Now That Kerry's In, Conservatives Gauge His Chances
by Bill Fancher, Chad Groening, and Jenni Parker
March 5, 2004
(AgapePress) - Now that John Kerry has wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination, conservative political observers say the real battle for the U.S. presidency is getting under way.
Senator Kerry has been riding high on a wave of momentum generated by his success in the Democratic primary elections. But a number of conservatives are pointing out that Kerry's own record may soon bring the candidate back down to earth.
Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union (ACU), is one of those who predicts that the political high the senator from Massachusetts has enjoyed is about to end.
"We have to understand that so far Senator Kerry has had a free ride," Lessner says. "He's been getting all the positive press, and all the attention has been on him. And the other side, President Bush, has not had the opportunity to begin making his case, characterizing Senator Kerry as the left-wing liberal that he is."
But Lessner and others believe that as the race really gets under way, the senator will find that he has several major hurdles to overcome, and his own Senate voting record will not be the least of these.
Liberalism, Lies, and Lack of Charisma
The ACU's director says Kerry's past record will be hard to ignore, especially when people learn that the senator voted to cut intelligence funding after 9-11, and has voted against every major military weapons system proposed since he has been in office. Also, he notes, there is the old Harvard Crimson interview in which Kerry urged putting U.S. troops all over the globe under the command of the United Nations and practically eliminating the Central Intelligence Agency.
Still, lest the public be deceived, one conservative media watchdog believes the Bush campaign needs to drive home the point that the Democratic presidential candidate has not told the truth about his very liberal Senate voting record and his anti-war activities. Tim Graham of the Media Research Center hopes the facts will be brought out.
"The Republicans clearly believe, and I think they're right, that Kerry is channeling a lot of anger -- but he's not telling a lot of truth," Graham says. "He's lying about his voting record, he's lying about his anti-war record, and it's going to be up to conservatives and media critics and Republicans to say, 'Here's where he's lied. Here's where he's not telling the truth.' And hopefully the truth will win."
Although liberals are hoping Kerry will be able to do to President Bush in the 2004 election what Bill Clinton did to the incumbent's father in 1992, Graham questions whether Kerry has the personal appeal to pull it off. "On a level of charisma, I think John Kerry is much closer to Al Gore than he is to Bill Clinton," the media expert says.
The media researcher also notes that Kerry is being "message-managed" by the same person who managed Al Gore's messages to the public, and who also served as message maestro on Ted Kennedy's 1980 campaign, which failed to beat Jimmy Carter. "So, certainly, I think that gives Republicans a certain amount of confidence," Graham says.
The Homosexual Marriage Hurdle
Kerry had little trouble defeating his rivals in the primaries, but some political observers expect he may have more difficulty with one of the thornier issues that is likely to figure prominently in the upcoming presidential race. Already, Kerry seems to be having a hard time being both clear and consistent on the topic of same-sex marriage.
In the last week, Kerry has said that marriage is between a man and a woman, but that he opposes a federal constitutional amendment to define it as such. But he also has stated that he favors amending the Constitution of the State of Massachusetts to overrule the state's Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled in favor of legalizing homosexual marriage.
The result of Kerry's equivocation has been the necessity of a series of conference calls the candidate has had to hold with homosexual leaders in the last few days to clarify his stand and, as one reporter put it, to "broker peace."
But Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families feels that Kerry, instead of trying to make up to homosexual activists, needs to be worrying about the estimated 65 percent of America that wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman.
"Those folks may be less than pleased that [on Wednesday Kerry] assured a California state legislator that as president he would extend all 1,049 federal benefits that 'married' couples enjoy today to same-sex couples married in any state, including the right to file joint tax returns," Bauer says.
The Campaign for Working Families spokesman points out that what Kerry has just promised to the special interests is prohibited by the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed in 1996 and signed into law by his fellow Democrat, President Bill Clinton.
