Free Republic

Sunday, April 25, 2004 11:39 p.m. EDT Kerry a Cheapskate, Senate Waiter Says When it comes to his Senate dining room tipping habits, you'd hardly know Sen. John Kerry married his way into a half-billion-dollar fortune. Independent researcher Tom Kuiper called our attention last week to a passage from Ron Kessler's 1997 best seller, "Inside Congress: The Shocking Scandals, Corruption, and Abuse of Power Behind the Scenes on Capitol Hill." Kessler's account includes a few choice quotes from one of the Senate dining room waiters, who used to regularly serve the Senate's wealthiest member. Kerry is "real cheap," the waiter...

Now that John Kerry is the slam-dunk Democratic presidential nominee, all of the political speculation turns to the selection of his running mate. He needs to pick someone who is an ideological soul mate and agrees with him on most big issues. Someone with an unimpeachable record of successfully and consistently arguing the case for left-of-center policies: liberal judicial appointees, smaller tax cuts, bigger investment in social-welfare programs. Someone from a large and competitive state. Someone who will further energize the left-wing base of the Democratic party. Someone who knows how to pick fights with conservatives on key issues of...