King: Senator Kerry, congratulations on a well fought campaign. Polls showed you were tied in the final weeks - showed that you won 2 if not 3 of the debates…all three…plenty of money to fight the republicans. Why did you lose?
Kerry: Well that’s for punditry and others to decide, obviously I didn’t get enough votes in the end. We were 50,000 votes, approximately, moving the other way, short, in one state. That’s a very close race. No one’s ever beaten an incumbent president in a time of war. And ‘terror terror terror’ was being thrown at people in a huge, in a huge, negative campaign. I’m very proud of what we did. I don’t look backwards and say well, we did a lot of things that were rather remarkable. Brought out more people at any time in history, I won 57 million votes, plus, still counting – more than any person who’s ever run for president and lost in history. We turned out more people, more states than any time. If you look at the battleground states we actually had a more cumulative vote than George Bush did. We just didn’t get it all in the right state. And so, I’m not gonna worry about that. What I’m concerned about now is continuing the battle for the things I fought for in the campaign. Healthcare for Americans that’s affordable, jobs that pay more than the jobs going overseas, fiscal responsibility, energy policy that makes us independent and safer, and restoring America’s strength and reputation in the world. That’s why I’m here, and I’m very grateful to the people of Massachusetts for the privilege of being here and for the support that they gave me through this race.
King: Are you the last Democrat from Massachusetts, the last ‘liberal’ from the Northeast who will ever be able to run for president in our lifetime?
Kerry: Absolutely not. Why? I became within 50,000 votes of winning, against a president in a time of war, no one’s ever beaten a president in a time of war. Massachusetts was not an issue in this campaign. People need to dispel themselves of that immediately. What was difficult in this campaign was breaking through in terms of the negative, unbelievable onslaught and distortions and smears and other things. And we tried to run a very positive campaign about America’s future. I’m very proud of it.
King: And for a crucial sector of people, the election came down not to the war, not to the economy but to moral values. How surprised were you by that – and do the Democrats need to find a new strategy to better deal with, work with the Christian right – to better deal with issues like abortion and gay marriage?
Kerry: I have the same position as George Bush on gay marriage. Same position. What they did was exploit it in ways that we didn’t or don’t do. Now, do we need to do a better job of communicating what our position may or not be, well then the answer is yes, probably. But I refuse to believe - you know that’s not what this race was decided on. And I beg to differ with those people.
King: You don’t buy into the idea that moral values….
Kerry: Oh it was part of some people’s votes, but the predominant issue was the war and terror. That was the predominant one. And if you look at the impact of the Osama bin Laden tape in the last days – and you look at the impact of the Chechnyan rebels in the school in Russia – you’ll find a very real impact on people in the war on terror. And this will come out as the days go on. That’s not what this race is about, I mean that’s not what is important right now. What’s important right now is we got some real fights here in Washington that make a difference to the lives of the people in Massachusetts and the country. And the question is, what direction is George Bush gonna go in? I want healthcare that’s affordable for all Americans and I want children to be covered by healthcare. If George Bush wants to work at that we can find some common ground and make progress. But if they’re unwilling to do that, we’re gonna you know, have some fights.
King: Your brother says it’s conceivable that you would run for president in 4 years. Have you ruled that out?
Kerry: I haven’t ruled anything out, I haven’t ruled anything in. Look, they haven’t finished counting the votes yet – we’d be talking about the race 4 years from now and it’s WAY to premature. But I’m not gonna rule anything out cuz I’ve said previously. What I’m here to do is fight for the things that I fought for in the course of this campaign. And the people of Massachusetts have been just wonderful. And the support they’ve given me, the privilege they’ve given me of running for president, being in the senate….and I intend to live up to the high standards of our state. And no on in our state should think that the state or what we stand for had anything to do with the outcome of this race.
Transcribed by: Faye Weber
http://www.trenzhost.com/files/sydney/John%20Kerry%20Speaks%20Out3.htm