November 06, 2004

FLEX WHAT?:

Advisers Urge Kerry to Flex Power in Senate and Party (DAVID M. HALBFINGER, 11/06/04, NY Times)

Still reeling from his loss to President Bush on Tuesday, Senator John Kerry is being urged by top advisers and friends to take a high-profile role as the Democratic Party grapples with issues like selecting its next chairman and shaping its identity and course.

Unlike Al Gore, who made a tortured exit from the public stage after his loss to Mr. Bush four years ago, Mr. Kerry has a Senate seat to return to and is under no pressure to disappear from view for the sake of national unity and the legitimacy of the presidency, his advisers say. They argue that his continuing presence in the Senate gives him a natural role in determining how Democrats deal with the White House.

"If President Bush indeed wants to earn the support of people who supported Kerry, then he'll probably have to deal with Kerry," said Mike McCurry, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign. "The question for Kerry is in some ways the same as for Bush: Does the president want to lead by establishing some bipartisan consensus in the center, or does he want to govern from the ideological right?

"Kerry would be the person that could help him accomplish that, but if not, there will be a hunger for someone to stand up to Bush."


The Democrats in the Senate just decided on their Leader and Chief Whip and did not so much as pause to consider the possibility that Mr. Kerry should have a leadership position. Realistically, his only chance to be significant rests with President Bush and the Republicans. It would be very smart--even devious--for the President to ask him to help solicit aid for Iraq from the Europeans and to identify special tax breaks and spending that benefits corporations for elimination.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 6, 2004 09:55 AM
Comments

Oh right; Kerry would be a big help.

Posted by: genecis at November 6, 2004 10:25 AM

It's not a matter of Kerry being of even the slightest bit of help, but instead merely calling his bluff.

Posted by: Bart at November 6, 2004 10:34 AM

Plus, it will give him something meaningless, yet important sounding to do and keep him out of everyone's hair. A sinecure, I believe is the word I'm grasping at.
Might as well name him First Emperor of the Moon while we're at it.

Posted by: Governor Breck at November 6, 2004 10:52 AM

Jerry Brown and Bob Kerrey will fight him for that title.

Posted by: oj at November 6, 2004 11:01 AM

Kerry's the next thing to a lame duck. Thanks to his performance in the presedential election he's heading for a bruising fight when reelection time rolls around again. And I bet that Bush and Co. know that.

Romney and Cellucci are lining up to run for one thing or another. Weld? Who knows if he wants to come back into politics, my sense is no, unless he could be sure of winning.

Mitt's clearly got his eye on the presidency, and Kerry comes up for reelection in 2008, so that leaves Cellucci.

None of the biggies will run against Kennedy in 2006. It's a loser, and they want to be winners.

My advice for John Kerry is to enjoy being a senator while you can.

Posted by: H.D. Miller at November 6, 2004 12:28 PM

Either job would have severely cut into Kerry's windsurfing, skiing and bicycling time. There are limits to what a man should be expected to do.

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at November 6, 2004 02:44 PM

oj,

If you can have a hobby horse, so can I: send Kerry to France and let Chirac appoint him ambassador to the US.

Posted by: Kirk Parker at November 7, 2004 02:24 AM
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