Kerry's call for comments on his website.

[Mass]

Dear Friend,

This much is clear already. Judge Roberts is no Sandra Day O'Connor.

Last night we learned that President Bush wants to replace a woman who voted to uphold Roe v. Wade with a man who argued against Roe v. Wade, and that sends a clear signal that this White House remains bent on opening old wounds and dividing America.

There are big questions that must be answered involving Judge Roberts' judicial philosophy as demonstrated over his short time on the appellate court. The Senate must learn whether he has a clear, consistent commitment to upholding Constitutional standards like civil rights, the right to privacy, and Roe v. Wade. These issues are in serious question if you take even a cursory glance at his record.

We need to ask the tough questions to determine whether John Roberts is the nominee who will give America a Court that is fair, independent, ethical and committed to Constitutional freedoms rather than an ideological agenda, and I promise you I will do everything in my power to assure that no question is sidestepped.

Throughout every step of the confirmation process, I will keep you informed about the questions that need to be asked, the answers we need to demand, and the principles we need to defend. It's impossible to overstate the importance of this moment.

As the U.S. Senate discharges one of its most important responsibilities, I will be active and vigilant. I hope you will do the same, beginning right now. Start by sharing a few words about your personal feelings on the importance of this Supreme Court nomination.

You can submit your comments or questions here:

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/share/

Thank you,

John Kerry

P.S. In the days ahead, we'll be featuring on our johnkerry.com website a cross-section of the comments submitted and contacting you with important information and action requests as events demand. Sign up here if you want to get the latest information. Recruit your friends and neighbors, too.

[jillan]

1. Done! n/t

[YvonneCa]

2. Done ! n/t

[MH1]

3. Thanks, done.

Actually I did it as soon as I saw your post here, but had to go back to work then.

I think this is a good sign. I hope he does the feedback thing more in the future.

[karynnj]

4. It's also interesting that he is doing it on johnkerry.com

Did he ever have this type of personal dialog (for lack of a better description) on his Senate site - asking his constituents their opinion and very directly and informally talking about what he intends to do? Doing this on johnkerry.com, it's a statement that he has a nation wide base. (Although the rest of us know he belongs first and foremost to MA). This is another Shadow President thing. He really is a very unique guy.

[whometense]

5. I don't recall ever having seen anything

like this on his senate website.

Up till recently his senate website was actually pretty pedestrian. If you needed his attention as a constituent you could always get through by phone, but I think all this is definitely due to his campaign and his expanded constituency.

And after the news of the past few weeks we've never needed our shadow president more. I'm sure there are plenty of voices out there accusing him of positioning himself for 2008 (I'm not looking, though ;-)), but there is clearly a leadership vacuum on the national level. If you look at the percentage of people who don't trust * and think he's lying, it's not hard to see that people are starving for a leader with integrity. And Kerry is in a unique position to fill that void.

[karynnj]

6. Also, I don't see anyone else really trying to take on that position

From a "game" point of view, Kerry is in a truly unique position on this. He HAD to have a full agenda when he ran in 2004 and he has opted to continue to expand and alter his agenda (to accommodate change where circumstances dictate - such as Iraq). When he runs in 2008, he will have a very broad platform that he has stood behind for about 5-6 years.

He also has his email list and has found that many people on it really do want to know his view of what should be done. After 4 years of speaking very honestly, openly, and on a very personal level to a very large number of people, it may become more difficult to stereotype him as what he is not.

For all other potential candidates taking on this position requires stating your position on all important issues before it is necessary. For the more "flexible" or "political" people, this is probably not something they would choose to do.

[whometense]

7. That's a good point.

The "positioners" won't want to be boxed into stands that they might want to distance themselves from in the future for political reasons.

Kerry's going a whole different way on this, and I think it's brilliant. It also has the advantage of being honest and genuine. At least if people vote against him in 2008 it won't be because of a lack of understanding of who he is and what he stands for.

[karynnj]

8. I agree that it is brilliant

Only by doing something very unusual - which this is - would he have any likelihood of winning. If as 2008 approaches, he finds he's not going to be the candidate - it will set him up as a real policy leader (like Kennedy) for the liberal wing of the party. As a side benefit, the higher profile allows him to reassert who he is after a year of RW character assignation. All in all, there seems no down side because as you said the positions he is taking are genuinely what he believes in.