What are Kerry's strenghs and weaknesses?

[mot78]

Someone did a similar thread on Edwards, so I want one on Kerry.

Pros:
-War hero, can counter AWOL * on forgien policy with this
-A good debater
-Isn't constrained by matching funds, even though he hasn't raised as much as Clark or Dean, Big Mo' can help him overcome that problem
-Campaign starting to find message
Cons:
-Voted for IWR and waffled on it, could alienate some Dean and Kucinich supporters and in the GE
-Has trouble exciting grassroots, patrician-like
-From Northeast...I know this seems trivial, but if we have a southerner it gives a level of assurance to the ticket

[Jackson Smith]

1. Pros: is 6'4 with great hair. Looks dignified.

[mot78]

3. Voters love titans

LeBron James for President 2036!!

[wtmusic]

2. Good summary

and it depends what weight you assign to all those factors

[DaisyUCSB]

4. That's a really slanted proclamation about what he has done

regarding the war resolution. I don't think he has waffled. The case can be made that Clark and Dean waffled on it too, but it's nitpicking.

[Guaranteed]

6. So...you mean he's for the war, then.

Cuz, he voted for it, you know.

[DaisyUCSB]

8. He voted for the war resolution, there was no congressional vote on war

You should read the language of the resolution. Bush didn't need it passed to do regime change. but it did help ramp up inspections

[sandnsea]

5. Con: people love the media hype

He isn't patrician, he isn't unapproachable, he is tied with Gephardt for the union vote in Iowa, as well as vets and firefighters, little kids adore him, everyone respects him. I talk to people every day who are new voters and doing the grassroots work to support him.

He didn't waffle on the IWR. He listened to General Clark's opinion that Saddam had chem/bio weapons and possibly a nuclear program and that Saddam had to be confronted. That we must do it in a thoughtful and measured way. That we must go to the UN and get inspections going again. While Clark didn't support the threat of force as necessary to a resolution, he certainly thought it should be considered. Kerry had to put down the vote, Clark didn't. Kerry listened to Clark and voted to go forward in confronting Saddam Hussein. He hasn't waivered from his vote, he's criticized Bush for not listening to people like General Clark and himself and going off on a reckless, unilateral path.

Kerry does have a couple of cons, nobody has found them yet.

[BeyondGeography]

7. I like Kerry, but...

Saying he hated going to places like Dubuque to raise money was an absurd self-inflicted wound. Posing in the wet-suit for Vanity Fair was like, Fairly Vain. Decrying attack ads in Iowa while going on the offensive against Clark in NH is hypocritical.

Quibbles all. That's politics and the man's not perfect. I left Kerry mainly because I thought RoveCo would paint him as a Ted Kennedy liberal and I was afraid he wouldn't be able to connect with independents. His performance in Iowa has been reassuring. He's my number two, and I would be thrilled if Clark and Kerry were both on the ticket, in whatever order.