Why Kerry doesn’t cut it

I went back and forth for days trying to decide what I wanted towrite about this week.

Should I cover the ever so public and in your face gay marriagedebate or reply to some reader responses about PresidentBush’s National Guard service?

Maybe discuss the recent movie The Passion of the Christ and the”controversy” surrounding it?

The gay marriage debate is a hot topic, and you will read mycommentary on the subject in the near future.

No matter how much I tried though, I could not get away from myold friend Sen. John Kerry.

He is too good a topic to pass up.

A lot of people out there seem to think that President Bush isvulnerable right now. I, for one, do not.

The main reason is because the candidate of Democratic choiceseems to be John Kerry, and he quite frankly does not scare me thatmuch.

I mean after all, it was just within the last month that hesurfaced as a front-runner for his party’s nomination.

The months leading up to the primaries, he was a distant secondand in some places even third.

He could not buy himself a spot at the top of the polls. Reportswere that he was too dull, too “Washingtonian” and eventoo Frenchy.

The reason why I am not worried by this Democratic candidate isbecause Kerry is still that guy who almost did not make it to thebig show.

And it is not so much that Congressman John Edwards is stillmaking a strong showing.

It is because of who John Kerry really is under all that stagedflair and big hair.

Unfortunately for John Kerry, he is as liberal as you get.

He is a card-carrying, tried and true member of the northeastliberal party. This translates two ways:

1. He does not stand a chance in the South.

2. He doesn’t care about national security.

Check his voting record for evidence. Look specifically atdefense and national security.

Our country is in a new age, one that is dictated by our abilityto protect ourselves from an unseen threat.

Whether you like him or not, President Bush is a wartimepresident, and you cannot deny that America is safer today becauseof his efforts.

For me, it is comforting to know that a man who is not afraid tobe our commander-in-chief and who is willing to put his presidencyon the line in order to make my life safer occupies the WhiteHouse.

It’s nice to hear a man say he is going to do somethingand follow through with it.

John Kerry though has no such inspiration.

At the Wisconsin Democratic Debate, Sen. Kerry was asked if hesaw himself as a war president.

He responded, “I’d see myself, first of all, as ajobs president, as a health care president, as an educationpresident and also an environmental president. So I would seemyself as a very different kind of global leader than GeorgeBush.”

Hmm, not a mention of national security. Maybe he left itout.

I’ll take a look at his voting record just in case. OK,here we go.

In 1984 he called for an estimated $50 billion cut in thePentagon budget and he proposed cuts in CIA funding in the1990s.

In 1991 he voted against the first Gulf War. Just last year hevoted for Operation: Iraqi Freedom, but now he is backpedaling onthat decision. He also voted against the funding to rebuildIraq.

Wow, that doesn’t look too good. I’ll keep looking.Wait, here’s something — a 1970 quote in the HarvardCrimson. “I’m an internationalist. I’d like tosee our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive ofthe United Nations,” Kerry said.

Whoa!

He believes in subjecting our troops to a dysfunctional worldbody.

And this is the man the Democrats want to keep us safe?

By the looks of his voting record and the things he says, Ican’t say I trust him to do the things necessary to keep ourcountry safe.

Neither should you.

So, my conservative brothers and sisters, do not worry about allattention John Kerry is receiving right now.

As soon as the primaries are over, and Kerry’s record isscrutinized and publicly laid bare by Karl Rove and the rest of theBush re-election machine, the real Sen. John Kerry will start tosurface. And when this happens, the rest will fall into place.

Swede Hanson is a MBA student at the Cox School of Businessand host of the campus political talk show “Truth BeTold!” on KPNI – SMU Radio.  He may be reached [email protected].