How can people say that they would be more disappointed if Kerry were Pres.?

Question

John Kerry was never given the chance to show what he could do, so how can people determine that he would have done so poorly as President? Bush had a very poor record in Texas as Gov. but he was given a chance to show what he could do as President, so why not give someone else that same opportunity?

Answer 1

Kerry would have done far better. The ISG group recently came out recommending things Kerry proposed in 2004, when they might have worked. The Senate this September included in the defense bill,Kerry's language calling for a regional summit. It was included by a voice vote. As Iraq deteriorates, more people are beginning to see that Kerr was right this past April when he called for a major change.

Even a conservative like George Will has said that Kerry was right that the war on terrorism would be occasionally military but most often fought via law enforcement and intelligence gathering.
View or read his Real Security speech on johnkerry.com under multimedia if you want to hear a sensible plan to fight the overall war on terror.

Incidentially the most successful thing that Bush has done on the war on terror is to have stopped some of the flows of money to the terrorists - via the Patriot Act. Do you know who wrote the legislation in that act on international money laundering ? It was John Kerry and he wrote it and had pushed for its implementation from the late 1990s.

Senator Kerry and Senator Brown(R, CO) spent 5 years investigating international money laundering as part of the work they did investigating drug running from Latin America. They tracked Noriega's money laundering to a Pakistani bank, BCCI. Kerry and the investigator's found that this corrupt bank was not only a key player in international drug running, but was facilitating terrorism. (OBL was found to have millions there). For most of the investigation, Kerry was the only Senator involved and fought the entire Senate to continue investigating and then gave the information to a NYC DA. BCCI incidently funded A.Q.Khan's development of Pakistan's bomb - an issue Kerry wrote had to be investigated when his committee was ended. He was right. Imagine - if they were stopped before sharing technology or materials with other rogue nations.

In 2005,when Abbas took over from Arafat, Kerry warned that the US should give him the support he needed so he could deliver services to the people on the West Bank. A key reason Hamas won an election, that Bush pushed the Israelis not to postpone was that they were often the people providing service.Last week, Kerry wrote an op-ed about Lebanon that outlines the same danger. (http://www.johnkerry.com/news/articles/newsarticle.html?id=109 )

With the middle east on the verge of three civil wars - Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, and Syria and Iran out of control - Bush has really succeeded in helping create the most dangerous powder keg I have ever seen. Kerry would have have inherited a mess, but he would have used all the diplomatic skils he has to calm things down.

The notion that Kerry makes a fool of himself is complete nonsense. He has been the victim of hundreds of millions of dollars spent to destroy his reputation. He has spoken intelligently each and every time he has appeared on any of the talk shows and he was awesome in the debates. He is an intelligent, serious, committed man who has spent his life in public service.

Anyone recorded constantly - which Kerry has been for 3 years will have a sentence or two, taken out of context, that will sound wrong. Did anyone take George Bush's comment where he skipped a line in his text and spoke of how the terrorists never rest in their efforts to harm the United States and neither do we.and demand he defend what he said - when it was clear from the prepared text that he simply skipped a line? Kerry skipped one 2 letter word!

Kerry was a war hero. He was as much a hero when he spoke before the Senate to protest the war. McNamara in Fog of War speaks of how he knew the war could not be won as early as 1968. Half the men who died died after that date. Kerry was an advocate for veterans (even those who resented his anti-war effort) for 3 and a half decades. Here is a link to the premiere of a film on PTSD. Kerry has nothing to do with the film,but he and others speak about the film and the issue. Kerry was one of the Senators who fought to get treatment for this. It is worth
seeing. http://ksgaccman.harvard.edu/iop/events_forum_video.asp?ID=2973

Answer 2

Actually Bush was a very successful governor in Texas and was both elected and reelected with wide majorities. Now if Kerry would or would not have done better these past two years I honestly don't know. Frankly I never did have any idea what his plans or direction were for the country and I followed the campaign very closely. With a Republican Senate and Congress I doubt he would have been able to implement them anyway. Also if he held the white house the Dems probably wouldn't have won the houses in this last mid term election. It is fair to say that you would have preferred to have had Kerry win and that he would have done things different but not to say that Bush wasn't successful in Texas.

For my part I am still grateful that Bush was president in 2001 instead of Gore else wise we probably would have just bombed another aspirin factory in the middle of nowhere in response to 9/11 and then waited for the terrorists to bring the fight back to our shores.

Answer 3

By his past record. Kerry has made a fool of himself every time he gets in front of a microphone. He is an arrogant rich guy who took his own film crew to Vietnam. Recently on his visit to Iraq solders got up and cleared the building when he went to the gym to work out, and I've seen the photos of him eating in the mess hall with his aides and no soldier within 10 ft. of him.
Don't know where you got the idea he had a poor record in Texas. He told the EPA where to stuff it, when they tried to ram California environmental programs, like mandatory car pooling, down our throats. He told the oil companies to put up or shut up, and went for a cost effective, common sense plan that works for Texans.
He instigated tougher standards and better early interventions in School Reforms. HE started the process to reform school finance, and property tax limits.

Answer 4

I think it's safe to say those people are Republicans.

It seems that they would rather have a great leader as President than someone who occasionally or frequently moves in the correct direction.

Answer 5

I saw what Kerry did in Vietnam and afterwards. He is a an obsiquious coward that panics in the face of danger. I definitely don't wnat him in the commnders chair.

Answer 6

It isn't his record as a politician that the public looks at. It was his service record. How can someone who was a traitor to his fellow servicemen be trusted to have the rights of Americans in mind when he makes decisions? I know that probably sounds like Republican propaganda, but it is just my opinion.

Answer 7

John Kerry wasn't the best candidate on the planet. However, he still was a better candidate that GWB. Kerry has said some stupid things, but GWB says about 100 stupid things to every one stupid think Kerry says.

Answer 8

Kerry has reminded us of the reasons every time he gets in the media.

Answer 9

John Kerry is a GREAT Democrat....er...American!

We all know that only Democrats are American, because we're the only ones who know what's good for America!

I'm Nancy Pelosi, and I approve this message!

Answer 10

I also wonder how people could say things would be worse under Kerry, my God how could it get any worse then it is with a coke snorting, alcoholic with no morals as president.