Some still want Kerry to run

By Matthew Spolar, Globe correspondent

Some people believe that giving in is giving up. For them, attachment to a presidential candidate -- especially one that came as close to being elected as Massachusetts Senator John Kerry -- can be hard to shake.

Despite Kerry's announcement in late January that he will not be running for president in 2008 -- and the consensus among many Democrats that it was the right decision -- Kerry still has some diehard supporters in the blogosphere holding out hope that he will make another White House bid.

The website draftjohnkerry08.com urges those still in the Kerry camp to write the senator via a message box, attempts to rally support in a letter that expresses dissatisfaction with the current Democratic field, and implores America to realize that Kerry is, in fact, the "perfect presidential candidate."

While there, those so inclined may want to pick up a "Re-elect President Kerry" coffee mug or teddy bear at the gift shop.

In an e-mail, the site administrator said the "DraftJohnKerry08 team" presented two months worth of message submissions to the senator in April, and will be meeting again with him soon to show him the submissions from the following three months.

The site, which was created following Kerry's announcement that he would not run again, is maintained by an unnamed reformed Republican who expresses his desire for a candidate "who we can TRUST to tell the truth, and not be beholden to extremists of any stripe."

The e-mail stated that in the five months since the site's inception, draftjohnkerry has "heard from people in every single state, and military personnel serving overseas as well, who are eloquent and passionate in their appeals to the Senator to re-consider his decision."

However, the site isn't exactly humming with activity: The most recent entry on the site's corresponding blog is from July 25.

The draftjohnkerry creator might have a like-minded web buddy in kerryforpresident2008.blogspot.com, a blog by Wisconsin native Robert Freedman, a "physician who also cares deeply about the health of our political system." The blog declared two days before Kerry's decision that, while the senator may not have the charisma of Obama, "his understanding of the war in Iraq is unmatched by any candidate."

In March, Freedman started a petition to draft Kerry as a candidate, but so far it has only garnered 20 signatures. The blog, which was last updated in May, has been visited about 7,600 times since Kerry dropped out.