My impression of Kerry is that he is and always has been pretty conservative in fact (with a little "c") on economic and defence issues. Didn't he vote to cut services in order to balance the budget during the 90s? And wasn't he pretty dead set against continued expending of military resources in SE Asia as long as the ROI was negative? Even his health care ideas are pretty conservative. Rhetoric aside, I think he is much more conservative (again, small "c") and mainstream on economic and defense issues than the current administration has proven itself to be.

I don't even think Kerry's record of bringing uncomfortable truths to light and insisting that people in power face them (Vietnam in the 70's, the Contras and BCCI in the 80's are a few examples) is overly begrudged by the power right (though it certainly seems to motivate many of the little voices they employ).

I truly believe that Kerry's single unforgivable sin, one that justifies every effort, no matter how low, to keep him from winning the Presidency, is that he *is* the candidate of the opposing party. It's not personal -- it just has to seem that way. What's in his record? An opponent by any other name would smell as foul.

Giovanni