The botched joke is an example of how he will blow it again. Last time he let the creeps take one of his great strengths (Vietnam record), and turn it against him.

This time, he already has botched the joke. Soon he will screw the pooch. Back somebody else, please!

Why is it that in American politics we on the Left always stick the knife into our own when they fail?

Is it really necessary to sacrifice the only leaders we have that have firsthand experience of what it takes to run a campaign on a national scale just because they come out a miniscule percentage of votes short?

In Australia where I am now living, a loss of a national election even more than once is almost expected for a leader of the opposition. These losses are viewed as necessary battle scars.

I am sick to death of all the arm chair managers out there who reckon they could run a national campaign any better. People like Gore and Kerry and their teams are really amazingly talented people. They deserve our respect for carrying the torch as far as they have.

We need to run a titan in the party. Gore has proven once that he can win, and Kerry has not disproven it by any stretch.

that while he may not pay attention to this stuff, millions of other people do. And they are the ones who vote. It might behoove him to pay attention to things that are important to the folks who vote, whether it matters to him or not. Just a thought.

That would have been the right wing waterboy Chris Wallace who asked that question, and kept harping on the botched joke.

Who better can say, "if I had been president ... " in 2008 to offer an even clearer choice to the previous 8 years? Kerry is a honorable hero with great intelligence and high moral standards. He also has charisma in spades. That so many Dems enjoy beating him into the ground because he is yet another Democratic candidate who fell to the GOP's bag of dirty tricks is proof positive that the "poor dumb Repugnican masses" aren't the only ones the GOP can lead around by the nose. If he was able to stoop to their level to ensure a win in 2004, he wouldn't even be a Democrat would he?

I ended up liking John Kerry at the end of the 2004 campaign. I gave his campaign money and I voted for him. He certainly would have been a better president than Bush (which is not saying much, since I think my Labrador retriever would be a better president than Bush). So if he thinks he can get the nomination again, more power to him.

Nevertheless, I think the majority of Democrats are looking for someone else. I know I am, and it was the "botched joke" that sealed the deal. Kerry's not a natural, and I don't think it's unfair to try to find one.

We honor your service, John. Now, go away. he and and hillary have "loser' stamped on their patrician foreheads. Edwards/Obama in '08. Unbeatable.

(see, I can't even write the word)--he sounds like some stupid northeastern liberal, and he makes me want to throw up.

I am a lifelong progressive/left/liberal, and I voted for him, of course. But I am incredibly sick of even hearing his goddamn voice. I think he DID won in 2004, but he DID give up the fight. It's over, move on.

And please, it is totally disingenuous for him to claim the comment was a joke. It sounds to me like an accurate comment, because many young people who are poor and disadvantaged do sign up for the military and offer themselves up as fodder, because there are few other choices for them to make. Is signing up for the military seriously considered a 'smart' career move? Probably not, unless that is of the only options. That doesn't indicate disrespect for young people who sign up. It is simply class structure reality.

...would be a mistake regardless of whether he is up to the job or not. Unfortunately this country likes "winners" not whiners and the majority of the electorate has the attention span of 'six months' unless it comes to any previous faux pas.

Kerry in the eyes of the average voter is seen as a loser and long gone are the days when a candidate who lost a previous election such as Nixon in 1960 has a second shot. The reason for this is the MSM and the 24-hour news cycle along with the talking head morons on and in the MSM who harp endlessly upon the deficits of character, particularly Democrats.

It is unfortunate that a qualified candidate in a close election could lose out but if the Democrats have any shot they need new blood and someone with damn charisma that goes beyond the pale. That's how I see it anyway.

Please no to John Kerry.

"Who better would be in a position to say...'If I had been president...' for 2008?"

Um... that would be Al Gore.

I thought that John Kerry was a douchebag when I voted for him, and I still think he is today. However, he was certainly the far lesser of two evils back in 2004.

That said, I would like to vote for someone I actually like and support next time around...assuming that the democratic party can dredge someone up. With Feingold out of the running I am not seeing anybody out there.

I would really like to see someone who *can* deliver a joke.