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Can John Kerry hold on to his lead?
ELF
Very interestiiiiing. Read the last few paragraphs
Harold Wilson, that British politician more canny than admired, usefully reminded his audience that things can change very quickly in politics. "A week is a long time," he said, in politics, and we have seen this over and over in the American scene these past months... The lanky and experienced Massachusetts senator has money to burn. No one wants to say it, but his wifeâs near billion-dollar fortune at the very least permits him to spend all his own, more modest, fortune to smooth his way. She canât shovel money directly into his campaign, but the mere fact of her fortune gives confidence to other contributors or lenders that theyâre backing a winner. He has seemingly unlimited self-confidence, despite many trip-ups in his long career.
But no senator has won the keys to the White House since John F. Kennedy. Thereâs a reason why senators donât tend to win. Theyâve been on the record for too long on too many issues. There are too many interest groups they have had to cultivate and satiate to stay in politics. Sam Nunn, a powerful senator from Georgia who didnât even have to face serious re-election opposition, left the Senate in 1996 because he tired of spending his evenings entertaining his major supporters and running over to the Senate to vote. At the prime of life, he wanted to rediscover his family. The real issue that Kerry must resolve is, however, character. Now that he is the front-runner, he must not only answer to all the charges of serving special interests that have risen and will still rise, he has to satisfy the public that he is, not to put too fine a point on it, an honorable man. There are questions.
Question: "What's her name, Senator?"
Question: "Is she double-jointed?"
Question: "Is she, like, into Jolly Green Giant cream corn sessions?" |
Kerry has managed to straddle
| ...(an unfortunate choice of terminology today)... |
many issues and so it is difficult to discern his real beliefs -- other than in himself. He votes for the war in Iraq so he doesnât look "wet" and then votes against Pentagon budget rises, so he can please the liberal Democrats, who give him one of their highest ratings. When he looks at an acquaintance, he always seems to be looking just past, to see if someone more important lurks behind his interlocutor.
| Either that, or he's trying to imagine what they look like nekkid... |
Of course thatâs just standard politics. But people want something more. He now makes much of his decorations from the war in Vietnam, to appeal to centrists and conservatives, without reminding those audiences that he for long was a leader of Vietnam veterans against the war. Indeed, assiduous searchers, looking for his vulnerabilities, will find much of interest in that period of his life. For example, the fabled and distinguished chief of naval operations (CNO), Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, told me -- 30 years ago when he was still CNO -- that during his own command of US naval forces in Vietnam, just prior to his anointment as CNO, young Kerry had created great problems for him and the other top brass, by killing so many non-combatant civilians and going after other non-military targets. "We had virtually to straight-jacket him to keep him under control," the admiral said. "Bud" Zumwalt got it right when he assessed Kerry as having large ambitions -- but promised that his career in Vietnam would haunt him if he were ever on the national stage.
| Wonder if that conversation's on tape? |
It is that sort of thing that senators donât have to worry about. But if they become a front-runner for president, the whole ball-game changes. Their past is scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb. In Kerryâs case, for example, he has shown precious little interest in Asia since his tour in Vietnam, and there is little doubt that he will follow the standard Democratic party, pro-Beijing, line. But every word heâs ever spoken on it will be scrutinized. That is why it is not only true that a week is a long time in politics. But, as they say in American politics, "It ainât over until the fat lady sings."
| Is she gonna sing "Norwegian Wood" this time? |
Posted by: tipper 2004-02-12 |
