Another article on Kerry's record
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| Tue, 09-07-2004 - 1:33am |
I apologize if someone has already posted this, but I found it in a Kerry support yahoogroup (you can join the group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kerry-Edwards_04 )
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from the March 03, 2004 edition of Christian Science
Monitor -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0303/p02s01-uspo.html
Kerry in Congress: an investigator's rise
In high-profile probes, he's built a record that some
see as grandstanding, others as boring in on core
questions.
By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The
Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON - One criticism of John Kerry's early
Senate investigations was that, in his own words, they
"looked at strange and nefarious types that people did
not take seriously." On Oct. 24, 1991, that rap ended.
On the other side of the witness table in the vast
Hart Senate hearing room was seated Washington
powerbroker Clark Clifford - a man who'd played poker
with Winston Churchill and advised every Democratic
president since Harry Truman. He was an icon in
official Washington, especially for Democrats with an
eye on the Oval Office.
But Mr. Clifford was also implicated in a $20
billion-plus criminal banking enterprise across 73
countries - unwittingly, he said. Top party activists,
including uber-fundraiser Pamela Harriman, had urged
Senator Kerry not to embarrass Clifford by calling him
to testify.
It was a defining moment for Kerry, whose
investigations, more than his legislative record, have
been highlights of his 19-year Senate career. He told
staff to "get the truth out" and follow evidence where
it led - even to the heights of his party.
"It was a career risk," says Jack Blum, Kerry's
special counsel in the Bank of Credit and Commerce
International (BCCI) investigation. "I can't think of
any more potentially career disruptive move than
grilling Clark Clifford."
As a fourth term US Senator, Kerry's legislative
record is modest; Few bills bear his name. His 6,310
Senate votes, mainly liberal, have enough twists and
turns to invite charges of inconsistency. But his
signature investigations were models of dogged, even
relentless focus, and may tell more about his persona
and likely attributes as a president than anything
else he has done in his 19 years in the Senate.
His probes included tracking illegal gunrunners to the
Reagan White House (1985-86), drug traffickers to
Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega (1988), and Mr.
Noriega's dirty money to BCCI and some of the top
powerbrokers in Washington (1987-92).
"Every one of his investigations is about holding
government accountable and forcing Washington to
change official reality to conform to the facts on the
ground," says Jonathan Winer, a top Kerry aide during
these investigations. "He did it year after year after
year. One investigation led to another."
To supporters, this capacity to ask penetrating
questions is one that helps a leader craft policy in
often-complex situations. But critics say Kerry's
focus on investigation has smacked of grandstanding,
prompting the moniker "live shot Kerry" early in the
senator's career. Others note that obsession with
detail sometimes reflects a reluctance to set
bigger-picture objectives or, when needed, to move on.
A former county prosecutor, Kerry thrives on the
minutiae of a long, complex investigation. Unlike many
senatorial colleagues, he reads through evidence
himself. He's an aggressive questioner, constantly
bringing hearings back to basics: what witnesses knew
and when they knew it. But he's also shown he can
build consensus, as he did with a charged MIA/POW
investigation that opened the door for the US to
restore relations with Vietnam.
If he makes it to the White House, Kerry will be only
the third US senator in history - after Warren Harding
and John Kennedy - to go straight from Capitol Hill to
the presidency. And neither got there by writing great
laws.
It's an irony of politics that a strong legislative
résumé may be more likely to sink a presidential bid
than to make one. Thousands of votes make too big a
target, experts say. And the grind of making laws
rarely helps a newcomer make a name.
Following big footsteps
Early on, Kerry took the road prospected by John F.
Kennedy: nailing a big oversight investigation. For
Kennedy, it was corruption in the Teamsters union - a
high-profile probe including recognizable villains,
misdeeds you can talk about over breakfast, and
television coverage.
..Read more at the above site.
