Interesting article about a coach who knew Kerry during his time as Lt. Gov. of MA:

[beachmom]

Via Chuck Todd on Twitter.

http://www.assumptiongreyhounds.com/news/Brian_Kelly-Grand_Rapids

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI --- Long before Brian Kelly was a successful college football coach, he was a young Massachusetts Democrat mingling with the likes of Sen. John Kerry.

In the early 1980s, Kelly studied politics and played football at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. He also worked on the staff of Sen. Gary Hart as a legislative assistant, and served as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention in 1984.

At the time, Kerry was Massachusetts' Lieutenant Governor, serving in that position for two years before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984.

"(Kerry) was behind the scenes just like we were, so we got to know his staff pretty well," Kelly said. "He got all the second plate sittings -- you know, not at the main table -- just like we did. Our paths were crossing a lot."

...

"His staff and our staff, we were both young and we hung out," Kelly said. "If we went to the local watering hole on Friday, his staff was there, too. It was kind of an allegiance thing, we ran in the same circles."

Kelly, however, didn't really get to know the presidential hopeful very well. But then, he said, neither did the rest of the staff.

"The one thing I remember about him is that he wasn't an easy person to get to know," he said. "He wasn't cold, or distant, but he never let anyone get real close to him. We always said it was because of his time in Vietnam ... and the turmoil that maybe it caused him to be that kind of person. But he went into public service, so go figure."

Given the time frame (1982 - 1984), I think this story sounds about right. What Mr. Kelly is NOT saying is that Kerry was standoffish; just that he was hard to get to know. This was not a great time for Kerry personally, so I could imagine he probably wanted to stick to professional talk. I also think that it was THK who got him to open up, but that was over 10 years later.

Thoughts?

[Mass]

1. I am somewhat confused at the article and the inferences in it.

At that time, Kerry was Lt-Governor, a post that is not very useful in MA, so this guy got to meet him at a few political dinners where they were both at the same tables? The two staffs met often at a bar (note it does not say Kerry went to the bar). But he did not get to know him well. and somehow, this makes Kerry somebody special, damaged by VietNam? And it makes it surprising that he went into public service?

I think that the facts in themselves are correct: from all I have read, Kerry is a private and reserved person, which makes him an oddity in MA politics. Obviously, VietNam had a huge influence on him.

Now, how do you get from that to the fact that this guy did not get to know Kerry well (it may be because I am a private person, but I do not claim to know somebody well because I met him/her a few times, or it is a very superficial knowledge of the person). And I still do not see the connection between that and going into public service?

I also do not think Kerry changed (well, people change, and obviously, his life is better now, but these are just normal changes, not a drastic transformation, and we still hear the same things about people not knowing him well -- except those who really know him well and are very loyal to him --). I do not see anything I read that makes me think he is not reserved. You rarely see him talking about his private life if he can avoid it. And, as you said, it was a difficult period for him and he was running a senate campaign.

But, I am not surprised this would attract Chuck Todd, and for once, the article has a reasonably positive tone.

EDIT: and, like wisteria, I do not get why Todd found this worthwhile twitting. This was an article during the 2004 campaign.

[karynnj]

3. Nice comments

I would think the mention about "still" going into politics reflects the fact that it is usually extreme extroverts who would select such a public life. I take it as Kelly pointing out that Kerry wanted to do this enough, he did it though it was not easy for someone as reserved as Kerry. (While the reserve is obvious, it is clear that he really loves meeting people.) Kerry has spoken often of the reasons he got into politics - it was for the issues and what he could do. (It makes sense that as a kid, another think he thought to be was a priest.) I suspect that some - maybe Clinton, Bush, Edwards might have been more in it for the role of being President, not a vision they wanted to move towards. (Kerry's comments after Kennedy's death of how he came into politics as an activist and how Kennedy taught him over the years that it was also personal.

I also think that the vast majority of the backslappers - definitely Bill Clinton and John Edwards - are not REALLY more open. They only appear more open. The difference was each had a facade, Edwards even had many, that gave the appearance of openness. They let everyone into that facade, but how much do we even now really know of either of them? Were either really more open than Kerry?

I actually think that through the rare occasions, that are becoming more, where Kerry does let people in, we might actually have seen more of who he really is than we ever saw who most public figures are. But, the main perspective is of the more reserved person he is most of the time.

[beachmom]

4. Todd spends a lot of Twitter time talking about sports.

So my assumption was that he was reading it for sports reasons but found the Kerry story interesting. But now that you say that the article was from 2004, I am a bit confused as to why he would reference it.

What I gleamed from the story was more that the guy knew the Kerry staffers pretty well. So I guess it was a bit heresy, but as you say, pretty much correct. Kerry is a private person and doesn't spill his personal problems in front of staff. To me that is professional. But now that you are saying this is an '04 article, well it seems like it is just the '04 meme ....

Edit: okay, going over his tweeting, here is why this became news:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-08-haugh-chicago-dec08,0,6001772.column

Brian Kelly needs to answer some tough questions for Notre Dame

Notre Dame isn't like other schools, so Kelly has to address any controversy as soon as possible

Officially losing Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate to the NFL on Monday only gave Notre Dame its best reason yet to hire Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, offensive guru and coaching flavor of the month.

Kelly used five quarterbacks in 2008, but the Bearcats still qualified for the first of two consecutive Bowl Championship Series games. At Central Michigan, Kelly began the transformation of Dan LeFevour from a diamond in the rough he discovered in Downers Grove into a polished college football history-maker.

Inevitably, history suggests Irish quarterbacks would continue to throw TD passes in droves in Kelly's spread offense even without Tate to catch them.

So why hasn't Kelly already been introduced as Notre Dame's next head coach?

That's tricky. From this view, a proven program builder coming off two straight BCS-bowl seasons with a dynamic personality ideally suited for the national stage represents a safer, if not sexier, choice than Jim Harbaugh.

But consider that the Notre Dame administration might want Kelly to answer some tough questions during their scheduled interview Tuesday in New York. The toughest ones have nothing to do with his well-documented background working for Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart 25 years ago or Kelly's alleged pro-choice beliefs.

Todd was just airing a few connections Kelly had with Democrats.

But read the article if you so choose which is about an incident in Michigan ...

[Mass]

6. OK, it may more sense for Todd to twit the article, but still...

this article is a mess. Too many missing information to be meaningful of what Kerry was. It is at best the memories (in the middle of the 04 campaign where the media was trying to present Kerry as aloof) of a staffer for Gary Hart (not clear where. Worcester? Boston?) meeting some Kerry staffers (probably for his Senate campaign, and still not clear whether Boston or Worcester).

I am not saying the guy was not honest in what he was saying, but considering he was in his early 20s, not sure how he got from a few facts to his general opinion. (do all staffers in a Senate campaign get to know the boss well?). My guess is that the reporter was trying to find something relevant to report on the campaign, and she stretched a few comments in a long paragraph about a meme of the time.

Still interesting to read (and BTW, does somebody with a longer affiliation with Boston politics than I know who his father was? wikipedia says "Boston politician", but, with such a name, it is not exactly helpful) and more understandable in the context of his consideration for a position at Notre Dame. And strangely relevant now as the Senate is debating the Nelson amendment.

[wisteria]

2. I just think Senator Kerry finds it hard to talk about himself and his interests.

Also, some people just don't have many things in common with each other. Senator Kerry had an unusual upbringing and I think he may have never known exactly how to fit in with some people- you know make a connection. Perhaps, he is even a bit shy and finds it awkward when first trying to approach people and interact. (I can relate to that one). These things do not take away from him being kind, considerate and passionate about people and causes though.

I have to ask why Todd would dig out an old article from years ago to push the idea that Kerry was aloof. What is he trying to do?

[beachmom]

5. See my above comment. I know nothing about sports, so it ends

up Kelly is being courted to coach at Notre Dame, and then it came out that he worked for Gary Hart 25 years ago. And that he knew Kerry. Todd put a couple of articles about Kelly up. I only saw the one tweet originally.

[wisteria]

7. Well, that makes some sense-giving Todd's position in politics. n/t