From the time he entered the Senate 19 years ago, Kerry often has tried to have it both ways.
The man who calls himself "the real deal" on the campaign trail also portrays himself as a centrist. But his lifetime rating from Americans for Democratic Action, the liberal group that rates lawmakers on their voting patterns, is 93%. That, as GOP National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie recently pointed out, is five percentage points higher than Ted Kennedy's lifetime rating.
Kerry likes to pound Bush for his ties to "powerful interests" and "big oil." In fact, the Center for Responsive Politics notes Kerry has raised twice as much from lobbyists as any Democratic rival.
Kerry voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, the Patriot Act and the resolution supporting war in Iraq — all Bush initiatives. And why not? Those conservative bills were popular when proposed. And, though he's a liberal, Kerry went with the flow.
But today, you'll have trouble hearing him defend, or even admit to, those votes on the stump. Just as you'd have trouble knowing he once supported taking Saddam out — but changed his mind as polls shifted.
Kerry's record of flip-flops on key issues, his history of cozy ties to lobbyists and his dissembling about his 19-year record in the Senate all deserve closer scrutiny by the media. |
