Berkshire Eagle on Kerry

[DemDogs]

Berkshire Eagle
Kerry: Time to get back to work

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - Massachusetts Senator John Kerry lost a close election to President Bush, an election that wasn't settled until the following morning. Nothing will change that, however, and it is time for Senator Kerry to come back to Congress, and to Massachusetts, fully engaged in the job he was elected to do.

Events of recent days suggest that the senator isn't ready to do that yet. He complained about election procedure in Ohio at a Martin Luther King Day rally, which was an odd place for Mr. Kerry to talk about himself and to address a topic of increasing irrelevance. If the Democratic candidate wanted to challenge the Ohio results he should have done so on November 3, when he was urged to by vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Mid-January is too late. The questions Senator Kerry asked of Condoleezza Rice at her hearing for secretary of state were more like speeches directed to the television cameras.

Senator Kerry can be a key player for his party and his state, or he can rattle his chains and haunt the Democrats like Al Gore. If he wants to be a contributor, he should announce that he will not run for president in 2008. It will be a long time before the Democratic Party nominates another Northeasterner for president and an even longer time before it chooses another Massachusetts native. . . .


Berkshire Eagle
Kerry: Time to get back to work

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - Massachusetts Senator John Kerry lost a close election to President Bush, an election that wasn't settled until the following morning. Nothing will change that, however, and it is time for Senator Kerry to come back to Congress, and to Massachusetts, fully engaged in the job he was elected to do.

Events of recent days suggest that the senator isn't ready to do that yet. He complained about election procedure in Ohio at a Martin Luther King Day rally, which was an odd place for Mr. Kerry to talk about himself and to address a topic of increasing irrelevance. If the Democratic candidate wanted to challenge the Ohio results he should have done so on November 3, when he was urged to by vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Mid-January is too late. The questions Senator Kerry asked of Condoleezza Rice at her hearing for secretary of state were more like speeches directed to the television cameras.

Senator Kerry can be a key player for his party and his state, or he can rattle his chains and haunt the Democrats like Al Gore. If he wants to be a contributor, he should announce that he will not run for president in 2008. It will be a long time before the Democratic Party nominates another Northeasterner for president and an even longer time before it chooses another Massachusetts native. Once Mr. Kerry dumps the baggage of a potential presidential run the sooner he can move on.

...
It was once seen as inevitable that Mr. Kennedy would pick up the fallen swords of John and Robert Kennedy, but it was not to be. Mr. Kennedy ... decided to fight in the congressional trenches for the poor and middle class. His work on health insurance reform, the minimum wage, education and other issues that matter to millions of Americans have earned him considerable respect in Washington, even among Republicans.