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Kerry must not be prez
Cos is the senior business columnist for the Herald and he's usually pretty sharp. This will not get him invited to any of the innumerable beautiful people cocktail parties up here this week.By Cosmo Macero Jr. It's been quite a ride for John Kerry.Left for political dead seven months ago, Kerry kick-started his campaign in time to squelch Dick Gephardt in Iowa and stun Howard Dean in New Hampshire.Collecting delegates, from then on, was a mere formality. And so it is that John Kerry has well earned the Democrats' coronation Thursday night as their candidate for president in 2004. He has earned it. He should enjoy it. But then let it end there. Because John Kerry must not be president. Not now. Not ever. 1. He serves a constituency of one: Himself. Kerry's behavior in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention has been disgraceful. Where Gov. Mitt Romney showed courage in helping Mayor Thomas M. Menino navigate a fierce contract dispute with Boston police, Kerry showed zero leadership by weakly dancing the middle ground. His flirtation with not accepting the nomination as a money ploy was an insult. His insistence on a concert that will squander precious safety resources? Selfish. 2. He promises U.S. acquiescence to foreign interests. Kerry has pledged to give us ``a new era of alliances.'' Never has the dilution of U.S. sovereignty been so boldly forecast. After all, it was Kerry who boasted that foreign leaders want him to win the presidency. To Kerry - who once told the Harvard Crimson that U.S. troops should be dispersed ``only at the directive of the United Nations'' - America is but a sliver in some grand, global pie. 3. His wife most certainly hopes to heavily influence the American health-care system. Teresa Heinz Kerry has used Massachusetts, Vermont, Mississippi and other states as her personal laboratories for health-care policy. That her ``HOPE'' plan for prescription drugs has gone wildly overbudget apparently doesn't matter. Meanwhile, John Kerry's own health-care plan is littered with ideas and influence drawn from Teresa's hobby-time handiwork. Consider: First lady Teresa Kerry and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Together.For the first time.On a mission. 4. He will punish companies such as Microsoft for returning huge reserves of cash to investors. The record Microsoft dividend payout of $32 billion may be large enough to be felt by the U.S. economy. But John Kerry's inclination to repeal the preferential rate on dividends would cause companies to think twice about such action. Dividends are more important than ever to everyday investors. Betting on stock appreciation alone went out with the Internet bubble. Much like the last Democratic president. 5. He has shirked his responsibilities as a U.S. senator. Kerry missed 64 percent of Senate roll call votes in 2003, according to Congressional Quarterly, and 87 percent of Senate roll calls through June 2 of this year. Real leaders, quite simply, show up for work. Or get great freebie seats for Yankee- Red Sox games. Posted by: tu3031 2004-07-26 |
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