Well, which is it? Do the things he did when he was young count, or do they not count?
On this issue, as on so many others, Kerry wants it both ways. Isn't 27 a little old for the youthful exuberance defense, anyway?
As I keep saying, there's a very simple explanation: Kerry is turning out to be a rotten candidate who is not ready for the rough and tumble of a nation-wide campaign.
Massachusetts is different. There, he had the Kennedy machine, most of his elections didn't have a tough opponent, and the one race that did, against Weld in 96, was a rather cerebral affair where nobody cared about military issues and Kerry's dovish voting record was a plus for him.
Primary campaigns are supposed to test a candidate's readiness for the fall campaign, but we all saw how little critical attention Kerry got in the primaries. First the focus was on Dean, then Kerry was basically the only guy left standing (Edwards and Lieberman being deemed unelectable), so he got kid glove treatment from the press.
It would be an ironic postscript to the campaign if someone concluded that the major media, in their anxiety to protect Kerry, had actually managed to leave him fatally exposed to his enemies. |
