John Forbes Kerry

John Forbes Kerry
(Project Vote Smart)

Qualifications: Senator Kerry is in his fourth term, and before that he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts for two years. He also was an Assistant DA in Middlesex County (Cambridge, etc.). Oh, and in case you haven't heard, he piloted a Swift Boat along the Mekong.

Strengths: John Kerry is quite tall. He's also smart, experienced, and erudite. His main strength is in foreign policy; this is a guy who ran for Lieutenant Governor on the nuclear freeze. He thinks in terms of foreign policy, he's comfortable with it, and he has strong instincts for it. He has managed to spend a long time in the Senate without making a lot of enemies. He's probably got the widest net of issues than any of the candidates except Gephardt; there isn't a lot in Washington that he doesn't know about and have experience with.

Weaknesses: He's spend a long time in the Senate without having his name associated with any major domestic legislation. He doesn't really appear to be a heavy-lifter, either in accumulating details, or in negotiating compromises. Also, he has something of the air of someone who has always thought of himself as the smartest guy in the room; although he doesn't have a lot of enemies, he doesn't seem to have close working relationships with a bunch of people, either. He not, y'know, spineless, but he isn't exactly a symbol of courage, either. He's not an inspiring speaker.

Priorities: Foreign Policy first; as President, John Kerry would spend a lot of time cultivating international relationships, and guiding any conflicts. He is opposed to getting too involved in messy situations, but feels that getting involved early is better than leaving it too late. Domestically, he's been concerned with veteran's affairs and so-called women's issues, from abortion rights to pay equity, domestic violence, or health care. He's big on small-business issues, and regulation, and below that all the other stuff: civil rights, energy, crime, etc.

Coalitions : Well, he ought to appeal, by rights, to veteran's groups and women's groups, two groups who don't necessarily think of themselves as having overlap. He supports labor, somewhat distantly, and labor supports him, also somewhat distantly. It's not necessarily a sign of coalition-building, but in Massachusetts, there is a very large majority who generally think he's doing a good job, despite not being passionate about him (of course, he is junior to Ted Kennedy, who inspires tremendous passion, of various kinds).

Legislative: John Kerry, as President, would get along very well with the legislature, I think. He would start with more legislative experience than any President since Nixon (Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Our Only President have almost none), and would emerge from that without enemies (unlike Nixon, Johnson, and to an extent Truman). On the other hand, he wouldn't be inclined to micromanage.

Executive: Kerry's only executive experience is about two weeks as LG in a state where the LG is usually not involved in running the State House, under Michael Dukakis. I have no idea how this would go. In picking a cabinet, I expect he would lean towards experienced people (read: old party hacks), and once confirmed, I expect he would mostly let them run their own shows. His aloof amiability might actually be Reaganesque, once in office, and that White House worked (for better or worse).

Judicial: I have no idea. I don't think Sen. Kerry has ever been on the Judiciary committee. He went to BC law, practiced law (briefly), and was an assistant DA for a few years, and, but that's as far as it goes. I do think Sen. Kerry understands the importance of an independent judiciary, and would take appointments seriously, appointing qualified people (who also happen to be good Party men).

Crisis: I have no idea. In some ways, Sen. Kerry’s experience, his intellect, and his habit of detachment incline me to think that in crises he would be level-headed, sober, and forward-thinking. On the other hand, he has a tendency to pander to popular whim, and that could be seriously problematic in a crisis. He has all the ingredients I would want in a President in time of crisis, but I have doubts about whether he would choose to use them. There’s no question of his personal courage, of course, only when he chooses to display it.

Day-to-day: The knock on him in Massachusetts is that he neglects the State’s business to go snowboarding or kitesurfing. That isn’t altogether fair, but it is true that Kerry isn’t particularly attentive to detail. I suspect in the White House he would run a terrific team, and would let that team run things. He does, more than many people, understand the sausage-making that you have to do to govern.

Leadership: Let me start with this: John F. Kerry has everything you could possibly want in a leader except actual leadership. I don’t really understand it. He’s got charisma, brains, guts, looks, articulacy, ambition, a fondness for change, an openness to new ideas, and a varied and fascinating personal history. No-one, however, seems to find him an inspiring leader. Perhaps he’s been in Big Teddy’s shadow all these years, or perhaps he, like Al Gore, simply is lacking an indefinable something. Perhaps it’s a television thing.