I will not get on this ridiculous Kerry bandwagon.

[Zynx]

Everyone and their uncle seems to be wanting to get on this Kerry bandwagon, but I won't. He is being propped up by a whole bunch of media nonsense that keeps beating the drum of electability to the point where everyone associates the name of John Kerry with the word "electability". This is ridiculous. He is not even close to the most electable candidate, but yet he is getting a coronation on this issue because Democrats are so scared of taking a risk that they are almost gauranteeing failure.

Kerry has a very unimpressive Senate record with no major bills of any consequence to his name and horrible calls when it comes to national security on both Iraq wars and cutting CIA funding. He has never been a leader in the Senate either on any major domestic legislation either. He is the very model of a New England elitist liberal with $600 haircuts, a $10 million house on Beacon Hill, and a pompous attitude that will drive moderates away the more they see of it. All he has is this record of service on Vietnam. That's it. Let me tell my fellow Democrats something they may find shocking: This election will not be about Vietnam. People don't care at all anymore about Vietnam. He doesn't have any major domestic reforms to speak of and will not take a tough stand on the most important domestic problem we face: the budget deficit. The only way I see him winning, once he gets more press scrutiny, is if Iraq and or the economy falls apart. However, he is not the best suited to capitalize on either one of these. John Edwards can speak more effectively on economic issues because he speaks to working class people credibly. On Iraq, both Dean and Clark made the right calls when Kerry showed that he had no leadership abilities and they are thus better able to capitalize on this issue.

John Kerry's whole campaign is based on the notion that he is the safe choice. Why does he campaign on this? Because he doesn't take any hard stances on anything. I'm looking for leadership. John Forbes Kerry is not that leader. He has even conceded that his positions are grounded in what he thinks the public is most comfortable with when he said that Howard Dean's positions on Iraq and taxes would "kill us in the polls in November". This shows that he is not willing to take the tough stands we need in a leader. It is a continuation of the trend we saw when he voted for the Iraq war resolution in October of 2002 just two months before he began his presidential run. He is a shrewd political animal, always looking to gain political advantage with his moves rather than stand up for what is right. However, he will not be able to win the White House like this. He has no bold plan for America, no vision for our future because he is unwilling to be a leader. Nearly every move in his entire political career has been based on what he thinks is good for John Kerry.

I can not in good conscience vote for John Forbes Kerry. He presents nothing unique, nothing remarkable, nothing to excite me and a lot to turn me off such as the IWR vote and the subsequent repositioning of his position on it. I don't care how popular the war is with the American public and how it would be "smarter" to nominate someone who supported it. The truth is, that gets us nowhere. Iraq is a mess and a majority of Americans say it wasn't worth the 520+ dead and 2,500+ wounded and the nearly $200 billion. If we nominate Kerry we concede this argument to Bush. There is no way his votes and statements and any criticism he offers during the general election will be seen as effective once it is clear how many times he has flip-flopped on Iraq. Not only is he unable to capitalize on this issue, he also is not strong on domestic policy with no vision for America and no plan to turn around the deficit. I don't care how "smart" it is to vote for John Kerry. I think he is a very dull, uninspiring candidate who offers no real change in this country other than a possible shift in party control in the White House and I think that he has proven himself to be a follower and not a leader. Not only do I think he would not be a solid candidate to take on Bush, I think, given his inability to lead on the tough issues, he would be a poor president.

These views of mine will not change. I can not bring my self to like John Kerry. I nearly cried out of control last night when he won in NH out of severe depression. I deep down do not like the guy to such an extent that I would not be pleased to see him as president. I would vote for him if he is nominated, but I would do so without joy and not in good conscience. Because of this, I urge those who support other candidates, which is a majority, to vote for the candidate most likely to beat Kerry in your state. This way we can derail him and stop this.