John Kerry: Another Fraudulent McCain Wannabe
"So far, the front-runner in the campaign for the McCain mantle is John Kerry, the candidate most overtly fashioning his campaign after McCain's. He's running as The Vietnam War Hero, betting that McCain voters prefer biography to ideology.
Like McCain, Kerry has a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, and a Purple Heart. And as Michael Crowley details in a June 3 cover story for the New Republic, Kerry now wants to supplement his war hero credentials with a McCain-esque role as a no-BS Mr. Media Accessibility. He's even adopted a bit of the Self-Flagellating Apologist, telling Crowley, "When I first got into politics I was quite brash, and I made some mistakes."
Even the criticisms lobbed at Kerry are reminiscent. Like McCain, he's criticized as a Preening Show Horse who's not very good at the messy business of legislation. Crowley says Kerry has "a degree of personal manifest destiny and self-love rare even among politicians." Sound familiar?
Granted, Kerry is a Massachusetts liberal, not a centrist, but even that may work in his favor. Since Bush's inauguration, McCain has been acting like a Massachusetts liberal, too! Kerry even married rich, like McCain. (Kerry was also born to privilege, but not as much privilege as the Heinzes, his second wife's family.)
What may hurt Kerry most among McCainiacs is not his blue blood but his reputation as a relentless opportunist, especially the deadly anecdotes about him filming himself in combat during Vietnam and throwing other veterans' medals onto the Capitol steps during a protest against the Vietnam War. McCain Factor: 7 (on a scale of 10)."
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