WP: The Making of the Candidate - Kerry's Need for Speed - Democrat Has Go

[Pirate Smile]

Kerry's Need for Speed
Democrat Has Gone Through Life, Senate at a Sprint
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57454-2004Oct23.html

'"When a Kerry baby was born, Angela Winthrop sent over her Scottish nanny. Kerry wore Frederic's hand-me-downs. Another aunt paid for Kerry's school. As Frederic had put it earlier: "We didn't think John had a pot to pee in."

But at the Kerry-Winthrop Thanksgiving touch football game, John plowed over Frederic. And when Kerry drove the Winthrop hay wagon, "he was so wild, my father had to tell him to slow down." Among his Protestant, Republican and rich peers, Kerry, the Catholic Democrat raised on his father's government wage, had something to prove, his friends said.

-snip-

Kerry was in a hurry, as he often is. Whether on the road to Springfield in his early Senate days or in the race for the White House at this late stage of the campaign, Kerry is a man, associates say, who lives for the sprint. The holes in his shoes, friends tease, are testimony, as is the long board with which he snowboards, to maximize the rush. Even his mother used to joke that her son was born in a hurry; she barely made it to the hospital in time.

The Democratic presidential nominee may have been born to run, but it remains to be seen if he can win. As Election Day approaches in this close contest, Kerry's reputation as a good closer will be put to the ultimate test. Just as he did in his tight Senate race in Massachusetts against then-Gov. William Weld in 1996, Kerry gained momentum in the debates. Polls show the candidates very close."

Interesting article about his entire life.