Reply #12: He backed Gram -Rudman

[karynnj]

I think he was among the first Democrat to do so. He backed a line item veto in 2004 and was the first Democrat to sign onto the idea now and actually put out a draft of legislation for this. He is genuinely for getting pork out of the federal budget - in fact one complaint in earlier years in MA was that he didn't "bring home the pork"

I think that Kerry is a liberal on very many social issues. Even here, he's not what stereotypes would suggest. One of his biographies mentioned that people who didn't really know him were surprised that he opted to be a prosecutor, rather than a pubic advocate type lawyer. He was by all accounts an excellent prosecutor who got convictions, but he also worked with disadvantaged youths to try to keep them on the right path and he started a widely copied rape counseling function in the office he was effectively running (the DA was in poor health and he put Kerry in charge.) He did later work as a private lawyer briefly but he found it less rewarding. (Note which one he mentions)

He was described by someone as a "tough dove". He would use war as a last resort. This means 2 things - he prefers to work pro-actively to do the diplomatic work that would prevent wars, knowing the grief and pain they cause. But, he is not a total pacifist reserving the option to go to war as a last resort.

I would classify myself as a liberal moderate - but the more I read of Kerry's positions on things I found I agreed with almost all of them.