Gary Hart endorses Kerry on CNN this afternoon with Judy Woodruff

[DJcairo]

WOODRUFF: Let me turn you quickly then to presidential politics. Someone you know well, former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, has now thrown in her lot with Senator John Kerry. Is there any one of the candidates at this point, Senator Hart, who you think stands the best shot at beating President Bush?

HART: It will be the candidate who is best prepared to be president. Now, I know Governor Bush, at the time, a couple of years ago, didn't meet those qualifications.

But I've always believed that you should prepare to be president before you even run for president. That means understanding the national economy and the federal budget. It means understanding the world and having traveled the world and understanding foreign policy. And it certainly means understanding the military and be prepared to be commander in chief. If you use that standard, it really narrows the field down.

(CROSSTALK)

WOODRUFF: To whom?

HART: Well, in the group that I have listened to and talked to and considered, my own view is that Senator Kerry of Massachusetts best meets those qualifications.

WOODRUFF: And General Wesley Clark?

HART: Well, he certainly has the military experience and some foreign policy experience, although I think dealing and negotiating in the former Yugoslavia is only a step in that direction. It remains to be seen what he knows about the federal budget and the national economy.

WOODRUFF: All that is unfolding. All right, former Colorado Senator and former presidential candidate Gary Hart, good to see you again.

HART: Great pleasure.

WOODRUFF: Thank you for talking with us.

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0309/23/lol.15.html

[pruner]

1. he only endorsed Kerry in the broadest sense of the word "endorse"

n/t

[DJcairo]

2. This doesn't sound broad to me.

"Well, in the group that I have listened to and talked to and considered, my own view is that Senator Kerry of Massachusetts best meets those qualifications." --Gary Hart CNN
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0309/23/lol.15.html

[ModerateMiddle]

3. I agree, it's not an official endorsement

But it is good anyway!

[DrFunkenstein]

4. For The People Who Supported Hart Early On

"My own view is that Senator Kerry of Massachusetts best meets those qualifications" has got to sound pretty convincing.

[blm]

5. This isn't the first time he has said this.

He goes into more detail at vaious forums and speeches he attends. I heard him say it about 3 months ago on Cspan. It is also well-known that he doesn't like Lieberman or Dean on foreign policy.

[JI7]

6. gary hart

i had wanted gary hart to run for president because i believed him and kerry would would bring attention and a great debate on foreign policy issues. i was a kid when gary hart ran for president, but some people have told me about him and said he would have made a great president. they are also supporters of john kerry, so it's no surprise hart would like kerry.

[Octafish]

7. Hart is a smart guy.

It takes one to know one. So I've heard.

[blm]

8. He'll also be devastatingly competent discussing the primary

on the news shows. He knows ALL these guys and their weaknesses.

The author of the Hart-Rudman report will have more credit than most anyone else on national security and foreign policy.