John Kerry has displayed a failure of leadership.
The goal of a Presidential candidate is to LEAD. That means not conceding the race until the last vote is counted. And if there is vote suppression widespread enough that it could have affected the outcome of the race, like Ohio, then the goal of a presidential candidate is to lead his supporters into the streets and not leave until another election is held.
By refusing to challenge the outcome of the election, John Kerry completely ignores the example of Victor Yushchenko. Yushchenko, on the basis of widespread election irregularities, led his people into the streets of Ukraine. They did not leave until a fair and transparent election was held. Whether Yushchenko won or lost was beside the point. The goal is to have a fair and free election whether your side wins or loses.
John Kerry calls for reforms of the electoral system. That is great. But the fact that he refuses to lead tells me he is better as a rank and file senator than he is presidential material.
Kerry is so scared of having to lead that instead of leading the fight for electoral reform, he runs and hides in the Middle East while the rest of us are left to fight it out on our own. I'll bet Rove is laughing himself to death at how he f----d Kerry so bad, he does the exact opposite of what he did in Vietnam.
It is pretty embarrassing that the Green Party, who barely broke 100,000 votes, is taking a leadership role in exposing Blackwell's antics while Kerry is running and hiding. It is amazing that Kerry is so scared that he thinks the Middle East is a safer place to be than Washington right now.
If Kerry wants my vote in 2008, he will have to learn that in order to win, he will have to learn how to be a leader instead of just a follower.
A good way to start would be to propose legislation containing the items he would have pushed for and tie up the Senate if Frist and Co. fail to give it a fair hearing. I suggest that he lead public protests against the misrule of Bush, much in the same way he did in 1971. I suggest that he go to Ukraine and meet with Yuskchenko and learn from him valuable lessons on how to be a leader. I suggest that he use Senatorial Courtesy as a way to keep unacceptable judges from being appointed to New England area courts. And I suggest that he go around to rural counties, drop into their bars and have a beer with the locals. That will debunk the myth that he is a French aristocrat who sticks his finger and goes with the wind.
One last thing. Please lay off Obama. Either he is naive or he doesn't recognize the extent of the problem. But he is only a follower right now. Kerry was supposed to be the leader of the party, so he should be the one held to a higher standard.