A Kerry Quandry

[Armstead]

Here is the main problem I have with John Kerry.

He is a good man, and would probably make a fine president. So please don't construe this as an attack.

Politically, I think with Kerry we get the worst of all worlds, because he is so nebulous. He is a tepid DLC centrist who has some acceptable liberal positions. He has done some great things in the past, but he's also been an opportunist, and he has too often gone with the kind of policies that alienate both liberals and conservatives.

The problem in terms of "electability" is that his basic elitism and his centrist policies bother the liberal and progressive "base" and don't address the source of their dissatisfaction.

But he is just enough of a liberal to really upset the conservatives, and will open him up to an all out attack. And quite possibly,after the GOP does its job on him, he will seem too "risky" and "too left" to too many swing moderates and they will go for Bush.

I'm not one of those who thinks we ought to be defensive and avoid liberal and progressive values simply because conservatives will attack them. In that sense, I echo Kerry in saying "Bring it on."

However, it's the vague pandering and the amorphous mix of positions that gets us into trouble.

The thing is, no matter how "moderate" Kerry tries to be, he is gonna get blastd as an ultra liberal anyway. The conservative press and Bush machine are already pulling out all the stops to make him into a granola crunching peacenik, a dangerous ally of Hanoi Jane, limosine liberal, a bastard spawn of a marriage between Michael Dukakis and Ted Kennedy...and every other form of btanding him as "too far left for the mainstream" they can trot out.

So he's vulnerable to all of that. But he also is too much of an insider and DLC type to overcome the inertia that has led to.

Like with "free trade." The problem with things like NAFTA and the WTO are not just "jobs" or obscure provisions that don't get enforced.

The problem is the whole agenda of this so-called "free trade" which is to impose a corporate conservtive political model on the entire world. It is anti-democratic and ultimately anti-competition. But Kerry wants it both ways. He wants to support that agenda, while seeming to say it should be a kinder and gentler form of abuse.

He's that way on so many issues. Neither fish nor fowl.

IMO if Kerry would throw off his years of centrist conditioning and become a clear and honest liberal/progressive populist in his campaign, I believe he'd do much better than this amorphous brew the DLC still wants to serve up.

I'm not talking about mouthing empty phrases, but instead start calling a spade a spade on that and otehr issues, I think he's be a much stronger candidate. And if he would honestly address the faction of disenchanted and disgruntled that Dean, Kucinich, Sharpton represent he could win them over.

If the election is going to be about GOP conservatism vs. liberal/progressive values anyway, I believe we'd stand a much better chance it we set the terms and make it a clear fight.

[mrgorth]

1. Absolutely!

[demnan]

2. This is exactly how I feel

I respect Kerry but I have my doubts and I really want someone to stand up and say the Iraq war was wrong. I haven't heard Kerry say that. I heard Clark say it and I heard Nader say it.

I heard Dean say that but, oh well.

[SaddenedDem]

3. Exactly! It's called an opposition party

That's the simple problem with the DLC/DNC approach. They're simply not an opposition party - they take the conservative agenda and try to cloak it in liberal speech.

At some point, they MUST realize that voters will choose the real thing (republican) over a cheap imitation (DLC/DNC Democrat). This is the SINGLE thing which has come through loud and clear since 1994.

The options are continue to ignore that reality and lose elections or come out swinging as a true opposition party.

[Armstead]

14. Well said

nt

[Paulie]

4. That would take a spine

I think too many years of compromising has become habit. If you can't stand up and lead, why the supprise no one is following? I know Kerry lead on some issues, but now he has to LEAD since he's in the lead.

He needs to admit that he knew better than to listen to bush, and that he did the expedient thing. He needs to say he knows he has the blood of thousands on his hands, and that the only solution to preventing more is to get the hell out of Iraq, not send in more troops.

I don't believe he has the spine to do any of this, so when we get to the debates with bush, he's gonna be AGREEING with bush, just like Gore did. And people are gonna pick the evil they know....

We can't win by playing in the republican sandbox, Clinton did by hijacking the neo-con adgenda, and pass it, which is why they hate him so much. He was much better at it than they were, and bitched and moaned even though they got what they wanted.

More of the same in our future? :mad:

[emulatorloo]

5. Can you please explain Kerry's "elitism" to me. . .I just don't get it

This is a serious question. In all the exit polling I hear re primarys he seems to do really well w blue collar voters.

[Armstead]

12. A worldview

Kerry comes from an elite background, and he has basically travelled with elite circles all his life. Yes he was in Vietnam, but there too he was viewed as a College Lt. and came on board the boat as an officer over his boatmates.

One can't fault him for the circumstances he was born into. Nor can one say that one cannot live on the elite track and not want to do the "right thing."

However, it does give one a particular worldview. And after living in the bubble of being a Washington insider, it is really hard not to assimilate and become part of the mindset of the elite even more. It's just a whole diferent scale of money and power.

That gets reflected into buying into things like "free trade" and seeing those who criticized it as naive outsiders who don't really understand.

I dunno if that's clear, but that's what I meant by elite.

[emulatorloo]

15. OK, thanks. . . .

that helps a lot and I understand what you are saying. . .

OTOH, it sounds more like Paris Hilton than JK! :)

[OKNancy]

6. Only in the world of DU is Kerry considered a centrist

Al Gore was a centrist. Jim Jeffords is a centrist. John Kerry is a liberal. I've never heard or read that Kerry is a centrist anywhere else except here on DU.

Americans for Democratic Action is a group that has been working for liberal causes for years. Many people are familiar with their ranking system on votes. I pulled a few of those rankings so people can see and judge for themselves.

Lifetime rankings ( Senate votes)

Kennedy 90
Kerry 92
Cleland 83
Murray 92
Gore 65
Jeffords 61
Leahy 93
Edwards 88

http://www.adaction.org/index.htm

[IndianaGreen]

7. What's liberal about IWR, PATRIOT, NAFTA, Plan Colombia?

Mister Kerry may have been a liberal 30 years ago, and he may still indulge us with liberal talk, but his voting record speaks volumes about how much he has become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

If you want a real liberal, vote Kucinich.

If you want someone that can beat Bush and that is also an acceptable political moderate and is also personally likable and charismatic, vote for John Edwards!

[OKNancy]

9. Edwards is okay

I've already voted in the primary, so I don't care who is on the ticket in November. Both have their strong points. I just don't see the reasoning for Edwards over Kerry other than personal charm. Their voting records are similar.

I'll vote for the Democrat in Nov, because Bush and his gang need to go. I need no other reason.

[Armstead]

13. It's not about specific "liberal issues"

It's about the larger framework. Something happened over the last 25 years that has made liberalism almost irrelevant when it chooses to ignore the core issue of concentration of wealth and power. That is much deeper than gun control and otehr specific social issues.

[redqueen]

16. Hallelujah

The special interest bonanza that's been going on the last 30 years has people so confused it's scary. I know people who were born in the mid 70's that just do not get that Democrats today are not liberal. There are a few exceptions, but the American political spectrum is so far right it's a joke.

Democrats need to get away from the a la carte liberal agenda and start recognizing the big picture and speaking loudly about it.

[Armstead]

17. Yes the lack of collective memory

That is probably a big part of the problem. Too many people eitehr weren't here, or don't remember, how much better life was in general when liberalism was a viable force.

Twasn't perfect, but sure was a lot better than now.

Somehow if more people could eitehr remember or vicariously experience the difference, it would be a lot easier to bloxk the conservative tide.

[CWebster]

8. In other words, no matter how it is viewed

Kerry is the most unelectable candidate from every angle.

[BeFree]

10. In other words...

Anybody But Kerry, huh?

Get real. Kerry has the backing of the most influential people in the Democratic party. Besides that, he has also won the majority of the primary votes so far.

But, Kerry is "Unelectable?" Not even funny. Actually...it's sick.
Perverted. Irrational and unsound. Lunacy. Ya almost feel sorry for the Kerry haters, they are gonna be so crushed that it will take forever before they are listened to again....

[CWebster]

11. You get fucking real

EVERYTHING we have been opposed to since Bush accomplished his coup does not get brushed under the carpet so we can rally around an alternative who never opposed or took a stand about ANYTHING that has transpired in the past 3 years. Instead, because he has NOTHING to challenge Bush with he has to rely on his past to get some pathetic traction as a Viet Nam hero. Not only is this trading on a status Kerry previously protested, he also objected to it being introduced into previous elections. The more information gets out about Kerry, the less "electible" he gets. As for the power players in the party, but of course, they want to maintain their power, even if that comes at the expense of all else.

[Carolina]

18. touche CW,

some people just don't get it. Kerry can pull out all his past speeches, past votes, his acts of long ago. But we ask what have you done lately JFK, like for the past 3 horrible years?!