of strength will just disappear.
Maybe not worth a Nobel Prize, but certainly worth a little respect.
To me, Jon Carry rhymes with fairy.
What a lying sissy boy. Shot in the butt by a rice grain from his own grenade.
Please somebody, show me Jon Francois in the blue paper bunny suit again.
A great Dhim o rat administration, Jon Carry, Howard the Screamer Dean, Michael “Tank Helmet” Dukakis, Al, big fat loser Bore, Dennis “Shortstop” Kookyspinich, Mondale, and Paul Not So Wellstone.
What a bunch of weirdo losers. What a group of dangerous fruitcakes. Can you make these people up?
“His party already has embraced his position on Iraq.”
The democrats actually did vote for the war before they voted against it.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Its like they’re cartoons. Anyone see Mundale in those Junior Soprano glasses he’s sportling lately ?
ROFLMAO
Had it not been for gay marriage on the Ohio ballot, and all the Amish coming out to vote against it (they'd really rather not usually participate in partisan politics) we might be dealing with the re-election campaign of President Kerry right now.
Note to Kerry:
Bush will not win the next election. Count on it.
Hmmmm...someone just might have a swiftboatin’ comin’ to him again.
LOL... Which candidate is in the poorest health with the richest wife?
That's John F'n Kerry's hunting territory.
Just checked AP Breaking news, Boston Globe and Boston Herald, AP Washington...No results yet re Tsongas vs Ogonowski
Thanks, such a difference.
I remember watching Bush land on that aircraft carrier and the response he got from the real guys fighting the real war. They loved him. They respected him. And he them.
I was so proud. I confess, I got a little misty eyed.
It was a real guy meeting with real men doing a real job, not just talking or having a committee meeting, “demonstrating”, “protesting” or having a “dialog”, etc. and all the other leftist, defeatist bravo sierra that accomplishes exactly zero. (Except to help the enemy that wants us all dead)
Oh yeah Joe? WHO?
..... And Kerry projects something else the Democratic nominee may need, whoever he or she may be: masculinity. Of course, it is an effete, wet-suited masculinity compared to Bush’s frat-boy, towel-snapping version. But it’s a trait that is absent from the top of the Democratic field where, despite Barack Obama’s fondness for pickup basketball, none of the candidates is really known for being a guy.
This is some of the funniest stuff I've read in years!
I LOVE this picture of John standing in the back looking like a lost little boy...
John throws like a girlie...
True.....but his batting average in the Senate is .040.
Niki Tsongas.....is she challanging kerry for his Senate seat?
One thing you can always depend on with hard core leftists - they never let go of a good lie . . . . . . . . and John has told a boatload of them. Actually, a SWIFTboatload of them.
Still waiting for him to sign his SF 180. Not holding my breath that he ever will.
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