The American Spectator

The Current Crisis

Senator Kerry on Parade

By Lawrence Henry on 1.3.03 @ 12:04AM

(Page 2 of 2)

"Kerry," someone else answered.

"Oh."

And Kerry stumped on, scarcely looking right or left, lifting his hand in a desultory wave now and then, looking like he'd rather be in some cool cocktail lounge -- anywhere else.

Early anointed front-runner he may be in the press, but I can't get that picture of John Kerry out of my mind. In the middle of Democrat political heaven, on a bright sunny day with the flags flying and the bands playing, he had no idea what to do, and nobody seemed to be glad to see him.

The Democrats have two choices. They can pick someone to do the Dole dive. Or they can do something else. In the "something else," they'd run a candidate who would quite frankly lose, but make points doing it. That candidate would have to be a near-unknown (at this stage), quite young, someone positioned to build himself for future success (think Reagan's run in 1976). Myself, I'd choose Harold Ford, rising African-American representative from Tennessee. But I don't think the party is positioned to do that -- not with Terry McAuliffe, Nancy Pelosi, and the Clintons behind the scenes running the show.

As for Kerry, he has no talent for retail politics. Kerry won't even make it through the early primaries. The man has a personality that can freeze the fringes of hell.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Nancy Pelosi, Hollywood, NATO, Africa