John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
the 2004 Democratic nomination.
This article is about the current and ongoing presidential campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, and the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party to challenge Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. For information on his biography and background see John Kerry. See also: George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004
In 2003, Kerry declared his candidacy for the U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination. Initially considered the front-runner, he lost the lead to former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. However, as the actual primary season grew closer, Kerry regained his momentum while Dean's support faltered in the wake of his third-place finish in the Iowa caucus.
John Kerry won the Iowa caucus over Senator John Edwards of North Carolina on January 19,2004 by a narrow margin, and then won the primary in New Hampshire by a wide margin on January 27.
On February 3, five states held primaries and two held caucuses. Kerry won both caucuses and three of the primaries, with a margin of victory of no less than 16% in any of those five states. Kerry came in second to Edwards by 15% in Edwards' native South Carolina. Kerry came in third in Oklahoma with 27% while Edwards and General Wesley Clark each received 30% of the votes.
On February 7, Kerry continued his winning streak with victories in caucuses in Michigan (52% of the vote, ahead of Dean with 17%) and Washington (48% ahead of Dean with 30%). On February 8 Kerry won the Maine caucuses with about half of the vote, leading Howard Dean who had about a quarter of the vote.
On February 10, Kerry also won primaries in Virginia (by a 25% margin over Edwards) and Tennessee (by a 15% margin over Edwards), leaving him with 12 wins out of 14 state primary or caucus contests. Clark exited the race after the first two Southern primaries (following Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Congressman Dick Gephardt of Missouri). Some observers thought at the time that Clark's departure would strengthen the hand of Edwards, the only other Southerner remaining in the race. Kerry made his victory speech that evening at George Mason University.
On February 14, Kerry won both the Nevada and District of Columbia caucuses—garnering an overwhelming 63% of the vote in Nevada, with nearest competitor Dean pulling in less than a third of that (17%)—and Edwards garnering 10%. In D.C., Kerry earned 47%, more than doubling his nearest competitor, the Reverend Al Sharpton of New York, who had 20%.
On February 17, Kerry narrowly won the Wisconsin primary, with 39% of the vote, ahead of Edwards with 35%. Given Kerry's strength in earlier primaries and the apparent inevitability of his nomination, this was considered a poorer-than-expected result. The Wisconsin vote left Kerry with 632 of the delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.
On February 24, Kerry won the Utah primary and the caucuses in Idaho and Hawaii. Kerry defeated Edwards by a margin of 55% to 30% in Utah and 54% to 22% in Idaho. Kerry defeated Congressman Dennis Kucinich by a 46% to 30% margin in Hawaii.
On March 2, "Super Tuesday," Kerry won primaries in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island and caucuses in Minnesota, effectively clinching the Democratic Presidential nomination. He lost Vermont to native son Dean. With just one win (his native South Carolina), Kerry's remaining serious competitor, Edwards, left the race the following day.
On March 9, Kerry won primaries in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, as well as the caucus in American Samoa, by margins of no less than 53%. Edwards, despite having left the race several days earlier, took second place in the Southern states; Dennis Kucinich received 17% of the vote for the second-place finish in American Samoa.
Kerry's delegate total now stands at 2162; he has won a total of 27 of 32 nominating contests.
On March 11, after meetings with Democratic superdelegates in Washington and with former opponents Howard Dean and John Edwards, Kerry accumulated the 2,162 delegates required to clinch the nomination. Kerry is now acknowledged as the nominee by the Democratic National Committee's website. Mr. Kerry and his running mate will be formally nominated by the Democratic Party at the July Democratic National Convention in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts.
On March 13, John Kerry won the Kansas caucuses with 72% of the vote. On March 16, Kerry won the Illinois primary with 71% of the vote. On March 20, John Kerry won the Wyoming caucus with 77% of the vote, and won Alaska's caucus with 48%, defeating Dennis Kucinich, who had a strong showing with 26%.
Prior to the primaries, Kerry collected endorsements from a variety of notable Democratic figures, including:
The only notable labor union to endorse him was the International Association of Firefighters.
However, Kerry's support quickly snowballed as he won caucuses and primaries. He received the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters prior to the New Hampshire primary, a first for that organization. He also received the support of each of his former competitors as they lost primaries and dropped out of the race, beginning with Missouri representative Dick Gephardt. Plenty of other notable Democrats followed, as did many labor unions which had previously backed Gephardt or Dean or stayed out of the race entirely (he won the endorsement of the entire AFL-CIO just prior to his Super Tuesday showdown with Edwards).
Today, as the presumptive nominee, he enjoys the support of virtually every Democratic politician and organization in the nation. One notable exception would be retiring Georgia Senator Zell Miller, a very conservative Democrat who has endorsed George W Bush. Of the former candidates, only Dennis Kucinich has persisted in his campaign and refused to endorse Kerry, but he has pledged to do so after the party's nominating convention in July.
On March 13, while at a speaking engagement in Quincy, Illinois, site of one of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates, Kerry challenged his opponent George W. Bush to a series of monthly debates. The Bush campaign ignored the challenge. U.S. presidential debates, often totalling three, are usually held after the nominating conventions, however, this year's very early selection of the two major candidates has altered the traditional structure of the election.
Kerry's campaign began the process of searching for a vice-presidential nominee, sometimes called the "Veepstakes", shortly after Kerry's Super Tuesday victories. Kerry named Jim Johnson, former advisor to Vice President Walter Mondale, as the head of a vice-presidential search process.
One of the major criteria likely to be a factor in selecting a vice-presidential candidate is the ability to deliver a traditionally Republican or a "battleground state" in the November election. Every successful Democratic presidential campaign since 1960 has included a politician from a battleground state (usually in the South) who helped deliver one or more
battleground states for the Democrats.
Kerry has refused, on 23 separate occasions, to respond to Project Vote Smart's National Political Awareness Test.[1]
Some of Kerry's positions, ideas and experiences with national issues are as follows:
Kerry believes that homosexual couples should be granted rights, supporting same-sex civil unions (though not same-sex marriage). Kerry supported legislation to provide domestic partners of federal employees the benefits available to spouses of federal employees. Kerry voted against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in the Senate in 1996 and opposes the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. Kerry did say however, on an interview with National Public Radio, that he opposes the term "gay marriage". He claims that "marriage" should only be between a man and a woman, and should only be performed in a religious setting. He disagrees with the use of the term "marriage" to refer to any civil ceremony, heterosexual or homosexual.
Kerry opposes the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and is in favor of lifting the ban on gays in the military.
Since 1995, Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay-rights advocacy group, has given Kerry a 100 percent rating for his voting record in Congress.
After the President launched the U.S. expedition against Iraq, Kerry reconsidered his position and declared the Administration's Iraq policy reckless at best and baseless at worst. He has since been outspoken against the war itself and the Bush Administration's stewardship of occupied Iraq, attacking what he calls poor planning and poor diplomacy on Bush's part, but supports remaining in Iraq until the task of reconstruction and reconciliation is complete.[1]
Kerry has been criticized by Howard Dean and others for his position on the war, which some say is inconsistent. Kerry has since attempted to justify his vote authorizing force by claiming that he believed the Senate resolution was intended to be a diplomatic "threat" to Saddam Hussein and not a blank check for war.
Throughout his Senate career Kerry was also a staunch critic of many foreign policy initiatives of Republican Presidents. He opposed and voted against the Gulf War in 1991, and opposed funding the Contras in Nicaragua and similar rebel groups in Latin America.
In 1970 Kerry also said he would like "to almost eliminate CIA activity. The CIA is fighting its own war in Laos and nobody seems to care." [1] He echoed these remarks in the 80's, when the CIA was being used in Latin America, describing the events as "Ronald Reagan's illegal war." Kerry has often voted to cut CIA funding.
Kerry sponsored the Code of Conduct of Arms Transfers Act, which would prohibit U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to undemocratic nations, human rights violators or armed aggressors.
Kerry cosponsored an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Bill that allows the military to transport families of soldiers wounded while on active duty.
Kerry detailed proposals for homeland security efforts include enlisting the National Guard and AmeriCorps, creating a community defense service, ensuring first defenders and first responders are equipped and ready, improving information technology, reforming domestic intelligence, implementing public health initiatives and improving infrastructure security.
Kerry and fellow Vietnam-era Navy veteran Senator John McCain (R-AZ) have worked together in the 1990s to investigate the possibility that there were still POWs in Vietnam.
Proposals for "Green and Clean Communities" include a Toxics Task Force at the EPA, fighting air pollution, water pollution and fighting other environmental hazards. Kerry has proposed a "Conservation Covenant." As part of the covenant, Kerry will extend the Endangered Species Act for the benefits of wildlife and habitat protection to public and private lands and reinvest public-land royalties back into land protection.
Kerry wants to participate in the development of an international climate change strategy to address global warming.
In 1998, the League of Conservation Voters gave Kerry an award for having one of the best environmental voting records in the Senate over the previous five years.
Kerry supports the proposal of legalizing the status of undocumented immigrants, pending a certain amount of working time in the US and passing a background check. Kerry has proposed border enforcement reformation and increases of border enforcement funding.
The official Kerry for President website declares:
Critics of Kerry cite Associated Press reports that Kerry made efforts to keep loopholes for special interests. One loophole allowed American International Group to profit from liability insurance coverage it provided for the "Big Dig" project in Boston. AIG later provided the funds for Kerry's trip to Vermont and donated $30,000 (or more) to a group used to set up Kerry's presidential campaign (Company executives also donated $18,000 to his campaigns). Charles Lewis, head of the Center for Public Integrity, stated that "the idea that Kerry has not helped or benefited from a specific special interest, which he has said, is utterly absurd."[1] Kerry has denied any connection between his assistance to AIG and its contributions to his campaign.
Other politicians, such as Republican opponents and conservative foes, describe Kerry as liberal and out-of-touch with their perception of the mainstream of American society. Commentator Pat Buchanan wrote:
Primary elections
Endorsements
In sheer numbers, however, Kerry\'s endorsements were outshadowed by Howard Dean, who was far ahead in the superdelegate race going into Iowa.Debates
Vice-presidential selection
focused on his past military service.Some V.P. possibilities
Some of the candidates mentioned as potential picks include the following individuals currently holding high political offices:
Some recently retired figures who still have an important place on the national stage may also be in the running:
Kerry could select a vice presidential candidate from among former challengers for the Democratic nomination:
Some moderate or maverick Republicans are occasionally mentioned, including:
The following potential choices have denied an interest in the spot or otherwise made public nix noises:Ineligible VP choices
The following mentioned choices are ineligible to be Vice President because they are ineligible to be President Issue stances
National service
Kerry supports supplementing national service in nearly all aspects of American life, including requiring community service for high school students to graduate, a "Summer of Service" for teenagers (essentially community service during summer breaks from school, with a U.S. $500 grant for college), increasing the Peace Corps to 25,000 members, requiring universities that receive Federal funding to offer a ROTC, and providing more funding for ROTC scholarships.Economy
Kerry supports increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. Kerry believes in "equal pay for equal work." Kerry supported NAFTA and the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act.Education
Kerry voted for the No Child Left Behind Act. He proposes a new "Education Trust Fund" to fully fund K-12 education. He also proposes a "College Opportunity Tax Credit" for "economically vulnerable" students.Law & Justice
As an assistant district attorney, Kerry personally prosecuted armed robbers, rapists, and mob bosses. He is in favor of putting resources in the community, backing the Community Oriented Policing System Act (COPS), and creating laws that lead to criminals being arrested and convicted. Kerry has advocated expanding the COPS program to place 100,000 police officers in community policing assignments. Kerry supports the Police Corps program. In the Senate, Kerry has advocated for laws against drug dealers and money laundering. Ironically, Kerry's grandfather James Grant Forbes was born in Shanghai into the Forbes family of opium traders, but Sen. Kerry has not publicly repudiated his own family legacy in drug dealing in this campaign, although he has used his Forbes family inheritance to extend his campaign against Gov. Dean in 2003.Death penalty
Kerry has long stated his opposition to the death penalty, but has recently stated that he would support it in the case of convicted terrorists. He had previously opposed the death penalty for terrorists on the grounds that it would make it difficult to extradite suspects to the United States to stand trial. (Many nations refuse extradition requests, on humanitarian grounds, if the suspect faces execution.)Illegal drugs
Kerry's proposals to deal with illegal drugs include focusing on keeping drugs out of the country as well as reducing demand for illegal drugs. Kerry supports aggressively targeting traffickers and dealers. Kerry supports funding drug prevention and treatment programs.Gun control
Kerry is a gun owner and hunter. Kerry believes that law-abiding American adults have the right to own guns, though he is in favor of certain restrictions. As he has consistently voted against the positions of the National Rifle Association, in 2002 he was given a performance rating of F, their lowest rating. Also in 2002, the pro-gun-control Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence indicated that Kerry voted their preferred position 100% of the time.Social Security
Kerry is against budget cuts that cause cutbacks in Social Security benefits.Abortion
Kerry affiliates himself with "pro-choice" women's organizations. Kerry is against the criminalization of abortion. In the Senate, Kerry has consistently voted against bans on abortions conducted on military bases and military installations overseas, as well as against the ban on partial-birth abortion. He has been given a 0 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee and a 100 percent rating from the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights League.Gay rights
Kerry is in favor of civil rights for gay and lesbian Americans. John Kerry is an original cosponsor of the Hate Crimes Prevention bill and supports passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. He introduced a very early bill (1985) into the Senate to statutorily forbid sexual-orientation-based discrimination. Kerry cosponsored the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (CARE) and also sponsored the Vaccines for the New Millennium Act.Affirmative Action
Kerry states that he supports affirmative action and diversity programs, a claim supported by his Senate voting record. He has, however, expressed reservations about affirmative action in the past, most notably in a 1992 speech in which he reportedly called the practice "inherently limited and divisive," explaining that it "has kept America thinking in racial terms."Security & Foreign policy
Iraq
Kerry voted in support the Senate resolution authorizing the President to use force against Saddam Hussein if he failed to surrender his weapons of mass destruction and related tools for constructing and distributing them.[1] Kerry, in October 2002, declared Iraq was "capable of quickly producing weaponizing" biological components that could be delivered against "the United States". This was in contrast to the skepticism of the National Intelligence Estimate of Iraq's capability, to which Kerry had access. [1]Multilateralism
Kerry advocates involving NATO, troops from other countries and the United Nations in U.S.-led efforts to achieve the goals of a stable and democratic world. According to the Harvard Crimson, Kerry said in 1970 that the United Nations should have approval over most of our foreign military operations. "I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations."Military
Environment
Kerry advocates removal of toxins from communities, bolstering the Superfund cleanup program, and reducing sprawl and traffic congestion. Immigration
Kerry supports cutting the Bureau for Citizenship and Immigration Services' application pending backlog and reducing the lag for the naturalization process. Kerry endorses benefits to legal immigrants. Kerry supports the "Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors" (DREAM) Act for illegal immigrants.Views of Kerry
The Kansas City Star endorsed Kerry before the Missouri primary and wrote of him:
The Chattanooga Times Free Press endorsed Kerry before the Tennessee Democratic primary and editorialized:
The Washington Post had this editorial comment on Kerry's approaching front-runner status:
In an appearance in Milwaukee, fellow candidate and political rival Howard Dean stated, "When you act like Senator Kerry does, he appears to be more like George Bush than he does like a Democrat." [1]
Kerry is, unquestionably, on the left end of the American political spectrum, and can be described as a liberal, but perhaps more specifically as a free-market fiscal moderate and social-values libertarian. The Americans for Democratic Action, a prominent liberal organization, rates Kerry's voting record better than that of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), causing Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie to joke, "Who would have guessed it? Ted Kennedy is the conservative senator from Massachusetts."[1] (Kerry gets a 93 percent from the ADA, Kennedy an 88 percent.)[1]