nice description of Sen. Kerry

[MBS]

from oped on David Ignatius, giving Pres. (YES! : )) Obama advice for his (YES! : )) second term.
Warning: some material may not be suitable for those sick to death of SoS speculation re Sen. Kerry ( a category in which I include myself). http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/president-obama-go-big/2012/11/07/dbf545f8-28fc-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html

Here are some highly selective excerpts:

Barack Obama will be getting advice by the boatload over the next few weeks, but the best guidance may be what emerges from Caro’s biography “The Passage of Power”: Think big. Find strategies and pressure points that can break the gridlock in Congress, which was as rigid in 1963 as it is today. Surprise your adversaries with bold moves and concessions that create new space on which to govern.. .

In foreign policy, Obama will need to be equally strategic. . . .

All these primary foreign policy goals are “deals,” and it follows that the president needs a dealmaker as secretary of state. Who could do that, after Hillary Clinton leaves . . . ? John Kerry is an experienced man who thinks outside the box and is willing to take risks. . . . Kerry has shown over the past four years a willingness to negotiate with adversaries, in secret, to achieve results.

. . "experienced man who thinks outside the box and is willing to take risks". . . .yup, that's my guy. Keep it up, Sen. Kerry!

[JB126]

1. My thoughts exactly!

After listening to Sen Kerry being interviewed by MSNBC after the third debate, I thought he would be the perfect man for that job. He really knows his shit about foreign policy.

[Mass]

2. He is certainly qualified for the job.

Beyond that, I am so tired of these speculations and of people inventing all sorts of reasons for Kerry not to get the job.

It is Obama's job to make this choice and I trust him to do the right choice, whether it is Rice, Kerry, or somebody else.

[Inuca]

3. Not exactly related

except as interseting tidbits about JK post-VICTORY (YAY!!! still giddy...) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/us/politics/obama-campaign-clawed-back-after-a-dismal-debate.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=all

Overall interesting article. The part about Kerry (no, not about FP or the SoS position

Shortly after the debate began, Mr. Obama’s aides realized they had made their own mistakes in advising Mr. Obama to avoid combative exchanges that might sacrifice the good will many Americans felt toward him. In Mr. Obama’s mock debates with Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, Mr. Kerry drew Mr. Obama into a series of intense exchanges, and Mr. Axelrod decided that they were damaging to the president.

Given that I think I am on he verge of falling in love with Axelrod and his moustache, I will not hold this against him (I actually think that the nation and the world ows him a huge debt of gratitude), but it's interesting.

Another short quote from the article:

Even as the networks declared Mr. Obama the winner, Mr. Romney, who had earlier told reporters he had written only a victory speech, paused before the walk downstairs from his hotel room in Boston. It was 11:30 p.m., and Romney field teams in Ohio, Virginia and Florida called in, saying the race was too close for the candidate to give up. At least four planes were ready to go, and aides had bags packed for recount battles in narrowly divided states. Bob White, a close Romney friend and adviser, was prepared to tell the waiting crowd that Mr. Romney would not yet concede.

But then, Mr. Romney quietly decided it was over. “It’s not going to happen,” he said.

The part I boldfaced, is probably he only thing I saw in all these years that triggered some positive feelings towards Romaney in me. Not so much because he did not cause a mess, but because he found in him to do the right thing.

[Mass]

4. I have to say I distrust deeply the guys who wrote this article

(in particular Nagourney and Zeleny). I may have become cynical, but I have stopped trusting what the media pundits are writing that is not directly attributed. How much of this is made up?

The media has decided to make Romney look like a good guy after all (see also the editorial in the Boston Globe telling Obama to use Romney as an economic advisor. Really. What is it that they did not understand concerning the results in Massachusetts in general. We dont want him). And now, he is the one who decides to concede. Something tells me a few aides who want to have a future may have had something to do with this.

Note to the Boston Globe: MA rejected your beloved moderate Republicans: Romney, Brown, Tisei. the state legislature has less Republicans than in 2008 (a fact difficult to accomplish given that there were already very few).

[wisteria]

10. I never thought Axelrod liked Senator Kerry that much.

Just my observations.

[JI7]

11. didn't Axelrod work for Kerry ?

you know how people over think things ? he might have thought too much about how Kerry lost so he wanted to avoid doing "the same thing" . but Kerry came close because he did well in debates. not everyone a losing candidate did was wrong .

i wonder what the results would be if Obama would have won the first debate also. polls just before that showed Obama really gaining.

[Inuca]

14. I don't think he did

not sure though. Maybe you are thinking of Gibbs who indeed worked for Kerry? Axelrod AFAIK was all Chicago, worked, of all pepople, for Blagoevich and I remember seeing or reading some comments of his about how working for Obama was like a kind of cleansing for him (far from an exact quote, but that was the idea).

[Mass]

17. He works for John Edwards during the primary. I dont think he worked for Kerry.

This said, I dont read the comment (assuming it is even true) as a diss toward Kerry. I think it is more that they wanted Obama to look presidential and not too combative. I think people should not read too much from remarks like that. Too many things that turned out to be false have been written in such articles.

[karynnj]

21. Agreed, especially as this comes out when it is clear Axelrod was wrong there

I remember that Axelrod had really glowing things to say in describing why Kerry was the perfect person to work with Obama on the debates - calling him an excellent debater and praising his knowledge on issues and on Mitt Romney.

[Luftmensch067]

5. Even more compliments here

http://blogs.providencejournal.com/ri-talks/this-new-england/2012/11/peter-ubertaccio-kerry-may-be-next-secretary-of-state.html

I don't think anyone here would not merit Senator Kerry as highly qualified to be Secretary of State. He is a consummate diplomat, well-respected by international leaders and deeply trusted by the President (YES!)

Myself, I hope and pray that even if he is offered the job, he will refuse. He is needed in the Senate. Not just because our new senator Elizabeth Warren (YES!!!) needs his guidance, but also because he is an extraordinary presence for good sense and ethics in our Congress. Not only is he one of the best Chairs of the Foreign Relations Committee ever, getting huge amounts of needed legislation taken care of, but he is also a leading voice on climate change issues, issues of internet freedom, and the need for financial reform.

He is already a senior statesman and can continue to be so as senior senator from Massachusetts for years to come. If he becomes SoS, he's only got a job for the next four years, if that, and then what does he do -- retire and do speaking engagements? Doesn't sound like our JK!

Well, he may indeed want the job and if he does, I will be happy for him, but I will be fervently hoping he stays in the Senate. I can't help feeling that much of the clamor for him to get SoS is from people who want him out of the Senate either because of their personal ambitions or because he's just too good at his job and he threatens their interests. Just my paranoid two cents.

[Mass]

6. Good to read, but it will not happen.

There seem to be powerful powers making sure that it does not happen, including people leaking it will be Susan Rice with a whole argument for why it should be.

I like her so I will be happy whoever it is, but dont discount the powerful people in the Democratic party who dont want Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton.

[karynnj]

7. I would be happy with either, but hope if Kerry really still strongly wants it that he gets it

I know that "deserves it" is never true with an appointment, but it bothers me that where Kerry has always been a very loyal person and always gone the last mile for the party, he has NEVER been GIVEN anything.

By that I mean that he was not the party's or media's choice in his Lt Gov or his first Senate race or the Presidency. In each case he won the nomination by winning over enough voters on his own. (He did have the wonderful Teddy in 2004) It is strange hearing some RW media suggesting Obama should give Romney a cabinet position and remembering the "Hillary deserves a cabinet position" calls in 2009 - in contrast to the whispered "Kerry thinks he is still a Democratic leader" junk.

The strange thing this time is that my 24 years working in a big company was that one thing that was conventional wisdom there was that you never wanted to be the person to take over a position being vacated by a fast tracker (star). The reason was that anything that you tended to get the blame for anything started but not done well and almost anything good you did was said to have been started (at least in concept) under the star.

The main problem I have is why Obama (or Biden or someone) just tell Kerry before the election to spare him the disappointment and to let him tell the MA press that he really wanted to remain MA's senior Senator rather than leave MA with an excellent senior senator with only months of seniority. Rather than leave him having to say the same thing he has for years - that he is happy being Senator.

[wisteria]

12. Where have you been reading this?

It may have some validity unfortunately. He would probably do a better job than she did and for one reason or another they don't want anyone to show her up. Still I hope you are wrong. I have hoped for years that he would get this position-if he wants it. And, I would be upset if Obama over looked him simply to appease others. Rice is OK, but she is not JK.

[Inuca]

15. The speculation I've seen/read

about Rice is that she will have a difficult and nasty confirmation because of the Benghazi nonsense

[Mass]

16. The first paragraph of this article is a good summary of what I see,

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/08/secretary_kerry

Still, I'm not the only one who knows. One very plugged-in friend of mine says that she's talked to Pete Rouse, the Obama advisor now assembling lists of names for President Barack Obama's second-term cabinet, and he says that Senator John Kerry has the short odds. But a White House correspondent responded by e-mail that, in fact, Kerry is "a long shot," since Obama won't want to risk losing a Senate seat, that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is still the leading candidate, but that national security advisor Tom Donilon "REALLY wants it." Then, the New York Times reports that Donilon doesn't want it, and that Rice is "crippled" because GOP senators will use the confirmation hearing to torture the administration over Benghazi. That's the problem with rumors: Knowledgeable people know things that contradict what other knowledgeable people know.

Which leads me to believe that powerful interests are in play pushing their own people, the usual jockeying game, but I cannot ignore that Kerry has some powerful enemies in the Democratic inner circles, as shown by all the negative unsourced comments that are regularly given to the media.

As I have said earlier, I am fine with Rice. I had hoped she would get the job in 2005 if Kerry was elected and Biden did not want it. But, eventually, it will be Obama's role to choose and these articles are there to create pressure on one candidate or another. Which gets to me is that I do not see all these articles concerning Treasury Secretary, though I shivered ready Knowles' name as a potential candidate, or Defense, both positions that may affect people's daily life more than SoS (which deals more with long term issues). This is what makes me think there are other things in play here.

(Note, I have not read the article, so I do not know what Traub writes about Kerry being a good potential SoS or not.)

There is also a long article pushing Rice in the San Francisco Chronicle and other papers. I have seen very little about Donilon.

[wisteria]

9. Maybe they just want him to be SOS, because he is the best person for this job.

No motives other than mantaining and advancing our reputatioin around the world. But, I do understand what everyone in Mass and the Senate loses if he is offered this position and accepts.

[JI7]

13. I prefer JK stay in the SEnate also

if he becomes sec of state he will have 4 years. if he had been picked during Obama's first term i'm pretty sure he would have stayed on and he woudl have had more years.

but now it's only 4 years. in the SEnate he is chairman of foreign relations committee, he is senior senator and can work on many other issues. and it can last longer than 4 years.

i do agree with mass that there are certain people who don't want him there though . he is too liberal for them.

[wisteria]

8. As someone outside of Mass, I don't get enough SOS speculation.

Actually, I get none at all. So, to read this is very exciting. The only thing I worry about is how much he might be needed in the Senate.

[beachmom]

18. Here's a new article out:

http://backchannel.al-monitor.com/index.php/2012/11/3126/why-john-kerry-may-have-to-cool-his-heels-on-secretary-of-state/

Honestly, I would be scared to lose Kerry from the Senate as well. I really think that needs to be set straight before he goes. I mean, ugh, if Scott Brown gets back in. One nice thing about the article is that it is saying he would be great as SoS, but also he's great in the Senate.

Perhaps, Karen you can give your thoughts on Menendez. He might not be ideal as chairman of the SFRC.

[Mass]

19. I am so tired of these articles. Who knows what is actually happening. I find unseemly that the

Rice and Kerry supporters are talking to the media under the seal of anonymity. Let Obama decide. (I know it is part of the game, but we have to remember that those people who talk are generally not the deciders).

For the rest:

1/ Brown would not win. It is even possible he would not be the nominee, after such a loss.

2/ Also, I thought the person in line for the job was Boxer. Am I missing something? And while I would disagree with Menendez concerning Cuba, I am not exactly sure why he is supposed to be such a bad choice except for that.

[wisteria]

20. It seems I am in the minority on this.

But he can reach more people and change more things outside the senate. The position offers much more respect. There are 100 senators, but only one SOS. As for the Brown thing, I don't think we have to worry about it.

[beachmom]

25. No, I wouldn't mind seeing JK as SoS. I just think

the Senate situation needs to be settled. We don't want a Republican replacing him, and we want to make sure that there is a good SFRC Chairman.

[karynnj]

22. I agree with the assessment on Menendez - at least on Cuba

He held up all appointments - such as on EPA - as hostage on Cuban policy in 2009.

Barbara Boxer has more seniority than he does - so I guess they are assuming she will keep the environmental committee. Part of what this shows is that the SFRC lost most of the top people from as recently as 2006 - Biden, Sarbanes, Dodd, Feingold and Bill Nelson (Fl) - the latter is still in the Senate but left the committee. If they can skip Boxer, I wonder if they can skip Menendez to get to Cardin who seems really good.

I think that if the replacement is delayed because Clinton wants to stay until the Bengazhi hearings end, that could minimize the Brown problem a little - especially if he can not count on Kerry being picked. (Also, how does it work now that he is in the MD National Guard and NOT a Senator? )

I think this and other articles that make the same point that Kerry is extremely valuable in either position and a very talented legislator and diplomat are flattering. It is not his value just as a generic place holder voting D, but the fact that he is valuable on financial issues as well as foreign policy. His value on the Finance committee is that he really is the only true liberal - at least in terms of senior members. (I know some would say Schumer - and he often makes a show of that to get coverage.)

[MBS]

23. this is all I really wanted to say here. .

OK, the horse is way out of the barn, and on his way to the next county, but, for whatever it's worth, this is ALL I had wanted to pass along here:

John Kerry is an experienced man who thinks outside the box and is willing to take risks

Whether he stays in the Senate (which I prefer) or not, he's going to do his job with graciousness, intelligence, commitment, and fresh thinking; no matter what he does , he is sure to move our country forward.

I am SOOOOO relieved by the election outcome.

[karynnj]

24. I love your comment and agree 100%

Anyone mentioned for the job is mentioned because in some way they were seen to be an outstanding choice. Unlike running for an office, it does not matter who is seen by the general public to be the best. Only one man will really make that choice - Obama. He also will not have to explain it to us. I wish that people would not attack the good people who are speculated to be possible nominees. Kerry and the others deserve the respect they have earned that led them to be on that list.

I do hope that if the reason is the Senate, top Democrats recognize the sacrifice made to stay in the Senate. I think the reason should also be the contributions that he is making and will make in the Senate - not that the damaged Scott Brown could get another two years - before being thrown out again. (Massachusetts people - How damaged to you think Brown is? By election, were people both voting for Warren and against win or was it more like when people voted against Weld for control of the Senate? )

[orpupilofnature57]

26. Perfect Choice !!!!

[beachmom]

27. Okay, yeah I have had it with people saying he "can't" be SoS because of his Senate seat.

Instead of the vitriol against JK, how about MA Democrats getting it together this time instead of the last time when they allowed Ted Kennedy's seat go to Brown?

This diary is infuriating:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/12/1159435/-The-case-against-John-Kerry-as-Secretary-of-State

The best comment was this one:

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1159435/48395010#c47

He isn't physically up for the job? Really????

[Mass]

28. Thanks. I agree totally

BTW, we have people who could run and win, if we (instate and out of state) did not spend our time saying they cant beat Brown. May be we could make sure we have everybody BEHIND the candidate this time just like we did for Warren.

The three most visible Dems have been beaten in the two last election cycles (Brown, Baker, Tisei, Mihos is finished), and the media are pushing Weld as a potential nominee (not exactly a good sign for the GOP brand).

[karynnj]

34. I was stunned when they mentioned Weld, as his life after being Governor is not impressive.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/13/judge-finds-accreditor-misrepresented-profit-colleges-status

He was completely unsuccessful running for the nomination for governor of NY - and that in a year when NO ONE reasonable wanted to run.

[wisteria]

29. Thanks for defending JK, "He needs to take naps" LOL.

He has been taking overnight and long trips overseas for a long time, and there were quite a few times he did some under the radar foreign policy manuvering on behalf of this administration. I can't believe some people. Obviously, this person has someone else in mind.

[beachmom]

30. The guy replied and keeps insisting. I mean, is he by the Senator's side

watching him napping? My bottom line is this: if all of this were true the Globe and Herald would be reporting it. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that people would make stuff up on the internet in such a self assured way, yet I am. I told him to offer evidence. I think it's kind of a smear, no?

[wisteria]

31. Yes, it reads as if he is too old for the position.

Age discrimination. And, I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone who wants Rice in that positon. I didn't go back, did he say who he would support?

[beachmom]

35. No, just against JK leaving the Senate, and wouldn't be good as SoS. nt

[karynnj]

33. All I can think is that he is referring to a JK comment when campaigning

and being a diplomat and doing his job, that he learned in VN to take cat naps when he could. The funny thing is that this was to work LONGER hours. It was also in response to being asked when he slept given all he was doing. (I remember he left DC the moment after the last vote on a Thursday and flew to Afghanistan and then - with Reid's permission missed a few dates, after succeeding with Kharzi, went directly to meet with the President and then on to Congress. When he spoke to the media he was still crystal clear - something the soon to be former junior Senator rarely was.)

I watched the Finance committee's healthcare hearings and the START hearings - he was not just awake, but was intensely processing everything said in an almost mind boggling way.

I suspect that the BH and BG would have had several front page stories if this were true. As to smear - of course it's a smear.

[karynnj]

32. That was amazingly stupid - and your responses were fantastic

It is bizarre that when essentially proven wrong, he tried to insist that physically fit or not, he could not handle it. I saw your post too late to make it worth responding - but seriously, how did he miss the marathon debate where Kerry spent HOURS on the Senate floor dispatching every Republican attack on START for several days. (Or the days spent in Pakistan with the tricky Raymond Davis situation or the days shuttling back and forth getting Kharzi to agree to follow the law.)

The fact is that JK was less impacted by fatigue in 2004 - as he recovered from cancer (likely the weakest period of his life) than HRC was in 2008 when she was clearly frazzled at points late in the campaign.

[beachmom]

36. Okay, very weird:

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1159435/48405610#c99

Kind of feels like EOR. Remember from the '08 primary? Very strange.

Oh, and I guarantee this is not a proponent of Ms. Rice or anything like that. Seems like a provincial Mass. axe to grind.

[karynnj]

37. I suspect you are right and that he/she is not very smart

There are many things one could make up, but this makes no sense. There are plenty of behind the scenes stories on both legislation and diplomacy, not to mention the 2004 campaign that show an indefatigable John Kerry. (Compare Kerry at the end of 2004 campaign with Hillary at the end of the hard fought primary. Kerry, in fact, defended both Hillary and Obama for the gaffes saying that a Presidential campaign was the most grueling thing he had eve done. Kerry was obviously exhausted by the end, but also energized, enthused and focused - and very nearly gaffe free.)

There have been times when he has looked tired at Senate meetings, but they often follow diplomatic trips that started when the Senate recessed and ended the day before he needed to return. He clearly pushes himself very very hard - and from his biography always has.

This poster and the poster who agreed with him through the diary do seem to be from MA - and I suspect they might actually be linked in some way.

Only Obama will make this decision and I think we know that it is likely to be a political one (could help, could hurt) and one for the good of his administration. If he feels Rice could do as good a job or if he can structure the job to fit Rice, he still could have Kerry function as a diplomat as he has, retain a very strong Democratic voice in the Senate. It is also true that two of the things likely for this term are rebuilding the country - and Kerry's infrastructure bill is a major effort and he could encourage Kerry to provide a lot of the vision for an effort to rebuild here - and climate change where no one has come anywhere near as close to understanding what a deal could look like than Kerry.

The one thing that does disappoint me is that there NEVER was any call that Kerry be given ANYTHING after his very close loss. It is especially galling that the BG surfaced giving Romney, who ran a gutter level campaign filled with lies and who they KNOW Obama has little respect for a job and they did not suggest Kerry had a leadership role in the Democratic party, or deserved a job in Bush's administration (something I hope he would have turned down).