It’s Kennedy’s Fault
Not something you hear a lot on the left, but that is the backbencher also-ran’s excuse for his lackluster career. In the midst of a bitter fight for re-election he has no chance of losing, but seems terrified he will, here’s Kerry on Kerry. A long jaw at the Boston Herald:
An exasperated Sen. John F. Kerry vowed to defend his image yesterday and lashed out at opponents’ portrayals of him as a do-nothing senator riding the coattails of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
The former Democratic presidential candidate now up for re-election to the Senate presented a stack of 50 thank-you letters from constituents during an hourlong interview with the Herald as proof the critiques are false.
“John Kerry doesn’t get anything done. John Kerry lives in the shadow of Ted Kennedy. John Kerry doesn’t deliver. Blah, blah, blah,” Kerry said, mocking challengers who use those arguments when they run against him. “I’m sort of tired of that, actually. I’m going to fight back a little harder to make sure people understand that that’s an insult to my staff when people say that.”
(Hold everything. There’s a heck of a soundbite:
“John Kerry doesn’t get anything done. John Kerry lives in the shadow of Ted Kennedy. John Kerry doesn’t deliver. Blah, blah, blah.”
Rich baritone voiceover:
“In his own words. John Kerry doesn’t get anything done. John Kerry lives in the shadow of Ted Kennedy. John Kerry doesn’t deliver. Blah … blah … blah …”
Can we really afford six more years of … blah … blah … blah?”
But it’s not like he’ll ever be in another race that matters. Massachusetts voters, who get what they deserve, will keep for voting him by comfortable margins well into his dotage.)
The junior senator, who’s facing Republican candidate Jeff Beatty in his race for a fifth six-year term, admitted it’s tough to outshine Kennedy’s massive political power.
“I serve with the single most effective, capable United States senator in modern history,” Kerry said at a meeting with Herald reporters and editors. “He’s a big force, and I admire him and I’m learning a lot from him, but I didn’t become the nominee of the party because I don’t do things or I’m not capable. I am proud that Ted Kennedy is my senior colleague. It does make it harder, that’s all.”
It’s kind of like a nightlite vs. lefty searchlight thing. Re 2004, actually, he became the nominee because Howard Dean imploded and the Democratic Party fell for John F. Kerry’s well-honed faux John F. Kennedy act, complete with home movies and medals from his Vietnam tour, which was quite illustrious before he got three scratches and abandoned his combat command four months in.
He said his failed 2004 presidential run has fed into the criticism that he’s detached from the Bay State.
“When you run for president of the United States, first of all you’re not here, secondly there’s an automatic perception that you want to be something else,” Kerry said, adding he believed he could have done even more for Massachusetts as president but is now committed to his job in the Senate.
Actually, it wasn’t that so much as the prior 20 years of do-nothing coattails riding.
Kerry said he passed seven pieces of legislation in the month of July alone, but his hard work doesn’t get attention.
“I do a lot of things, but I haven’t been running around tooting my horn about it,” Kerry said.
Like most of his Senate colleagues, Kerry attaches his initiatives to larger bills, sometimes causing his work to get lost in the shuffle when the final bill enacted doesn’t bear his name.
That’s why everyone has such a hard to figuring out what the Kerry Bill is. He did announce nearly a couple of years ago now he was foregoing his 2008 presidential ambitions in order to end the war in Iraq, and that has been a stunning success … thanks to President Bush, Gen. David Petraeus and not least, Sen. John McCain. Fortunately, the Democratic leadership in Congress has been almost Kerry-like in its effectiveness these past two years, though considerably more animated.
Kerry blasted complaints about his constituent work, saying his Massachusetts office is almost as big as his office in Washington.
“We do the hard work of delivering to people,” Kerry said. “We have countless letters I receive where people say, ‘You know, I went to every other office, and no one would do anything for me, and you’re the first person who did.’ ”
No complaints in that department, in fact he deserves credit where credit is due for giving a damn. I know vets who appreciate his effort.
He also attacked claims that he doesn’t spend time here.
I’m not familiar with that complaint either. The Herald has always been happy to run shots of him windsurfing off Nantucket, etc. And you can always find Kerry horning in on other people’s events.
Be sure to click in for Herald online editor Joe Dwinell’s vid of the Lion in Autumn.
Meanwhile, re Kerry’s recent strategic humor evolution: From botched to borrowed here … to bottled up here.
G’Day Blairites, RCP, etal, always good to see you. Happy St. Crispin’s Day.
Topics: pols
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:55 am on Saturday, October 25, 2008
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