Abstract

Questions for Kerry

The author argues that U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry is a conventional establishment politician, who has no record of supporting some of the populist ideas he has advocated during the current campaign. Nothing stirs Democrats' anger like the fearmongering rhetoric Bush/Cheney employed on the march to war. But Senator John Kerry, the Democratic front-runner, voted for unilateral war in Iraq, citing the same basic rationales offered by the White House. The only difference was that Kerry simultaneously expressed ambiguous "on the other hand" doubts. Does it matter? Maybe not. Democrats are so anxious to oust Bush and infatuated with "electability," many seem eager to skip past important substantive questions. To avoid "buyer's remorse" later, Democrats might ask for clarification on three fundamental matters before it's too late. Lately, Kerry has further embellished his antiwar credentials, denouncing Bush for "ideological pre-emption," claiming "the vote I cast was not a vote to go to war" and opposing $87 billion for the, Iraq conflict. Yet he also continues to defend the concept of pre-emptive unilateral war. Kerry is a down-the-line free trader. As a senator for eighteen years, he has always supported the multinationals' position by voting for new trade agreements. If Kerry is the nominee, the Democratic Party will have once again managed to finesse important matters that generate great political energy and anti-establishment dissatisfaction among rank-and-file voters--the ill-conceived war in Iraq, globalization and fundamental political reform.