"why John Kerry will save the world"

[MBS]

Why John Kerry will Save the World . .. title is a teaser, on table of ocntents page (page 8 for those with access to hard copy) , to highlight short article on JK in the Dec 2009 issue of Boston Magazine
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/forecast_december/page2

Color photo, with glasses :), at the url
Text follows below

COMEBACK
12/07 JOHN KERRY TO THE RESCUE!

Senator John Kerry's evolution into a field agent for the Obama administration may not be surprising—after all, the two have been tight ever since Kerry invited Obama to give the keynote at the Democratic convention in 2004, launching the latter's national career—but the results have been a marvel to behold. It was to much fanfare that Kerry managed to broker a last-second deal with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to add legitimacy to elections in that country. Kerry also played mediator in disputes over Honduras and Syria—the sort of chore usually picked up by cabinet members.

Today, as the United Nations opens a much-ballyhooed conference on climate change, expect our senior senator's star to shine even brighter. Already his efforts in pushing a climate-change bill have revealed him as an adept negotiator, able to coax Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (at considerable political risk) to coauthor a New York Times op-ed on the national security dangers of global warming. And now, as Kerry leads the U.S. delegation to the Copenhagen conference, look for him to muster those same skills to persuade the Chinese to adopt eco-friendly reforms. He's got a shot at negotiating something of a replacement agreement for the Kyoto Protocol—an environmental breakthrough that would go a long way toward reviving a popular political legacy that might otherwise have been left for dead in Ohio back in 2004.

[karynnj]

1. Nice article

Especially with Karzai, the real truth is that he filled a void in the diplomatic skills/relations of the entire Obama foreign policy team. Clinton has spuin it, but the timeline that both Eikenberry and Kerry quickly got out, shows that this was not HRC and Holbrooke calmly sitting in DC and giving Kerry the task before he left. Kerry was told of the problem on Friday night and that was when he first met with Karzai on this. If it were a goal from the beginning, it seems unlikely that Kerry would have spent his first day doing other things, shortening his Pakistan time, and returning to Afghanistan. It wouldn't make sense.

(On Hondorus, Kerry lost to DeMint/Clinton etc)

[wisteria]

2. Yes, filling a void is a good way to put it. Nice article by the way. n/t

[wisteria]

3. It is very nice to see these positive articles. And, it seems he is really accomplishing things he

wanted to do in 2004 when he ran for president.

[Inuca]

4. Nice article and

very nice picture. Anybody knows how long he will be away? Don't we need EVERY vote in the Senate right now?

[ProSense]

5. This is terrific, and you should also read

this statement from the Union of Concerned Scientists.