If you backed Kerry for the nom in 2004...

[Ken Burch]

Does his push for strikes against Syria raise any questions as to whether he's the candidate you SHOULD have backed?

And what do you think it says about how he might have handled the Iraq War?

[bigtree]

1. fucking idiotic

. . . presidential politics?

How about acting like he's now our sos and go from there?

[Ken Burch]

9. Kerry's using the same mind as sos that he'd have used as president.

Now, he may have to ask people if they'd like to be the last to die for HIS mistake

[ProSense]

2. No.

I supported the best candidate.

We Still Have a Choice on Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/06/opinion/we-still-have-a-choice-on-iraq.html

Kerry Says US Needs Its Own 'Regime Change'
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0403-08.htm

While Kerry never let up on Bush, there were other Democrats who did initially.

Video: Dean reacts to capture news
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/3710796#3710796

Speaking to reporters Sunday, Dean said, "This is a great day of pride in the American military, a great day for the Iraqis and a great day for the American people and, frankly, a great day for the administration. I think President Bush deserves a day of celebration. We have our policy differences, but we won't be discussing those today. I think he deserves a day to celebrate as well."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3710459/

An Open Letter to Howard Dean
by Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich

Dear Chairman Dean,

<...>

That's what most Democrats want, too. Your performance in the early stages of the primary, and your recent chairmanship of the party, were made possible by many, many progressive and liberal Democrats. It was their hope and expectation that you would prevent the party from repeating its past drift to the Republican-lite center. They hoped that this time the party would not abandon them or its core beliefs again.

Yet you say that you hope the President succeeds. With no pressure exerted from the leadership of the Democratic Party, the past threatens to repeat itself in 2006. We may not leave Iraq or our minority status in Washington for a long time to come.

Dennis J. Kucinich

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0504-21.htm

[modem77]

3. New boss, same as the old boss.

[VanillaRhapsody]

6. You are kidding right?

you cannot tell the difference? Do you have an attention span issue? Cause there are PLENTY of other issues besides this one that scream otherwise...

same as the old boss my aunt fanny

[davleuv]

4. My take on this

While I don't think the U.S. should intervene in Syria, the Iraq war and what's going on in Syria are like Apples and Oranges, and it doesn't really raise any questions as to whether Kerry was the candidate I should've backed because he would've still been worlds better than a second term of Bush.

[VanillaRhapsody]

5. even if the strikes were to Neutralize chemical weapons?

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has spent more than a decade trying to develop weapons to neutralize chemical weapons, the threat that has the United States poised to launch a missile strike on Syria, according to military planning documents and officials.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/29/syria-chemical-weapons-attack/2723251/

[Ken Burch]

7. "Trying" is a big word

That headline sounds like we don't actually have the weapons.

Doesn't inspire confidence.

And it's not like it could only have been the regime that launched the gas. The armed "rebels" are basically on the same moral plain as the Baath Party.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

8. I don't remember too many people on DU who supported John Kerry for the nomination.

I do remember (after he won the nomination and was campaigning in the general) wanting to fucking retch when I heard him say things like "I voted for it before I voted against it", and when he reaffirmed his support for the Iraq war. Also, when he began his acceptance speech at the DNC I wanted to slit my wrists.

So no, he wasn't my first, second, third, or even forth choice for the nomination, but "conventional wisdom" (LOL) dictated that he was "electable" LOL.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. I was not a fan.

He was on my shit list for his IWR vote, but I filled in my Presidential ballot for him regardless. At this point I don't trust anyone in this administration. How much of this is Kerry vs. Secretary of State under Obama Kerry I do not know. In the past he has shown a startling lack of courage in speaking up/walking away from bad military adventures.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

13. Your last sentence perfectly sums up the reason

I'm uneasy when it comes to electing combat vets to office. From what I've observed these people seem to have a hard time separating these two facets of their lives (military/civilian life). Not very comforting to know that the ones who get elected seem to have a lack of courage and integrity when it comes to "speaking up/walking away", and rejecting militarism.

[cynatnite]

11. Let's see...there was John Kerry and George Bush to choose from...

Wow, that's a tough one.

[Ken Burch]

12. I was talking about the primaries.

We had at least two peace candidates in the race for the nom...but no, the party pros said it HAD to be Kerry...and they basically shoved him down the party's throat.

[JI7]

14. i voted for him because i wanted to, maybe the problem is you dismissed people who supported him

did you think your vote was worth more ?

[Ken Burch]

15. If I dismissed Kerry supporters, I wouldn't have started this thread.

This thread actually honors Kerry supporters by asking if they still believe the candidate would have honored their values(and most Kerry supporters were a lot more progressive and anti-militarist than their candidate, btw)had he won the office they supported him for.

I admire the man John Kerry was in 1971. But that John Kerry may not be alive in the body of the John Kerry that walks among us today. When he drank the "war is inevitable" koolaid, he lost part of his soul.

[KittyWampus]

17. it doesn't honor Kerry, you don't even understand he's been working to keep us OUT OF SYRIA.

You honestly don't know much about politics, apparently.

[Ken Burch]

18. It's not working to keep us out of Syria to keep threatening to bomb the place

You don't make peace by threatening slaughter.

Kerry has forgotten everything he stood for in the Seventies.

[cynatnite]

24. How do you make peace with someone who slaughters his own people?

Assad has been doing just that since this all started.

I'll never understand how anyone can call the Obama Administration the bad guys when it's Assad who has been waging genocide on his own people.

[Ken Burch]

34. How do you bomb that someone's country

when you know that

A)the bombing won't stop him doing anything;
B)the bombing won't help the people he's been hurting;
C)the bombing will cause larger war with that someone's allies, and you know that that larger war can only cause MORE death?

Nobody is ok with Assad. It's about not wanting to make things worse.

[cynatnite]

35. If I was an expert in those areas with access to the necessary information...

I could answer those questions.

Besides, you're talking risk and when it comes to things this there is always risk and there is no getting around it. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.

Someone has to decide if the risk is worth it and like it or not, Obama was elected to make these kinds of decisions. In all honesty, I trust him in military matters. He's proven himself as far as I'm concerned.

[karynnj]

25. I supported John Kerry -- and I still do

I think he would have made an exceptional President. I note that you forget things like Kerry/Feingold when you speak of his positions.

[cynatnite]

22. By the time we got the primaries, Kerry was well ahead anyway...

I never felt like he was shoved down our throats. For what we had to choose from, I felt he was our best chance at beating bush at the time. Kerry actually won that election. Check out Ohio.

[KittyWampus]

16. He's been a force helping hold us OUT of Syria. You are so uninformed it's pathetic.

[Ken Burch]

19. He's been threatening to bomb the place all week

How is that being "a force helping hold us OUT of Syria"?

[JI7]

21. things have been going on way longer than a week

just because big media isn't reporting it doesnt mean it doesnt happen

[karynnj]

28. Well, that proves you have followed this for just one week

Kerry - at Obama's request met several times with Assad to try to covince him to stop supporting Hezzbollah and to reform his own government. He did succeed enough to get relations re-established in 2009.

More recently, since becoming SoS, he had gotten an agreement with Russia's foreign minister to restart the dead for three years Syria peace Talks. He has said many times that there is no military solution.

What happened in the last week or two is that there was a massive chemical attack in Syria that flew right in the face of Obama's red line. Kerry is reacting both personally to a war crime of major magnitude and, as Obama's SoS, to the flagrant crossing of Obama's red line.

[LittleBlue]

20. I didn't

He was a weak Boston Brahmin type who fell up in his career due to his family. Without his illustrious ancestors, he would never have gotten as far as he did. Not to mention his nice hair and billionaire wife.

Never thought much of him before '04, and realized he was a man of no substance after that disastrous campaign.

[Left Coast2020]

23. I think most are missing the point:

We wanted to get the Cowboy out ASAP.

[hrmjustin]

26. No. I still would have voted for Kerry.

[cthulu2016]

29. OMG, and then we wouldn't have won the Presidency in 2004!

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

31. Right!

It's a good thing listened to conventional wisdom and nominated the electable candidate!

[Melynn]

30. I voted for Dean in the primaries

But Kerry is a good man.

I think that he actually won in 2004 but certain rigged voting machines kept him from beating Bush.

Then again, if Kerry would have won in 2004, we probably wouldn't have Obama in the White House today. So who knows about these things.

[Taverner]

32. I voted Dean in the Primary, Kerry in the General

Looking back, I wish I would have voted otherwise in the General

[daschess1987]

33. No to the first question...

Answer to second question: I think he would have handled it a lot better than he explained in the campaign. ALCOHOL EDIT: If you mean between him and Howard Dean, then I'm with the former head of the DNC Howard Dean these days. He's a great man. Still like former candidate Kerry though.