but tonight I saw that John Kerry is an
admirable politician and person.
I started out torn between Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean. Until Wes Clark entered the fray... Whoa! He zapped me right between the eyes (and the tinglin' still ain't over yet!) Since the get-go I thought of John Kerry as dull, dry and "too much of a Washington insider" to make a necessary difference. And John Edwards, I saw as an empty suit - a picture-perfect smile worn by a door to door used vacuumcleaner salesman. Then, when Wes Clark withdrew and almost immediately threw his support behind Kerry, I felt somewhat obliged - more out of "loyalty" than conviction - to take a reluctant look at JFK.
I started to actually
read all his statements and positions on his site (and there's a
lot to read there.) And I saw that, just a few issues aside, John Kerry and Wes Clark actually were pretty close. Big relief! At least I didn't have to support an ogre! Then, I started reading about his background. There are two
very good articles in the New Yorker that I
highly recommend to "doubters:" start reading
The Long War Of John Kerry (published on 11/25/02, not too long after he announced his candidacy) and then read the very recent
Damage Control (of 7/19/04 - just in case, that title has a clever twist, don't take it as a statement that Kerry needs to control "his" damage!)
After I read stuff like that, I glossed over his impressive and extensive senatorial record (e.g., looking not only at his voting / rating record, but also for info on his investigation of the BCCI scandal - and how he was willing to cut to the bone, but was stopped because of the touchy ramifications in DC) as well as his prior experience as prosecutor, and further back of course in the 70s his famous testimony before Congress on the crimes of war committed in Vietnam, and working with the VVAW... It's all in all a pretty long list!
So bit by bit I evolved: from unsympathetic to reluctant to surprised to interested to fascinated to... Well, as I said, a week ago or so I read that latest New Yorker article, and seeing where his very (very!) sage pragmatism comes from (i.e.: his father) I started to really appreciate him. Until today's speech put me over the top, right into the fan column.
I was very much afraid that the pressure and expectations were going too high, during this Convention. I had heard that Kerry is someone who truly
excels under pressure, with his back to the wall, but... The stakes are just too high! I can reluctantly understand the relatively mild, "positive message" strategy, but geez... We can't fail, not with a decent chance to win at stake!
And then he delivered his speech.
Homerun.
BAM!What a party that speech was. I'm ready to kick ass and take names too, now. Bring 'em on, this time we're ready and not going anywhere but 1600 Penn Ave in DC! So yeah, Mermaid - I hear ya; I know more or less where you're coming from. I started out on a negative, but I'm a convinced, committed and enthused
Kerryllero now.