Another article on Kerry's record

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Another article on Kerry's record
Tue, 09-07-2004 - 1:33am
Hi,

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 )

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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.