John Kerry Is Running Hard – But For What?

The press tracks John Kerry’s moves – and marvels over how many there are. But why so many, and what’s his goal?

This thing about “serving” aside, Kerry is similar in position to only one person, Hillary Clinton. Both ran for president recently. Both have associates around them who would benefit if their star becomes president. These associates are likely to encourage their patrons to stay in the game.

Hillary distanced herself from her boss, Obama, by announcing she’d leave his administration after one term. This was when Obama’s slide was in process and his willingness to run again in doubt. Kerry at the time was cozying up to Richard Trumka, the union boss whose support all the Democrats needed. They were  working on an employment initiative at the time. Both were positioning themselves to replace Obama, but he then announced he was not dead by declaring his candidacy for a second term. Hillary and Kerry retreated for another battle.

In any case, both Kerry and Hillary are still very much in the game. Hillary distanced herself from Obama by resigning, while Bill created ties and dependencies with Obama in the election. She now had it both ways. Nice.

Kerry now has to run against Hillary – and he is starting by trying to show he can be a better Secretary of State. For example, if he can get a couple of big wins from all his attempts, he’d be the better. . .person. One big win would be brokering an Israel-Palestine peace treaty. There are others. If he can do just two or three deals versus her accomplishments, many would believe he could be a better President.

Now, if being a better president, rather than a more likeable or a more ideologically aligned president, is what people turn out to want, he’s got the nomination.

So, that’s why Kerry’s running so hard. To be better than Hillary. To beat her at the Secretary of State game.

Well, some insist he wants nothing more than a Nobel Prize. Nobel Prize? Sure. That would be great in itself. However, even more, it would be proof he was better than Hillary.

That’s what John Kerry is running for, the presidency.

BTW, how’s his wife doing? Heard she had a stroke.