Why is John Kerry considered Repug-Lite? I'm confused:

[blondeatlast]

His lifetime record in the Senate seems to indicate decidedly liberal tendencies.

Mind you, I'm a Kucinich supporter up to the nomination. I want my man speaking and building the platform.

But with the situation the US is in now, I won't have the slightest problem voting for the apparent nominee.

Convince me why I should find him a conservative tool. Keep in mind I'm an ex-English teacher and currently a librarian, so I find documentation quite valuable.

I'm voting Dem. Period.

[boxster]

1. Apparently because Howard Dean says so.

Actually, a statement like "Kerry is Bush-Lite/Rep-Lite" is much easier to provide as a response than actual information or documentation to the contrary. When you can't differentiate between the candidates effectively, just claim they're the enemy!

And, you're right - his voting record is pretty liberal. I find it amazing that a few Democrats are claiming he's Bush-Lite, and the rest of them are afraid that he's going to be labeled a Massachusetts Liberal.

[Dookus]

2. because he beat Howard Dean

[molly]

3. It's only on DU - don't worry about it

[waldenx]

4. nobody says he is repuke-lite

he is however, a fucking traitor.

[molly]

5. Only on DU - don't worry about it

[blondeatlast]

6. Thanks for the documentation and intelligent discussion of the issues.

[Uzybone]

7. Its a DU thing

some who are very bitter than Dean was trounced call Kerry Bush/repug lite. Edwards on the other hand is just fine because even though he is wrong, he knows he is wrong and makes no excuses for it.

[slackdude]

8. Skull and Bones?

His membership in Skull and Bones makes him less trustworthy in my book as somebody who isn't a member of some scary secret society, but then again he's still not as Bush Lite as Lieberman (but who is?).

[blondeatlast]

39. I find the Skull & Bones thing laughable... Frat boy hijinks don't scare

me at all. I don't for one minute believe GWB is behind the skullduggery in his own administration.

Now you might convince me if KKKarl Rove and Dickless Cheney were in it...

[DuctapeFatwa]

9. Because he articulates regime policies in a much more pleasing manner

bush's way of speaking is not attractive, nor is bush particularly charismatic or telegenic.

In contrast, Kerry is a much better speaker, and in addition is very gifted with language, and is able to make some of the most appalling aspects of US policy toward its extra-territorial properties and its natural resources contained therein sound much more palatable.

[H2O Man]

10. Kerry exposed the Iran/Contra scandal

and fought to put an end to the terrible attack on the U.S. Constitution that the Reagan/Bush junta had undertaken. If anyone thinks that was not a significant action, I'd be really interested in knowing why ?

[blondeatlast]

13. Simple--it didn't serve their ends. nt

[BL_Zebub]

14. Obviously the Bush Junta survived, and returned their criminals to office.

...where John Kerry voted in lock step with their agenda, including the "attack on the US Constitution" known as the patriot act, not to mention the Iraq War which he knew was based on LIES.

A bonesman will not attack another bonesman.

[molly]

18. Yada-yada-yada

:boring:

"A bonesman will not attack another bonesman"

If this is even an issue - wait and see.

[emulatorloo]

19. Great!!! GWB will throw the election, because he is a junior pledge n/t

[BL_Zebub]

11. Nevermind his "lifetime record", what has he done since 12/12/00?

While an unelected fraud and his fascist cabal occupy our White House, John Kerry has not lifted one fucking finger to oppose their agenda. Furthermore, his endorsement of PPI (which is PNAC dressed in a "democratic costume" - headed by PNAC'er Will Marshall) proves that he is, and will continue to be, part of the problem, NOT part of the solution.

ANYONE claiming to be a Demoncrat and endorsing this fascist bullshit is deluding themselves and their supporters.

[sangh0]

17. Since 12/12/00

Voted against Bush*'s right-wing judges
Voted against Bush*'s energy plan and drilling in ANWR
Voted against Bush*'s tax cuts
Voted against PBA
Voted against tort reform for medical malpractice
Voted to extend unemployment insurance
Voted to give civil service protections to HSA employees
Voted against Bush* $87Billion bill to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan
Voted to filibuster Bush*'s Medicare prescription drug plan

[Old and In the Way]

31. There you go with facts again, sangh0.......

How is a character assassin going to do his job if you're going to bring facts like this into the argument?

[mdmc]

12. Let me clear it up

Take Kucinich - for the people against the greedy corporations
Take Bush - against the people, for greedy corporations.
Where is your candidate - closer to Kucinich or closer to Bush?

I've always hated the bush lite logo and prefer to call it instead "elect-ability". I know, its harsh.

[BL_Zebub]

16. And where's Kerry in your example?

Funded by FAUX News... I guess that makes him "for the greedy corporations", right?

[mdmc]

41. Well, I don't know about that

Fact is, I'd campaign for Kerry if he opposed the iwr. I supported Dean, and I would argue that Kerry was to the left of him.

To answer the original poster, Kerry used to be the heart and soul of this party back after Nam, but his lifetime in the Senate has robbed him of some of his purity.

[DrFunkenstein]

23. Kerry On Corporate Welfare

The special interests will stop at nothing to keep their special deals. That’s why I’ve joined John McCain in calling for a “Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission” modeled after the military base-closing commission. A bipartisan group would recommend corporate subsidies to be eliminated and Congress would have to vote up or down on the entire package.

It’s the only way to stop the games that go on in Washington. When I first came to the Senate, each year millions upon millions of dollars were lavished on a wool and mohair subsidy cooked up during WWI to make sure we’d have plenty of wool and mohair for our soldiers’ uniforms. But even after we stopped making our uniforms out of wool and mohair, the subsidy continued. I came to the Senate floor again and again - finally we killed it. Or we thought we did. Last year it came back. This kind of wasteful, no-growth, special interest giveaway is alive and well -- again. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

We were presented a defense bill that gave away $250,000 to an Illinois firm to research caffeinated chewing gum; $750,000 for grasshopper research in Alaska; $250,000 for a lettuce geneticist in Salinas, California and $64,000 for urban pest research in Georgia. This is our defense budget?

By eliminating these expenditures would you balance the budget? No. But that’s not the point. The point is that no politician can - with credibility - tell you he’s ‘fiscally responsible’ if he stays silent while these games are played. Is wasteful spending a tiny part of the budget? Yes. But it’s far more than most working people will ever see in their lives and invested in choices that do matter -- that do grow our economy -- it can make a world of difference.

It’s a question of choices. The Fossil Energy Research and Development program spends more than $400 million on R&D for oil companies who can afford their own R&D- and even duplicates research they’re already engaged in. And for 130 years the Federal government has allowed companies to mine on publicly owned lands for free, in addition to letting them buy those lands way below market price -- $5 an acre or less. If we simply required small, fair royalties and eliminated the giveaway of public lands we could save another $519 million over 5 years.

[DrFunkenstein]

24. Kerry On The Back Cover Of "Pigs At The Trough"

Arianna Huffington has always been willing to speak and write with conviction about the world around her. Her sharp wit and thoughtful commentary help put issues on the agenda ignored by conventional thinkers. I'm certain, that with her powerful new book, Arianna Huffington will be stirring the waters for some time to come.

- Senator John Kerry

[DrFunkenstein]

25. Kerry On Tax Loopholes

Just think - offshore tax havens and shelters enable corporations and
executives to evade an estimated $70 billion in taxes each year. How can anyone in this country suggest we have a fair system when companies can take $70 billion off the table? That undermines the very essence of our government.

It’s a system only companies like Enron could love. And did they ever. Enron held over 800 subsidiaries in countries with no taxes on income, profits, or capital gains -- 692 in the Cayman Islands alone. I believe in opening new markets and I want American companies to win. But I know we can distinguish between legitimate businesses and sham transactions. Assets in offshore entities have climbed from an estimated $200 billion in 1983, to an estimated $5 trillion today - and too many are brass plate addresses with a fax machine in an offshore tax haven.

What does that say to the vast majority of Americans who actually pay taxes? And the silence from this Administration speaks volumes! They’ve dragged their feet and fought every attempt to crack down on corporate loopholes. It’s time we stood up and insisted on real reform and real tax fairness.

[DrFunkenstein]

26. Kerry On The Bush Tax Cuts

How can anyone reasonably suggest to our fellow Americans that the way to get the economy moving today is to cut taxes 8 years from now?

And as for fairness, we’re not calling for redistribution - what we want is for average, middle class Americans who work hard to be able to get ahead just like their parents did. 20 years ago, the average CEO made 42 times what the average worker made. Now it’s 531 times more. It’s out of whack. Yet 40 percent of Bush’s tax giveaway goes to that very top 1 percent. I think that’s an attack on the fundamental fairness that holds this country together.

And perhaps most outrageous if the violation of generational responsibility -- The largest cost of the Bush tax giveaway will not be born by any of us here today - it will be paid for by our children. That’s right - we’re borrowing from Social Security and Medicare to put money in some peoples’ pockets today - and sticking our children with the bill.

We need to repeat the truth again and again. The new Bush tax cuts are unfair, unaffordable and unquestionably ineffective in growing our economy -- because they come at the expense of choices we need to make now so more Americans can enjoy greater wealth and a higher quality of life later.

Because of those cuts this Administration is clinging to, there are riorities going completely ignored - all of which make a difference in the quality of our lives - education, health care, transportation, our environment.

So our task is to get our economy moving again now. To create jobs and raise incomes... to grow out of the deficit... and to meet our needs.

[DrFunkenstein]

28. Kerry On Job Creation

I propose a new job creation tax credit to encourage employers to start hiring and raising wages again. This tax credit would give a 1-time break from the payroll tax for every new job and for any raise given to an existing employee. It would benefit every business, from the smallest Mom and Pop shop to the largest employer. Most importantly - it would start creating jobs now.

And to encourage investments in the jobs of the future - I think we should excite the capital markets by eliminating the tax on capital gains for investments in critical technology companies - zero capital gains on $100 million issuance of stock if it’s held for 5 years and has created real jobs. And we should encourage the measurement of the real value of companies by ending the double taxation of dividends.

You know politicians are always talking about the importance of small business. How they create 90% of the jobs and are the engine of job creation. I say it’s time we did something to really help them.

During this credit crunch, we should let every rapidly growing small
business defer up to $250,000 of federal taxes if they are reinvested in the business. I can think of no better single idea to stimulate the economy - it would create more than 600,000 jobs within three years at little cost to the Treasury.

[AwareOne]

15. Kerry voted for the Iraq war

he voted for NAFTA, he voted for most favored nation status for China and other questionable trade partners, he voted for the Patriot Act and many other big business/repug issues. I am so disappointed that he will be the nominee, it almost assures us four more years for Bush. Bush's team will conduct this election like a trial, all they have to do is raise a reasonable doubt about Kerry's leadership and the American people, who don't like change, will run back to Bush.

[sangh0]

20. You left something out

Kerry has received more votes than any other Dem candidate for the nomination.

Gee, I guess some Dems aren't as troubled as you by NAFTA/WTO/PATRIOT/IWR votes.

[mzmolly]

32. Most are probably uninformed....

as of now.

[emulatorloo]

21. Because some people take primary campaign rhetoric way too seriously

even though the originator of that rhetoric doesn't appear to take it seriously and backed away from it pretty quickly when the chips were down. . .


on edit clarify

[H2O Man]

22. No, obviously he is not perfect

but if you think that it is possible to go from the bush administration to an earth that resembles the song "Imagine" as a result of one election, you are not seeing things accurately. Yes, since oh, maybe 1963, there has been a dark force in American society (politics, economics, etc) that keeps popping its head up -- Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and their gang of criminal pals. And the truth is that it is going to take a LONG time to repair even the damage that this Bush administration has done in 3 years, much less 40! But it can only happen one step at a time! Removing the cancerous growth from the white house is the most immediate step .... and if you think that it doesn't make any difference between bush or Kerry/Gore, take a closer look.... we do not have the luxury of wasting time making debating points for each other on here, to show who has the greater or wittier lines of contempt for the state of the union. We need to unite and make an effort to turn this nation around! Thank you for listening.

[Old and In the Way]

33. Good post....you get it waterguy!

:-)

[H2O Man]

40. Thank you.

I appreciate your kind word. I do understand how some of our brothers and sisters get angry. But anger without reason and insight is not of much value .... except as a destructive force.

[Cheswick2.0]

27. I am absolutely positive that you know exactly why

It is his record in the last three years. Surely you wouldn't suggest Ronald Reagan was still a democrat after he switched parties. So why claim Kerry is still a liberal when all evidence show he is either no longer a liberal or a sell out who will do anything to win the whitehouse.
And don't bother giving me any shit about documentation. I'll bet your google works just fine.

Call me crazy but thousands of dead Iraqis means something to me and I don't think they should have died for Kerry's presidential ambitions.

[DrFunkenstein]

29. It Seems Project Vote Smart Disagrees With You

2002 According to the National Journal - Liberal on Economic Policy's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on economic policy issues than 95 percent of the Senators.

2002 According to the National Journal - Composite Conservative Score's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more conservative on economic, defense and foreign policy issues than 13 percent of the Senators.

2002 According to the National Journal - Composite Liberal Score's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on economic, defense and foreign policy issues than 87 percent of the Senators.

2002 According to the National Journal - Liberal on Foreign Policy's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on foreign policy issues than 73 percent of the Senators.

2002 According to the National Journal - Conservative on Economic Policy's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more conservative on economic policy issues than 0 percent of the Senators.

2002 According to the National Journal - Conservative on Social Policy's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more conservative on social policy issues than 0 percent of the Senators.

2002 According to the National Journal - Conservative on Foreign Policy's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more conservative on foreign policy issues than 26 percent of the Senators.

2002 According to the National Journal - Liberal on Social Policy's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on social policy issues than 82 percent of the Senators.

2001 According to the National Journal - Liberal on Social Policy's calculations, in 2001, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on social policy issues than 81 percent of the Senators.

2001 According to the National Journal - Conservative on Foreign Policy's calculations, in 2001, Senator Kerry voted more conservative on foreign policy issues than 14 percent of the Senators.

2001 According to the National Journal - Conservative on Economic Policy's calculations, in 2001, Senator Kerry voted more conservative on economic policy issues than 0 percent of the Senators.

2001 According to the National Journal - Conservative on Social Policy's calculations, in 2001, Senator Kerry voted more conservative on social policy issues than 8 percent of the Senators.

2001 According to the National Journal - Liberal on Foreign Policy's calculations, in 2001, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on foreign policy issues than 74 percent of the Senators.

2001 According to the National Journal - Liberal on Economic Policy's calculations, in 2001, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on economic policy issues than 93 percent of the Senators.

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=S0421103&PHPSESSID=6ffe9242b4363ab589fb36f5bae97f66

[H2O Man]

30. Interesting.

Not only do you already know what I'm going to say, you have an amazing capacity to put words in my mouth! Slow down, my friend! Think! Don't be in such a hurry to determine what I am going to say, and to counter it with your own insights! Because, my good friend, you have NO IDEA what I'm going to say! Nor who I am! But the truth is, I already know more about you ... as a result of your ignorant claim that I think Kerry is a "liberal!" The truth is, he wouldn't be my first pick .... or my 100th pick ... but I'll take him a hundred times over the man there today. Perhaps your silly outburst is merely a result of anger and frustration .... both emotions I am familiar with, Oh! I am familiar with .... because I have worked for years, proudly, at the grass-roots level ... and I have my bruises to injuries to show for it .... and maybe, just maybe, from years of experience I have a viewpoint NOT limited to an idiotic outburstr "He's a liberal" or "He's a Taurus!" or other complete NONSENSE! No! I do not support the Iraq invasion .... and I hope to see our country stop its madness before hundreds and thousands, and perhaps millions more HUMAN BEINGS DIE! And getting bush OUT OF OFFICE is the first step! I enjoy discussing this with you! Write back if you are so moved!Thanks, friend!

[Old and In the Way]

35. You enable George Bush when you make this case.

Kerry did not ask or push for this war. Bush presently distorted/fabrications of intelligence to make his bogus case. The vote was to allow this President to leverage his case for disarmament at the UN and use the military option as a last resort IF inspections didn't work. Inspections were working and no WMD were found. Bush invaded anyway. This is clearly Bush's War, no one elses. If you cared, you'd read the posts of what Kerry actually said about IWR. But life is so much simpler when we view things in black and white, no?

To lay this on Kerry makes Bush unaccountable. Karl Rove appreciates your post, though.

[CityDem]

34. Kerry is a DLC sock puppet

He is part of the establishment and therefore is part of the problem. Until we truly have a candidate who speaks for the average person, there isn't much difference between the two parties at the presidential level.

[blondeatlast]

36. Thank you for the detailed analysis and the documentation of your

claims.

However, I remain unconvinced that Mr. Kerry is conservative.

[DrFunkenstein]

37. The DLC Is A Centrist Organization, Along The Lines Of TNR

Kerry was a member, but it hardly influenced his voting record, or his willingness to accept soft money contributions.

[blondeatlast]

38. Interesting that that bastion of wingnuttery, the NEA:

Kerry voted FOR their positions 100 per cent from 2000-2003.

A simple review of Project Vote Smart has convinced me that as a left of left of center liberal, I can safely vote for Mr. Kerry.

I know there was far more to IWR and the Patriot Act (some serious skulduggery, no pun intended, with the latter--Democrats were not allowed to see the bill post-changes prior to the vote) than we get here at DU.

Hardly my ideal but a damn sight better than the pResident.

http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=S0421103

[bushwakker]

42. Because he's not Saint Howard*