Reply #7: It is very hard to argue that the IWR hurt John Kerry

[karynnj]

He easily won the nomination - which is where that vote could have hurt. In the general election, it did not hurt him. He got the anti-war vote and part of the vote that was not sure about the invasion or though Bush was incompetent.

In 2008, had Kerry NOT run in 2004, Kerry could have positioned himself better than Edwards, Clinton, Dodd or Biden - unlike any of them he DID speak against the invasion and he was by far the leader among them in defining the need to set a deadline and withdraw. By 2008, what you did in 2006 (Kerry/Feingold) should have as much bearing as 2002, especially as he spoke out in 2002 and 2003.

As Biden said in August on the Senate floor, Kerry has been consistent in his position of what to do since before the invasion. Biden, having been an author of Biden/Lugar which was a better bill might be able to defend himself better than the others.