Chat transcript

Globe political reporter Michael Kranish, co-author of the Globe's biography of John Kerry, chatted about the book with Boston.com users on April 28.

Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:02PM	Hello and welcome to today's chat on Boston.com I am Michael Kranish, a reporter in the Globe's Washington Bureau and one of three Globe reporters who co-authored our book on John Kerry, "John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best." The book was published yesterday (April 27) and was excerpted in Sunday's Globe. You can read all of Chapter One at the following link: http://www.boston.com/kerrybook I'll be happy to answer your questions.
Bush 12:14PM	So, in your mind, is Kerry a liar?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:15PM	Do you have a specific question?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:17PM	I have not written anything to suggest that. We write about the complex person, the full character, and try to write about Senator Kerry as fairly as possible. Our hope is that by telling Kerry's life story, readers and voters will go beyond the sound bites and bumper stickers and 60-second stories and learn the full story of a man who, whatever your political interests, has led a rich and fascinating life.
Bush 12:17PM	Well, his honesty has been questioned. Can I rephrase the question to ask if you think that Kerry is an honest man?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:20PM	As I say above, we are writing a biography that hopefully tells the full story of Kerry's life. You still haven't suggested what it is you talking about
Jeff 12:20PM	How would you desribe John Kerry as a person?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:22PM	We describe him as a man of restless intellect, of political ambition, and of great energy and drive, a man who thinks through issues aloud, sometimes to the consternation of aides who are wondering where he will land on an issue. We write about him as a man drawn to danger in some cases, describing how he once piloted a two-seat plane toward the Golden Gate bridge, does aerobatics, and of course who was a very aggressive skipper in Vietnam. he is a man with an innate skepticism of his government in some cases - certainly bred by the Nixon actions during war and Watergate, and evidenced by his investigation of the Iran-contra affair.
Advocate 12:23PM	I am a regional coordinator for Grassroots for Kerry - what are some valuable Kerry points you feel would be beneficial for us to convey as we organize and host various events? So often we are tempted to share anti-Bush sentiment rather than Pro-Kerry, and I think it comes from lack of info. The biography you're working on sounds really interesting. Thanks for any thoughts. :)
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:27PM	Well, obviously we as reporters don't take a position on the campaign, so I can't give advice. What I will say is that Kerry's life story is a fascinating one, with all the things you would look for - dynasty, ambition, love, death, tragedy, triumph, failure. He now seeks the highest office in the land. Although I have spent years covering Kerry, I'm still interested in what this cumulative experience means as far as shaping Kerry's character and beliefs. I have covered numerous presidential campaigns and I think many political reporters are frustrated when things get reduced to sound bites and simplistic slogans. Here we have tried something different: telling the full story, hopefully in a very fair way, and letting people learn as much as possible about the candidate.
Bosston 12:27PM	Do you feel his alignment with Ted Kennedy will end up hurting his chances for the White House? Should he distance himself?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:31PM	Bosston, excellent question. Clearly, this helped Kerry in the primaries. I have covered both Kerry and Kennedy for years and was struck by the bond they now seem to have, which I didn't see as strongly before the campaign. Kennedy was the lead legislator, Kerry was more of the investigator. Obviously, many Republicans will try to tar Kerry with the Kennedy comparison. Some Republicans have even started to say that Kerry is more liberal than Kennedy. As usual, the record is more complicated. But the bottom line is that Kerry has viewed the Kennedy family as a model since he was a young boy. He sailed with John F. Kennedy when he was just 18 years and Kennedy was president. He met Edward Kennedy when he protested the Vietnam War in 1971. So the link goes back a long way, and Kerry is not likely to run from it now.
Jeff 12:31PM	Senator Kerry as often been described as "aloof". In your dealings with him, does this characterization hold true for you?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:32PM	Jeff, this has been a rap on Kerry for a long time, and I've heard him joke about removing the aloof genes, or something like that. He has usually been accessible to us, doing 10 hours of interviews for our seven-part series last year, but he declined to talk to us for the book, which is based on the series.
Paul 12:32PM	As a middle class American and union member, I feel Kerry is the right choice for Pesident. Do you think his perceived aloofness will hurt his chances for election?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:34PM	Paul, that is similar to the last question, but I'd be intersted to see how this plays throughout the campaign. It could play both ways. In fairness, President Bush is a descendant of the Bush and Walker families, and he went to Andover, Yale and Harvard, and is the son of a president. Kerry's family actually had less money as far as I know. Now, of course, Kerry is married to an extraordinarily wealthy women, so he is wealthy by connection. In the end, these campaigns are decided by a combination of feelings and issues and factors we might not even be able to imagine, and I look forward to seeing how that all plays.
Scaramooch 12:35PM	I'm sure you heard all the stories about how Kerry isn't a very nice man, in fact some stories draw a picture of a real jerk. Do you find these stories to be blown out of proportion or is there some truth to them?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:38PM	It's hard for me to gauge how other people perceive him. We try to draw a fuller portrait in the book, and that's what I'll stand by. If you talk to most of his Vietnam buddies, they will not describe him that way . Many of his Yale classmates told me that they viewed him as a very ambitious student driven by a desire to hold political office. What might turn off one person would be a plus for another. I hope we have explained enough about him to put all of that in perspective.
Jeff 12:38PM	What impresses you most about Senator Kerry?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:42PM	My first experiences in covering Senator Kerry focused somewhat on his role as an investigator. I've always been struck by the fact that some senators view themselves as investigators, and these are often former prosecutors, as Kerry was. Other senators might be more prone to state a political position taken by a party, and leave it at that. I think it's fair to say that Kerry, despite his overall liberal record, does question dogma and not always go along with it. At the same time, we've been struck by the way he questioned Affirmative Action but then did not follow up as much as some thought he might. Certainly, his actions under fire Vietnam were impressive to many of those who fought with him, notwithstanding some questions raised by some of those who served with him.
CATE 12:48PM	Hi Michael - do you think John Kerry will become a lightnig rod for the Church and American bishops on the abortion/communion issue? Frankly as a catholic I hope so.
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:51PM	Cate, this is hard for me to say. In 1960, there were those who thought that Kennedy's Catholic religion would prevent him from being president, but it didn't. As reporters, we often want to know whether a voter is going to be moved by something like this, or have an existing position re-inforced. I've heard some Kerry supporters ask whether the same standard is applied on the church's position on the death penalty. The Globe covers all of these issues, of course, and I'm sure I'll be reading a lot more about the interplay in the coming months.
Laurie 12:51PM	What is his relationship with the Clintons? Does he appear to embrace their help as readily as he did Senator Kennedy's?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:55PM	My impression is that it is okay but hasn't been the strongest relationship in Kerry's political background. I'm sure that will strengthen now that Kerry is the nominee. I'd be interested to see whether Clinton's autobiography, which is now slated to come out in June, takes some of the air fromthe Kerry campaign, as some have suggested it would. at the same time, President Clinton is sure to strongly support Kerry whenever asked about Kerry, and, perhaps more importantly, Clinton has provided advice to many of the Democratic candidates and will probably do so increasingly for Kerry if Kerry seeks help. You'll recall that some questioned whether Gore was hurt by distancing himself from Clinton; Gore did so in part because of the Lewinsky matter and also to step out of Clinton's shadow. What we can say with some certain is that the shadow will be there to a degree, and we'll be watching the impact.
ann 12:55PM	In order to defend Kerry to conservative friends who say he hasn't done anything as a senator what would you say generally has been his accomplishments in the senate?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:57PM	We write a lot about Kerry's Senate record in the book. What we say is that he was best known as an investigator, and deferred to Senator Kennedy oftentimes when it came to authoring legislation. At the same time, we give Kerry his due for supporting the deficit-reduction act known as Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, and Kerry himself regularly provides a list of actions that would be perceived as more moderate, including his current proposal to cut middle-income taxes and put caps on spending. The record is far more complex than merely a listing of votes and bills.
Laurie 12:57PM	Julia Thorne gave a brief interview to Newsweek. Did she speak to you in conjunction with your book?
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 12:59PM	I didn't see her quoted in Newsweek, but, yes, she spoke to another Globe reporter for our series; the reporter went to Montana to interview her, and that interview is reflected in our book. She has written two books related to depression, from which she suffered, and she has talked openly about those problems in many forums over the years, often including the Globe.
thebook 12:59PM	Before you sign off, tell us about the book itself and how it differs from the other Kerry bios out there. (I have Tour of Duty but haven't read it yet.)
Michael Kranish (Moderator) 01:02PM	Thanks for the question. yes, our book is subtitled "the complete biography," and, unlike Tour of Duty, which focuses on Vietnam, this tells Kerry's full life story up until his securing the Democratic nomination earlier this year. It is based on reporting for our seven-part series last year and a lot of new reporting this year. We tell about everything from his ancestry, to his childhood in Massachusetts and Washington and Europe and New England, to his time at St. Paul's and Yale, his service in Vietnam, his marriages, his tragedies, his triumphs, his years as a prosecutor and senator, and then as a candidate. As I said at the start, our belief is that whatever your political persuasion, you'll find that this is a complex man with a very interesting and rich life that has intersected at key points of history in ways that shape the man who might be president. Thanks for joining our chat today, and thanks for the questions.