Great article, Kerry fans: "The Timely Rise of John Kerry"

[flpoljunkie]

http://valleyadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:55262

The Timely Rise of John Kerry
Massachusetts learned in 1996 not to underestimate him. Now the country is
learning it -- and George W. Bush has reason to worry.

by Tom Vannah - February 26, 2004

With two weeks to go in the 1996 race for U.S.
Senator, the media in Massachusetts were getting
ready to eat crow.

Throughout the summer, polls consistently showed
Bill Weld, the state's wildly popular governor, running
ahead of the incumbent, Massachusetts' junior
senator John Kerry. The ostensibly objective media
had a hard time not playing favorites: Weld, the
underdog by virtue of being the challenger, was
winning the war of the one-liners delivered by the
candidates' spokespersons throughout the summer
season.

Even by proxy, Weld appeared warm-blooded,
comfortable in his own skin -- just as the media had
always known him. Not so Kerry, who (even though
we in the media didn't actually see him) looked cold,
aloof, dark and brooding.

By mid-July, if you'd have believed what most political
reporters were saying, you'd have written Kerry off for
dead, too.

Even at the Valley Advocate, a newspaper that had,
more often than not, sided with Kerry -- on the
Vietnam war, on his Iran-Contra investigation -- there
was a tendency to doubt him. And not just his ability
to effectively campaign against Bill Weld. From our
offices in Western Massachusetts, in the heart of the
traditionally Democratic Pioneer Valley, we worried
that something deeper was wrong with Kerry,
something about his character, about the depth of his
commitment. In journalistic shorthand, we saw
Kerry's capitulation to conservatives on some issues --
welfare reform, for example -- as selling out. He was
losing to Weld because, like an increasing number of
liberals, he was too much of a wimp to defend
liberalism.

more...

[DrFunkenstein]

1. I Remember The Old New Yorker Piece

"John has always been underestimated politically," Marttila says. "But that race had the quality and intensity of a Presidential campaign, and he won. I don't see how they can underestimate him anymore, but they probably will."

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?021202fa_fact1

PS - Great cover shot.

[flpoljunkie]

3. Thanks , Dr. Funk, for posting this great photo.

Am on my old computer right now. It is a great shot.

[blm]

8. WOW.... LOVE that picture.

I can't wait to call him President.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. WooHoo! My hometown's alternative weekly!

Nice to see that!

[flpoljunkie]

7. Went back and reread the New Yorker article you linked. Well worth it.

Thanks for posting it, Dr. Funk.

[pocoloco]

2. Got to give him credit alright,

he is beginning to show a little backbone!

[blm]

5. Joe Conason observed differently in 2002.

I doubt many were really listening and the media was certainly keeping the spotlight off Kerry.

Kerry Shows Courage In Challenging Bush
Thursday, August 8, 2002 By: Joe Conason

New York Observer

>>>>>>>>
But it was John Kerry who delivered the most interesting, substantive and challenging message. His subject was George W. Bush's shortcomings as a world leader.
The New York Times reported that Mr. Kerry "offered a long attack on Mr. Bush's foreign policy," although the paper gave short shrift to the details in the Senator''s speech. What he began to articulate was a Democratic critique of this administration''s blunt and myopic unilateralism, and a vision that restores international alliances to the center of American diplomacy.
>>>>>>>>

There is, however, at least one benefit for Mr. Kerry in speaking out on those faraway places and problems. While his rivals sound as if they''re campaigning for the offices they already occupy, he sounds as if he is running for President.

In a sense, Mr. Kerry enjoys an unfair advantage that mitigates the burden of his home state. He''s a decorated Vietnam veteran whose Navy service may help shield him from attacks on his patriotism. Throughout his years in the Senate, that credential has allowed him to investigate and criticize disturbing excesses of American policy abroad, as he did when he probed U.S. aid to the contra gangsters in Nicaragua. (That rather lonely crusade made him a target of the notorious Arkansas Project, funded by Republican billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife to bring down President Clinton.)

Whether Mr. Kerry can engage the electorate in a discussion of America''s global responsibilities is far from certain. His own dispassionate style may hinder him. Yet he deserves great credit for reclaiming international leadership for his party when others cannot or will not.
...............

[molly]

4. Excellent article - all should read

[flpoljunkie]

9. Both articles are excellent.

John Kerry, underestimated once again.