Finally, Kerry wakes up
WASHINGTON
IT TOOK Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean to wake up John Kerry. The Massachusetts senator even sounded like the Vermont governor, railing against President Bush to the point of raspiness. For a night, you would have never known that Kerry voted for the invasion of Iraq.
It took Kerry a painfully long time to decide Bush "lied" about the reasons for the invasion. Now that he's seen the light, but also sees that he is still sinking in the polls, he is on a scorched-earth campaign to convince everyone at this late hour that he actually is the man most outraged at Bush.
Kerry couldn't think of "dumber" strategies that Bush has executed in Iraq. Bush was "reckless." Bush was "inept." Bush was "ideologically rigid."
Kerry also tried to throw a little machismo at moderator Ted Koppel, who irritated the Democratic candidates in opening the debate by asking them to raise their hands if they thought Dean could beat Bush. On a later question from Koppel as to whether Dean has done anything right, Kerry said, "If I were an impolite person, I'll tell you where you can take your polls."
If only Kerry had displayed such assertiveness and spunk eight months ago on the votes for war. The country might not be in its quaqmire and he might not be in quicksand.
It is uncertain what Dean's blessing from the former vice president and 2000 nominee will mean on primary day. Dean is now officially an insider. New Hampshire voters often tell insiders where to take their polls.
Knowing that, nearly all of the other candidates, even the ones who are given little or no hope in the polls, sharpened themselves up a notch.
In a refreshing but ironic way, Kerry was as sharp as any of the candidates. He displayed more of a sweeping grasp of foreign policy, from North Korea to AIDS in Africa, than any of the other candidates. It was ironic partially because it is may be too late for his candidacy.
It was also ironic because also toward the end, Dean refocused the debate back to domestic issues, jobs, health insurance and education. The rest of the candidates all followed up about attacks on special interests and tax cuts.
But even in that, once again, Dean was the leader. The others followed.
Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com. 