At last, a real test for Kerry

[AmyStrange]

At last, a real test for Kerry
By Mickey Edwards | June 19, 2004

FROM: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/06/19/at_last_a_real_test_for_kerry/
NOW THAT John Kerry has accepted the fact that the person he wants to take to the big dance just isn't interested (that's OK, John, it was an ill-advised dalliance all along), he can finally get serious about choosing a running mate.

And "getting serious" is a good idea. That's because the person we call a "running mate" is far more than that: He or she is a person who might become the vice president of the United States.

This was once a job no serious-minded man would aspire to. Even John Adams didn't think much of the job, and he was the first to hold it ("the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived," he said). But that was in the 18th century.

This is the first real defining moment of the Kerry candidacy. Everything to this point has been rhetoric: Propose this, blame the president for that, criticism but no accountability. Now Kerry must stand alone: He must make a decision that actually matters.

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