Kerry takes NH
The Democratic National Convention is still months away, and anything could happen between now and then, so I'm not going to put all my eggs in one basket and presume that Sen. John Kerry will get the nod. But his win in the Iowa caucuses and last night in New Hampshire should be telling for the Dean campaign.
Dean has done a tremendous amount to stir up emotion against the current administration and Congress, and a lot of it is justfied. And personally, I think his Ballmeresque chest-beating after the Iowa thing last week won't amount to much in the long run except a few more GarageBand remixes here and there.
But if there's anything that eight years of Bill Clinton should have showed up, it's that the nation is a lot more amenable to a centrist Democratic leadership than it is to anyone who appears radical at all. It'll be interesting to see how the next few weeks shape up, especially once the candidates start plugging the big Western states.
Whether Dean or Kerry get the nod -- and I suspect one of the two will when the DNC happens this summer -- I hope they manage to work out a deal with Edwards for the VP job. Maybe that'd be a ticket that would sell well to the South, at least in those areas where people aren't insane enough to vote for four more years of the Bush plutocracy.
Comments
So as a Massachusettsian, you've probably got a more well-formed opinion of Kerry than us outsiders. What's he like? What's your personal take on him?
Posted by: Brad Oliver | January 28, 2004 03:58 PM
Bay stater. Or Masshole, if you're from New York.
Kerry's reputation is that he's not as much a "man of the people" as Ted Kennedy. Why that is, I'm not sure, because they're both wealthy-as-hell -- in Kerry's case, he's married to the billionaire heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune.
And there's some truth to Dean's accusations that Kerry's opinions are set by political expediency rather than true conviction. He's a career politician, you have to expect him to be malleable in the face of changing events and facts. Personally, I'm waiting for someone to ask Dean about his idea for a national ID card system.
I think any negativity surrounding Kerry on the local level has a lot to do with Kerry's well-reported habit of talking at his constituents instead of with them; Kennedy is a much more engaging, gregarious, easy to talk to sort of fellow. That goes down well for the local newspapermen and the blue-collar set -- union leaders, small-time political bosses and others who help to affect the political tone on Beacon Hill.
Having said that, Kerry has had a long run as senator here in Mass. -- heck, being a Mass. senator on the Dem. ticket is like having a job for life -- so he's got to be doing something right.
Posted by: flargh | January 28, 2004 04:17 PM
When I need something done, or even a response to legislation that doesn't affect me personally, I contact my Representative rather than either Senator. Kennedy seems to ignore constituents completely, and Kerry's staff isn't especially responsive.
The Forbes (the F in JFK) family owns an island just off Woods Hole, and they've posted it with dozens of "No Trespassing" signs. That's certainly their prerogative, but it isn't consistent with a populist philosophy.
Some have taken petty potshots at Kerry for what was seen as implicit passing himself off as Irish when he's not - in fact, he has a Jewish ancestor. He and his wife irritated some people in Boston by paying the City to remove a fire hydrant so that they could more easily park in front of their Beacon Street home, an area notoriously difficult for cars. Some saw that as "throwing their money around".
I think John Kerry is a bright guy with a lot of integrity. The fact that he did combat duty in VietNam when he could easily have bought his way out like you-know-who says a lot for the man's character. His involvement with the Vietnam vets against the war was enormously courageous.
He's pretty much a Kennedy liberal in terms of voting record and philosophy, so he's a typical big government Democrat. Still, he'd be a heck of a lot better President than the incumbent, damning with faint praise though that may be.
Posted by: Capecoder | January 28, 2004 04:24 PM
Umm...
I'm pretty sure the "F" in JFK is Fitzgerald, not Forbes.
You're getting your plutocrats and Irishmen mixed up, I fear.
:)
Posted by: doktorwise | January 28, 2004 04:45 PM
JFK as in John FORBES Kerry. Sorry for the confusion: the fact that Kerry and Kennedy have the same initials has high visibility here and no doubt will be a cottage industry on Cape Cod this summer.
Posted by: Capecoder | January 28, 2004 05:00 PM