Kerrys go over the heads of politicial elite

[politicasista]

Kerrys go over the heads of political elite

By JOEL CONNELLY
P-I COLUMNIST

A senator from Massachusetts, ambitious for the White House, penned "Profiles in Courage" a half-century ago: The heroes of John F. Kennedy's book were U.S. senators who served the republic in moments of high capital drama.

Another Bay State senator, fresh from a near-miss run at the presidency, has co-written a very different book early in the 21st century. Heroes in John and Teresa Heinz Kerry's "This Moment on Earth" are ordinary Americans who've confronted polluters.

"These people have fought to get the government to do what the government is supposed to do," John Kerry said Tuesday.

What does it say about Washington, D.C., when forces for urgently needed reform can be found in places such as the Yakima Valley and the Neuse River of North Carolina?

"It says our political culture is broken: It's sick," Kerry said in a Seattle visit. "The American people are leading on matters vital to the country. The capital is barely catching up."

...

"We believe that people want to learn. And they are desperately asking to be led," Teresa Heinz Kerry said.

Sen. Kerry brushes away might-have-beens from his White House bid, stuff that has consumed some former presidential candidates for the remainder of their days.

He still gets steamed on a few fronts.

"The American media, regrettably -- well, some of them -- trivialize important issues," he said. "The effect is to strip people out of the political process by convincing them that there are no meaningful differences.

...

On Sunday, former Bush pollster Matthew Dowd confessed his disillusionment in a New York Times interview. As part of his mea culpa, Dowd considered penning an article with the title "John Kerry was right."

And what was Kerry's reaction? "It's bittersweet," he reflected Tuesday. "I'm glad to see (Dowd) acknowledge reality, but the man did help engineer one of the most disastrous presidencies in American history."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/310255_joel04.html

Another Kerry article:

Kerry says date to halt funding for Iraq a must

By David Postman



Sen. John Kerry said in Seattle on Tuesday that he welcomed news that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid backs a plan to cut funding for the Iraq war within a year.

It was clear that Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and the Democrats' 2004 presidential candidate, thought it was about time his party stood up to President Bush.

Kerry led an effort last year to set a firm withdrawal date that garnered only his vote and those of a dozen of the Senate's most liberal Democrats.

"I don't care what the votes are. You've got to do what's right," he said.

"You have to do what I have been proposing for four years: Engage in the diplomatic summitry that puts the real issues on the table and gets the world to take a stake in this. It's the only way to resolve this without further mayhem and chaos."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003650525_kerry04m.html