February 23, 2004. Copyright, 2004, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Profile of likely Democrat challenger John Kerry
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, February 23, Graphic News:  Barring a dramatic reversal of fortune, Senator John Kerry now seems certain to win the Democratic presidential nomination in a race that has been both wildly unpredictable and unusually harmonious.

KerryÕs recent string of victories suggests support for southern challenger John Edwards may not be strong enough for the younger man to stage a comeback on ÒSuper TuesdayÓ, when contests are held in 10 states. Nevertheless, it would not be wise to rule out Edwards just yet. 

On paper, at least, no other candidate has appeared as destined to scoop the nomination as Kerry. The Massachusetts senator with the intitials JFK is an Ivy League graduate and Vietnam veteran who enjoys fabulous wealth through second marriage to baked bean heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry. Yet his front-runner status owes as much to strategic planning by a complex character than to the advantages of his privileged background and connections.

Born in 1943 in Colorado, Kerry spent his youth in Europe with his diplomat father before attending Yale. Later he joined the Navy and served on a gunboat in the Mekong Delta. His disillusionment with the war led him to co-found the organisation Vietnam Veterans Against the War on his return to the United States. In 1971 he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, famously asking: ÒHow do you ask a man to be the last to die for a mistake?Ó

By the time the decorated war veteran returned to college to study law he had already campaigned for Edward KennedyÕs 1962 Senate race and established a link with AmericaÕs political dynasty that has remained strong since. Kerry experienced his first and only political defeat in 1972, when he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives. In 1983 he became Massachusetts lieutenant governor and was first elected to the Senate in 1984. During 20 years as a senator he has clamped down on organised crime, backed education reform and fought for tax cuts for small businesses. He and his wife now live in Boston, and the couple have five children between them.

In the early stages of the Democrat race, KerryÕs campaign trailed behind that of Vermont governor Howard Dean, and he was criticised for being too lawyerly and too aloof. Before the key Iowa contest in January, however, Kerry adapted his style, shortening his speeches and discovering a message: a ÒReal DealÓ for Americans that includes expanded healthcare and a reversal of BushÕs tax cuts for the wealthiest. In Iowa he more than doubled DeanÕs share of the vote.

He has also been criticised for being Òtoo complexÓ or expressing too many contradictions to claim the big prize, but KerryÕs twists and turns on the war issue, in particular, have hit the spot with many voters. He voted against the first Gulf War but in favour of the war in Iraq, only to criticise BushÕs motives in starting it and his handling of the aftermath. In the end, perhaps, DeanÕs vehement anti-war rhetoric was just too unpalatable for post-September 11 America. The doctor from Vermont has since dropped out of the race and Edwards will be bidding for his votes.

As a Vietnam veteran who has campaigned on veteransÕ issues and consistently backed increases in the military budget, Kerry cannot be touched on matters of national security. He launched his campaign flanked by his former gunboat crewmen in front of a World War II aircraft carrier Ð providing a neat contrast to last yearÕs image of Bush addressing troops on the Iraq war from aboard an aircraft carrier. The president famously did not see active military service and his record with the Texas air national guard has become a persistent talking point in the U.S. media.

In fact, KerryÕs complexity may be the main reason for his success to date. He has brought together left-wingers who back his liberal stance on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, and conservatives who admire his service record. Such a broad appeal will make it hard for Republicans to dismiss him as just another ÒMassachusetts liberalÓ if, as expected, John Edwards fails to pull off a spectacular upset and the Kerry bandwagon rolls on.
/ENDS