Deflated Kerry Supporter Hopes Obama Can Make Good on Hype

[DrFunkenstein]

I cannot say that I am thoroughly shocked by the news, but I am thoroughly disappointed. No one out there has a true progressive vision for the country's future like Kerry, set out in detail for all to see yet made palatable to mainstream America as relatively moderate.

Like all of you, I was frustrated by how cautiously the 2004 campaign was run, and while the consultants were beyond incompetent, the bucks stops at a candidate who simply didn't trust his (impeccable) instincts.

I could go into greater detail, but here's what it comes down to: Kerry is a leader of great vision, but a lousy candidate.

Which brings me to Obama.

Obama seems to be the opposite of Kerry: a fantastic candidate, but a suspect leader.

Yes, I cannot help but be charmed by his disarming public persona, but I have yet to see anything indicating that he has something resembling an actual vision.

He will be, I imagine, delivering a series of major policy speeches sometime in the future. I truly, truly hope that he will demonstrate some real depth and far-reaching vision, despite - or perhaps because of - his relative youth.

If he can deliver the goods, I find it hard to imagine my supporting another candidate in the field.

Unless, of course, Gore tosses his hat into the ring.

Edwards leaves me cold while Clinton leaves my blood cold.

In the meantime, I have very little intention of bothering with polls or the daily ebb and flow of the campaign nonsense. Campaign journalism disgusts me - literally, it disgusts me - and I will focus my energy on fighting for a more substantive debate of the issues.

As for Kerry, I will never regret the considerable time and energy I spent on making him the leader of this country. I can only regret the process by which our nation was sold down the river by a bunch of smug, lazy, self-absorbed pundits without the slightest interest in the health of our nation beyond how their "credentials" appear.

With the media nonsense in full swing already, I am holding out cautious hope that Obama can use his charm to devastate the current media landscape by speaking frankly about its absurdity, rather than simply trying to navigate it successfully.

[Extend a Hand]

1. Dear DrFunkenstein

I'm sorry, I know that is disappointing. Gore is my first choice and I'll be extremely disappointed if he doesn't enter the race. fwiw, I think Kerry would have made a fine president and Teresa a great first lady. I was depressed for months after they stole the presidency from him right here in my home state of Ohio in 2004.

[zulchzulu]

2. I'm going to get on the Obama Train

Yes, it's utterly disappointing at the news, but I could feel proud working for Obama's candidacy. He's nothing compared to Kerry, but, to me, his candidacy is much more important and meaningful historically for America.

From the various attempts at swiftboating Obama, I can see they don't have much. I could see standing in the cold October winds in 2008 getting people to vote for Obama if they aren't convinced already.

We've been stung hard. Now it's time to move forward. For me, Obama is the choice. I'd support Gore, but I seriously don't think he's going to run. And that's a shame too.

[beachmom]

3. I'm undecided, and will remain that way probably until I'm forced

to choose. I hear you on Obama, but what leaves me cold about him is his lack of foreign policy experience, which I think is vital that our next president has. But I won't be fighting anyone over the primaries. Kerry was the only one I truly believed in. All the others are a compromise of one sort or another.

P.S. -- I don't know if he was a lousy candidate. I knew little to nothing about him when he won in early '04, and by the time I cast my vote for him, I was a big supporter. Somewhere, somehow, he must have done something right.

[DrFunkenstein]

6. Don't Get Me Wrong

I think he was wonderful in what he actually represented, making it very easy for me to get behind him pretty much since his foreign policy speech at Georgetown.

His positions were correct on every count, but his presentation of the positions was marked by too much caution (and I wish he had worked more on creating a tighter emotional connection with the public).

His health care proposal was flawless, his vision on the environment and energy independence - all of what he stood for - made him an incredible candidate in American political history.

I was more referring to his ability to either confront or negotiate the media jackals of the 24-hour news cycle.

[beaconess]

4. Dr. Funkenstein - while Kerry wasn't my first choice, I'm sorry that you're disappointed

Kerry is a good man and a wonderful Senator and he doesn't deserve the treatment he's gotten in DU and elsewhere.

I hope you won't be discouraged and find a candidate that you can support wholeheartedly, whether it's Obama or someone else.

Hang in there!

[MasonJar]

5. He can and has done much good as a senator; he will just con-

tinue ahead in the Senate. It would be difficult to run for the Senate and the Presidency so I was afraid that we would lose him in the Senate with a second run for the WH, which might come to naught.

[TheDonkey]

7. Obama is similiar to Kerry

as they are both pretty liberal. I also think that Obama has some problems that Kerry has. For one, Obama doesn't come off best in one-on-one interviews, a weakness of Kerry's but hopefully this will improve as he gets more practice.

[DrFunkenstein]

8. Actually, Kerry Only Came Off as "Pretty Liberal"

In fact, when you started looking closely at both his record and proposals, he was one of the most progressive Democrats out there - certainly at the national level.

One of the reasons I loved the guy was that he made important issues to progressives (even the minor issues that only groups like Public Citizen seemed to follow closely) seem like something fairly moderate. A Kerry Presidency would have turned the debate far to the left.

I'm hoping that Obama - or anyone, really - can pull off the same sort of trick. I think the country is ready for it.