Kerry's deliberative style sometimes has helped, hurt him

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"Massachusetts Senator John Kerry revels in complexity. Whether he's choosing a vice president, replacing a campaign manager or formulating health care and tax plans, the Democratic presidential candidate collects data and viewpoints from as many people as he can. And then he plays devil's advocate."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-07-28-kerry-style_x.htm

Kerry's deliberative style sometimes has helped, hurt him
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY

BOSTON — Teresa Heinz Kerry earned a blast of applause recently when she declared to 5,000 people at a fundraising concert, "We need a president who is not fazed by complexity, a president who likes to read, a president who loves history." That president, she hopes, will be her husband.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry revels in complexity. Whether he's choosing a vice president, replacing a campaign manager or formulating health care and tax plans, the Democratic presidential candidate collects data and viewpoints from as many people as he can. And then he plays devil's advocate.

"He will always argue and debate with you," says David McKean, his Senate chief of staff for five years. "He's testing — maybe testing the staff, maybe testing the theory."

Kerry's younger brother, Cameron, says Kerry likes to "grapple" personally with decisions rather than accept conclusions reached by others.

"He wants to challenge and probe what he's being presented," he says. "He doesn't necessarily like having things prepackaged. He'll pick up the phone and test something with people he knows who have opinions or knowledge, do some independent gathering of information."

Firsthand investigation has always been a part of Kerry's political career. When he was lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, he went abroad to see how Germany was dealing with acid rain in the Black Forest. As a new senator, he visited the Philippines and pressed Ferdinand Marcos to hold elections or risk losing U.S. military aid.<snip>