Effective presidents lead by inspiring people, including congress, to follow some agenda. FDR had a good one. Bill Clinton had a decent one. And although many Democrats regard him as the Dark Lord incarnate, Ronald Reagan was very effective at driving his agenda, even with a hostile congress. George W. Bush has definitely been driving his own agenda, though the wheels on his bandwagon are definitely starting to wobble. Lots of people are jumping off his bandwagon without exactly jumping on the wagon of the opposing camp.
John Kerry and John Edwards have not been leaders in congress. They have voted wrong or abstained when there was a need for leadership. Whether we will admit or not, we all know the biggest cajones on the Dem side in congress belong to Senator Byrd and Ted Kennedy, with the occasional respectable showing by Nancy Pelosi in the House. Kerry does have the support of Kennedy but has failed to support Teddy and Senator Byrd at crucial moments in recent legislative history.
We need someone with cajones to lead us this fall, someone who has not been part of the problem in Washington. Legislators are good at dealmaking but don't necessarily make good leaders. John Kennedy was a rare exception. The recent records of the new Senators John, at this crucial time in American history, are hardly the stuff of
Profiles in Courage.