Kerry for US Senate

THE CASE for reelecting John F. Kerry to the US Senate would be strong under any circumstances. But the deepening recession will put pressure on Washington to retreat from causes that Kerry has made his own. The country needs his voice more than ever to push for expanded healthcare, action on global warming, and generous aid to countries facing the AIDS epidemic. The Globe endorses him for a fifth term.

Early on, Kerry saw the need to provide healthcare to children of working-poor families that earned too much to qualify for Medicaid. The State Children's Health Insurance Program, or S-Chip, addresses this, but proponents of expanding it failed in Congress this year. As Barack Obama said in a debate, healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Insuring children, at least, should not have to wait until the economy rebounds from the excesses of Wall Street.

Kerry was also an early advocate of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The economic downturn has already caused members of the European Union to talk about backtracking on commitments to carbon dioxide reductions. Congress will hear similar arguments about the cost of converting to greener energy sources. Kerry, on the contrary, sees this as a "Rooseveltian moment" - a chance not to step back but to make investments in clean energy and infrastructure, including high-speed rail.

To the "drill, baby, drill" crowd, Kerry has the best answer: The oil and gas under environmentally vulnerable waters like Georges Bank constitute a strategic petroleum reserve that the nation should save for a time of real need.

Kerry has also been a Horatio at the bridge against efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling.

A rare achievement of President Bush's has been his ability to rally both Republicans and Democrats behind his President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief in Africa and other regions stricken by the disease. Kerry and former Republican senator William Frist of Tennessee led the way on AIDS assistance before Bush, to his credit, embraced the cause. As the nation's budget picture worsens, Kerry and others will likely have to fight to maintain funding for this vital program.

Kerry's Republican opponent, antiterrorism consultant Jeff Beatty of Cape Cod, could bring valuable national-security experience to the Senate. On the other hand, his opposition to taxes - he favors the reckless ballot question wiping out the state income tax - and a woman's right to choose raise doubts about his judgment on critical issues Congress will be facing. Especially in tough times, the state and the country will be better off having Kerry in the Senate.