NY Times mining Kerry's 20 year record and it's not pretty:

[Pallas180]

In the 1990's, KERRY joined with Republican senators to sponsor proposals to end tenure for public school teachers and allow direct grants to religion-based charities

After the Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, Mr. Kerry proclaimed himself "delighted with seeing an institutional shake-up because I think we need one." A few months later, with President Bill Clinton locked in combat with the Republicans, Mr. Kerry voiced some doubts in a closed-door meeting of senators about the wisdom of trying to raise the minimum wage. And as Mr. Kennedy later recalled, he told Mr. Kerry, "If you're not for raising the minimum wage, you don't deserve to call yourself a Democrat."

In 1998, Mr. Kerry criticized the "stifling bureaucracy" of the public school system and called for an "end to teacher tenure as we know it," incorporating some of his ideas into a bill he co-sponsored with Senator Gordon H. Smith, Republican of Oregon. He also worked with Senator Christopher S. Bond, Republican of Missouri, on a bill to allow direct grants to charities, including religious institutions, for certain early childhood education programs. Both measures were opposed by teachers unions and other Democratic constituencies.

[Dover]

1. Interesting. Got a link Pallas? eom

,

[economic justice]

2. Kerry was right about teacher tenure

"In 1998, Mr. Kerry criticized the "stifling bureaucracy" of the public school system..."

I like Kerry. He does step out from "traditional" Democratic thinking at times, but frankly, I think his "stepping out" on this issue was absolutely right. Teacher tenure keeps poor teachers teaching. Period. End of story. How does it promote quality? How doers it promote innovative thinking? How does it promote ANYTHING other than job protection in a field that should be THE LAST (after medicine) to accept mediocrity? It IS stifling -- Kerry was right about this...imo.

[necso]

3. link

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/politics/campaign/25RECO.html?ei=5062&en=aa6bb0d93d9ed6de&ex=1075611600&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=

oops... should be under top post.

[eileen from OH]

6. And the other side of that is. . .

that without tenure, or something similar, school systems will not hesitate to ashcan qualified, experienced, teachers so they can hire cheaper inexperienced ones. Tenure, like unions, or any other job protectionist-type program, is NOT perfect. But without something, there is nothing to stop cash-strapped school systems from choosing the least expensive route.

I, for one, am tired of all the blame for educational problems being laid onto teachers. How about some accountability on administrations who don't back their teachers? How about parents who ship their kids to schools and don't get involved at all (except to scream and/or sue if their kid is disciplined?) How about giving teachers the tools and resources to TEACH, rather than have them spend their own money for everything from chalk to warm weather clothing? How about not assuming that all the educational ills in this country can be laid at the feet of uncaring, slacker teachers? How about asking them what they need? How about reducing the importance of the one thing that has never, ever, helped one single solitary child to learn - more goddam TESTS?

Yes, there are shitty teachers. And there should be an evaluation system that either helps them improve or provides a mechanism for their removal. But until someone develops something like that, tenure is what we have and it's still better than nothing.

Sorry for the rant, but I do get tired of this. The overwhelming majority of teachers are hard-working men and women who truly care and get damn little respect.

eileen from OH (Sorry, really did not mean to jump on you and go into a riff on teachers but this is a hot button issue with me.)

[bluestateguy]

4. Not interested

This election is about the future, not obscure votes from 10 years ago.

[Pallas180]

5. Thanks for link. Kerry's vote was 1998, friend, not 10 years ago.

IMHO he's the DC establishment and of course he must be after 20 years
there.

I'll look at the new pretty faces.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

7. Kerry didn't vote against raising the minimum wage, just spoke against it?

is that right?

[Forkboy]

11. Sounds about right for him

[jpgray]

8. Dupe--seen this one what, twice today? (nt)

[Padraig18]

9. The downside of experience:

It's called 'baggage', and the Republicans will beat him with it without mercy, just like they will anyone else.

[snyttri]

10. Kerry vulnerable on 9/11 hypocrisy, general waffling

-link from message #3-

<snip>

For example, at the end of the cold war, Mr. Kerry advocated scaling back the Central Intelligence Agency, but after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he complained about a lack of intelligence capability. In the 1980's, he opposed the death penalty for terrorists who killed Americans abroad, but he now supports the death penalty for terrorist acts. (...1st sentence in original message...) In 1997, he voted to require elderly people with higher incomes to pay a larger share of Medicare premiums.

The record is susceptible to two broad strands of attack. Mr. Kerry's rival Democrats point to a series of shifting stands on issues, like his qualified praise for the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress and his vote authorizing President Bush to use force in Iraq. They say these are at odds with his claim to be the "real deal" Democratic alternative to Mr. Bush, capable of "standing up for people and taking on powerful interests," as he says in his stump speech.

"When it was popular to be a Massachusetts liberal, his voting record was that," said Jay Carson, a Dean campaign spokesman. "When it was popular to be for the Iraq war, he was for it. Now it's popular to be against it, and he's against it. This is a voting record that is a big vulnerability against Republicans in the general election. He's all over the place on this stuff."

<snip>

[Forkboy]

12. His wanting everything both ways

is his biggest flaw.

[mzmolly]

13. Yep, Kerry is the epitome of a gaffing waffler.

The slightest bit of research will show that. I do hope New Hampshire is aware of these things, but it would not appear they are.

[Lobo_13]

15. Not so much a waffler

as an opportunist. I bet if you tried, you could trace each and every one of his votes with the common theme of getting re-elected or running for higher office.

Send young soldiers half way around the world to die, even though he protested an earlier version of the same kind of war? Sure, he needed to defuse accusations that he was soft on defense when he made his white house run.

Vote for the worst un-funded mandate to come down the pike in decades? No problem. It's not like his kids or eventual grandkids will have to rely on public education.

Vote for unbelievably irresponsible tax cuts? Of course, considering he's one of the folks that got the biggest slice of the pie.

Show up to vote against the Partial Birth Abortion bill? Nope. That's a political hot potato, wouldn't want to alienate women or religous folks. Better to let that one slide.

How many different ways does he have to prove that he's in it for himself?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

14. Rivals Mine Kerry Senate Years for Material to Slow Him Down(with link)

By contrast, the Republicans seek to paint Mr. Kerry as voting in lock step with, or even to the left of, his fellow Massachusetts Democrat Edward M. Kennedy.

"Whether it's economic policy, national security policy or social issues, John Kerry is out of sync with most voters," the Republican national chairman, Ed Gillespie, said in a speech on Friday.

Mr. Kerry's spokesman, David Wade, said the senator was "proud of his independence and unashamed that his resistance to orthodoxy leaves him hard to pigeonhole," adding that he had "fought a lifetime for what's right even when it's neither popular nor predictable." He added, "Ed Gillespie may be the last guy left who doesn't realize it's George Bush who's out of touch with the American people."

On a number of issues, including support for gun control, gay rights and the environment, Mr. Kerry has a long, consistent record. He has been a strong opponent of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and has earned a lifetime 96 percent "right" voting record from the League of Conservation Voters. His lifetime score from the A.F.L.-C.I.O. is 90 percent, while his rating by the American Conservative Union stands at just 6 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/politics/campaign/25RECO.html?ei=5062&en=aa6bb0d93d9ed6de&ex=1075611600

[UTUSN]

16. Oh, Heck, What's Not Pretty

Senator EDWARDS's hair is pretty. Governor DEAN's wife is pretty. Senator KERRY's ---------RECORD----------is pretty Liberal. What's not to like?

[snyttri]

17. Cutting back on funding the CIA before 9/11 is not to like. Kerry's

extensive history of votes may be the source of a daily gem like this
for weeks or months to come.