And Kerry at Harvard

[Mass]

Kerry is really keeping Busy, even when he is in Massachusetts.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509548

Kerry Pays Hushed Visit to Campus
Mass. senator talks with freshman seminar and KSG students

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) met with two groups of Harvard students on Monday afternoon after a personal invitation was extended to him by Maxine Isaacs, an adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG).

...

A student from the seminar also mentioned that Kerry discussed some of the mistakes he made and the lessons he learned from the 2004 campaign.

The same student said that Kerry also spoke about the direction of the Democratic Party and its potential to capitalize on recent indictments and investigations of Republican leaders.

Following the smaller lunch, Kerry spoke to a larger group of students from Isaacs’ KSG class, “Foreign Policy, the News, and American Public Opinion.”




...

[TayTay]

1. This fits. I'm not surprised.

Sen. Kerry is a very accessible pol. Seriously, in all honesty he likes to get out and about and talk with people. (And talk with students. He always has.) I'm also not surprised that he wanted things off-the-record so that he could just kick back and opine without fear that his words would be twisted and used against him.

Seriously, Kerry is really a people person. It is not the image that the media likes. It doesn't jibe with that aloof thing, which in Boston and environs always meant a person who can consider issues that affect the strange lands beyond Route 128. (LOL!)

(Geez Senator, I know that foreign stuff is important, but what about that grant money we need in Worcester to get that old Hall fixed up. Think yuhz can help us out with that. Thanks. I swear, one of these days I gonna look up where some of them countries are that you mention. Oh, and I really do think yuhz are wicked smaht. But we need that grant money, okay?)

It is not that difficult to get in touch with Sen. Kerry. I have no idea if this has changed much since last year, but he was always very visible and approachable. (I kind of think he has a lot more people asking for a chunk of his time lately.) Just have your ducks in a row and don't waste the man's time. (That's just rude anyway.)

[MH1]

2. Aw man, you beat me too it.

"There is no more important word, in my judgment, in the American language, other than love, than citizen." John Kerry 10/26/05

Actually, I didn't think of making that line my sig! But now that you have, I may make you share. (It's not like showing up at a party with the same dress on, is it?)

That line really struck me too. This is one of those things that Kerry says that makes me feel like he's on my wavelength - it's the kind of thing I would say! Just yesterday I commented on my blog that most people don't "treat the electoral process with the sanctity it deserves."

Between that and what you wrote about him with the mayoral candidate at the march the other day, it just made me think, "God I love that man."

[TayTay]

3. Share away! I copied it from the speech anyway.

That just struck me as a vintage Kerry thing to say. He just finished speaking about a very serious, detailed and well-thought out plan for getting America out of the horror unfolding in Iraq. He was answering questions from students who went through the Naval Academy and students in the School of Foreign Service. He was answering a downer question about whether or not Americans would even notice if the caskets of our honored dead returning home are shown on TV.

And he uses the word 'love.' Not in a gratuitous fashion. Not in a smarmy fashion. But in a matter of fact way that just mentions that the most important word in the American language is love. That comes first. That was so interesting. I mean tht was 'gravitas' Kerry up there giving that speech and it was 'gravitas' Kerry who put in the reference to 'love.' Hmmmmmmmm!

How utterly odd, charming, thoughtful, insightful and touching. (And it was just uttered so matter-of-factly.) I can't think of another major American politician who would have constructed that sentence in that context. It was vintage Kerry. I noticed it.

[Mass]

4. I love this quote - it describes Kerry so well.\nt

[karynnj]

5. It is a great line and it's everything you say

It's also imteresting that he says "American" language - he knows we speak English and I think he meant exactly what he said. I agree that no other politician could have come up with that sentence.

Like you, I like the fact that he is stating the importance of the word love as a given and emphasing Citizen. (That he then used both citizen and love a few moments later to introduce Teresa was sweet.) It's such a beautifully constructed sentiment that's it hard to believe it was off the cuff.

In a time when politics is fueled more by hate and baser motives, this is a breath of fresh air. The two words also seem to be 2 things that motivate him - he really is a very good person.