Is Kerry "progressive"?

[madison2000]

I don't think of him as a progressive candidate, but maybe I have a different idea of what that means.

[mattclearing]

1. What exactly is progressive these days, anyway?

Does PDA have a good definition?

[eg101]

2. Kerry: "I am not a Redistribtion Democrat"

Yeah, he is SOAKING in that progressive spirit.

He is just an friggin plutocrat, as far as I am concerned.

[youngred]

3. No

but that doesn't mean he wasn't someone a progressive couldn't vote for and it's kinda moot now unless you live in massachusets

[Osamasux]

4. Yes, he most certainly is.

'Putting the rights and well being of the people first' is usually a good starting point for the definition of progressive. He does, he is.

[Cheswick2.0]

7. When did he put the rights and well being of the people first?

Am I mistaken in thinking he voted for the patriot act, the IWR and NCLB?

[greenohio]

11. He voted against late term abortion ban, DOMA, massive tax cuts

against the 1st Gulf War, against removing environment regulations, against Reagan's whack defense plans.

Or are you for these things?

[aden_nak]

5. He made it hard to tell.

He wavered between Progressive and Republican Lite for as long as he was in the media spotlight.

[Cheswick2.0]

6. not anymore

He used to be liberal. Now he is ambitious and it is not politic to be liberal so he is no longer. Unfortunately his judgement about where to compromise with republicans has been very bad. He has compromised on all the wrong issues IMO. Frankly he has just been plain wrong in the last several years.

[democrank]

8. Progressive? John Kerry? Maybe compared to Tom DeLay he is.

But by definition he is not. He`s a middle-of-the-roader who plays it safe. Progressives believe in social reform, not a continuation of the same old policies developed by the same old ruling class.

How "progressive" was Kerry on November 3rd? Or when he voted to give Bush a blank check for the Iraq War? On the Patriot Act? On the struggles of the Palestinians?

Was he a leading voice against torture? Homelessness? Poverty? He didn`t even get on the outsourcing bandwagon until he heard others talking about it.

Kerry operates in safe mode. Nothing "progressive" about that.

[greenohio]

9. On many many issues Yes: abortion, gay marriage, taxes (mostly)

Historically he stood against the first Gulf War, and against Reagan's whack defense plans.

[hopein08]

10. Not a chance...

He was way too straightlaced and safe to be progressive. Of course, he's not Lierberman-style Republican Lite/moderate but he certainly isn't Feingold-style progressive. Somewhere in the between, I guess.