For principles in his life & background look at John Kerry. View as well: George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004.

Issue stances
Kerry's stance on the foreign & farm issues of the day is outlined around his book co-authored by John Edwards, "Our Plan for America - Stronger at Home, Respected in the World" & these are available [http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/our_plan_for_america.pdf here in PDF form].

A bit of of Kerry's positions, idewhen & lives by owning national issues come as follows:

Economy
Kerry supports increasing a minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. Kerry believes around "equal pay for equal work." Kerry supported a Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act. Inside 1993, Kerry voted for NAFTA. Kerry supports eliminating revenue enhancement incentives for corporations that move operations overseas & making efforts to reduce outsourcing.

Education and science
Kerry voted for the No Child Left Behind Act and argues that it should be "fully funded" which would entail funding many software download as much as authoritative levels of funding. He proposed the fresh "Education Trust Fund" to expect a federal government to fund computer program as much as their authorizaed levels. He besides proposed the "College Opportunity Tax Credit" for "economically vulnerable" students.

Kerry promises to increase funding for research project, to reduce restrictions in stem cell research, & to help cooperation by using foreign man of science by improving immigration and visa practices. He would trend lines efforts to reduce global warming.

Law and justice
As an adjunct da, Kerry personally prosecuted armed robbers, raper, & mob bosses. He is in favor putting resources in a community, backing the Community Oriented Policing System Act (COPS), & creating laws that lead to malefactor existence arrested and convicted. Kerry has advocated expanding a Pig program to place 100,000 policeman within community policing assignments. Kerry supports a Police Corps program. In the Senate, Kerry has advocated laws that punish pusher & money launderers.

Death penalty
Kerry has hanker stated his opposition to the demise penalty, however has recently stated that he would trend lines it in the pack of condemned terrorists. He got antecedently opposed a demise penalty for terrorists on the evidence that it would produce it hard to extradite suspects to the United States to have test. (Several nations refuse extraditiin requests, on humanist evidence, whenever a suspect faces execution.)

Illegal drugs
Kerry's proposals to treat sustaining illegal doses include focusing in keeping doses away from a united states also when reducing require for illegal doses. Kerry supports sharply targeting vendor & dealers. Kerry supports funding drug bar & professional assistance computer program.

Gun control
Kerry occurs as gun creator & hunter. Kerry believes that law-abiding U.s. adults should prove my point to stand a right to have guns, but only guns that fall inside the "hunters and sportsmen" paradigm. When he has systematically voted against a positions of the National Rifle Association, in 2002 he was given a performance rating of F, their last rating. Too within 2002, the pro-gun control Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence indicated that Kerry voted their preferred position 100% of the period.

As a senator, Kerry has supported: The Brady Bill and mandatory background checks Legislation to close a thus-alleged "gun show loophole" A ban in various types of semi-automatic piece, unremarkably called a Assault weapons ban Mandatory gun locks.

Social Security
Kerry is against budget cuts that are causal agents for cutbacks around Social Security benefits. He opposes privatizing Social Security accounts.

Abortion
Kerry affiliates himself by using "pro-choice" women's organizations. Kerry is against a criminalisation of abortion. In a Senate, Kerry hwhen systematically voted against bans in abortions conducted in war machine bases & military installations overseas, too as against the ban in partial-birth abortion. He has been given the 0 percent rating from either either the National Best to Life Committee & a 100% rating from NARAL.

Around an locate in July 4, 2004 Kerry told the Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald  "I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception." "I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist," he continued in the locate. "We have separation of church and state in the United States of America." [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27920-2004Jul4.html]

Gay rights
Kerry is pro the acknowledgement & protection of civil rights for homophile & sapphic Americans. John Kerry is an original cosponsor of the Hate Crimes Prevention bill and supports passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. He introduced a super early bill (1985) into the Senate to statutorily forbid sexual-orientation-depending discrimination. Kerry cosponsored a Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (CARE) and likewise sponsored a Vaccines for the New Millennium Act.

Kerry supports equivalent-sex civil unions, though not same-sex marriage. Kerry supported legislation to provide spouse equivalent of federal employees the benefits available to partner of federal employees. Kerry voted against a Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in a Senate in 1996 & opposes the projected Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA). He & Senator Edwards were scatty for the abortive vote to invoke cloture on a FMA, a procedural move that the FMA's advocator experienced conceded advance would become defeated. Around an locate sustaining National Public Radio around February of 2004, Kerry endorsed equal rights for equivalent-sex couples, however commented that "the word marriage kind of gets in the way of the whole debate," because of the religious origin of marriage when existence limited to male-female unions.

Kerry opposes a "don't ask, don't tell" policy & is in favor lifting a ban in homophile in the armed services.

Since 1995, Human Rights Campaign, the united states's big gay-rights protagonism class action, has given Kerry the 100% rating for his balloting record around Congress.

Affirmative Action
Kerry states that he supports affirmatory action & diversity computer software, the claim supported by his Senate ballot record. He has, nonetheless, expressed reservations all about affirmatory action it used to be that, virtually all notably around a 1992 speech where he reportedly known as the practice "inherently limited and divisive," explaining that it "has kept America thinking in racial terms."

National service
Kerry supports supplementing national service inside 100% aspects of Our contries life, including requiring community service for high school students to graduate, a "Summer of Service" for teen (au fond community service when you took summertime breaks from either school, by owning the U.S. $500 grant for college), increasing a Peace Corps to 25,000 members, requiring universities that receive Federal funding to offer a ROTC, and providing further funding for ROTC scholarships.

Security & foreign policy

Iraq
Kerry voted around trend lines of a Senate guide authorizing the President to have click against Saddam Hussein if he failed to surrender his weapons of mass destruction & related tools for constructing and distributing the children.[http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/10/11/iraq.us/] Kerry, within October 2002, declared his belief that "Iraq has some lethal and incapacitating agents and is capable of quickly producing weaponizing of a variety of such agents, including anthrax, for delivery on a range of vehicles, such as bombs, missiles, aerial sprayers and covert operatives which would bring them to the United States itself." A National Intelligence Estimate, to which Kerry had access, held a few skepticism of Iraq's capability. Kerry's vote to trend lines a utilise of inflict around Iraq was given using hard stipulations that completely more peaceful avenues become exhausted 1st, & that any action of click would exist as knock off conjunction using a globe coalition, & non good by owning the British. ([http://www.independentsforkerry.org/uploads/media/kerry-iraq.html Kerry's full statement before casting his resolution vote])

Fallowing a President launched the U.S. invasion against Iraq, without meeting all of Kerry's stipulation, Kerry reiterated his position and declared the Administration's Iraq policy reckless at best and baseless at worst. He has since been outspoken against a treating of the war & of the Bush Administration's stewardship of occupied Iraq, attacking what he calls unfortunate planning & unfortunate diplomacy in Bush's a share, however supports remaining around Iraq until a project of reconstruction & reconciliation is complete. He changed his positiin on WMDS by saying it were non plenty to return war by having Iraq. ([http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/national_security/iraq.html Kerry's post-attack view on Iraq]) This has harmed Kerry's campaign in the eyes of occasionally because it imagine it has mass produced him seem such as the "flip-flopper", changing his position to better lawsuit what is popular.

Kerry has been criticized by Howard Dean and others for his position on the war, which some say is inconsistent. Kerry has since explained his vote authorizing click by claiming that he believed the Senate guide was meant to exist as a diplomatic "threat" to Saddam Hussein & non the blank check for war.

Multilateralism
Kerry advocates involving NATO, troops from more countries & a United Nations in U.S.-led efforts to achieve the goals of the "stable" & "democratic" globe. Based on data from a Harvard Crimson, Kerry said within 1970 that a United Nations should use approval across virtually all of my foreign operation. "I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations." He has since disowned this 1970 position. Kerry says he has universally believed a United States has a absolute perfect to defend itself.

Throughout his Senate career, Kerry was likewise the stanch critic of numbers of foreign policy initiatives of Republican Presidents. He opposed & voted against a Gulf War in 1991, and opposed funding a Contras in Nicaragua and similar armed groups in Latin Us.

Kerry is favorite by virtually all allies, based on data from [http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/GlobeScan-PIPA_Release.pdf this poll].

Military
Kerry sponsored a Code of Conduct of Arms Transfers Act, which would prohibit U.S. military assistance & arms transfers to undemocratic nations, human rights violators or armed aggressors.

Kerry cosponsored an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Bill that allows the armed services to conveyance families of soldiers maimed spell on active duty.

Kerry elaborated proposals for office of homeland security efforts include recruitment a National Guard and AmeriCorps, creating a community defense service, ensuring number one defenders & foremost answerer come equipped & quick, improving it, reforming household intelligence, implementing public health initiatives & improving infrastructure security.

Kerry & fellow Vietnam-era Navy veteran Senator John McCain (R-AZ) have worked together around a Nineties to investigate the possibility that there were however POWs in Vietnam.

Environment
Kerry advocates removal of toxins from communities, bolstering the Superfund cleanup program, & reducing sprawl and traffic congestion.

Proposals for "Green and Clean Communities" include a Toxics Project Click at the EPA, fighting air pollution, water pollution and fighting other environmental hazards. Kerry has proposed the "Conservation Covenant." When a portion of a covenant, Kerry might extend the Endangered Species Act for the benefits of wildlife & habitat protection to public and private lands and reinvest public-land royalties back into land protection.

Inside 2002, Kerry was one of a leaders of the Senate filibuster that defeated the Bush administration's proposal to open a Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Kerry wants to participate in the development of an international climate change strategy to address global warming.

Inside 1998, a League of Conservation Voters gave Kerry an award for having one of a better environmental ballot records in a Senate across the former 5 years. Around 2004, a Sierra Club endorsed Kerry, a number one period it got endorsed the Presidential candidate prior to the person conventions.

Immigration
Kerry supports cutting a Bureau for Citizenship & Immigration Services' application pending backlog & reducing a lag for the naturalization process. Kerry endorses advantages to legal immigrants. Kerry supports a "Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors" (DREAM) Work for undocumented high school students world health organization come to the United States when youngsters, & world health organization search higher education at around-state tuition rates.

Kerry supports the proposal of legalizing the statUnited states of undocumented immigrants, pending a certain total of working period in the US & passing a background prevent. Kerry has proposed border enforcement reformation & increases of border enforcement funding.

Campaign slogans
Kerry's campaign utilized numbers of motto to describe his run the presidency: "A stronger America begins at home." "A safer, stronger, more secure America." "The real deal" — typically printed in round campaign devices when shown on the right "The courage to do what's right for America" "Together, we can build a stronger America" "A lifetime of service and strength" "Let America be America again" — the title of a verse form by Langston Hughes "A new team, for a new America" "Stronger at home, respected in the world" "America deserves better" "Let us make one America" — from either Edwards' previous presidential campaign "Hope is on the way!" — chanted by Edwards & his supporters when you took his speech at a 2004 Democratic National Convention "Help is on the way!" — chanted by Kerry & his supporters in a period of his speech when the 2004 Democratic National Convention "We’re coming, you’re going, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out."

Campaign history

Campaign managers

Early, John Kerry's campaign manager was Jim Jordan. But, Jordan was fired & Mary Beth Cahill replaced him as campaign manager. Kerry besides hired Bob Shrum as a campaign consultant. Cahill & Shrum were known for disagreeing in how else a campaign should become begin.

Endorsements
Before the primaries, Kerry collected endorsements from either a kind of notable Popular numbers, including: Previous New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy California Senator Dianne Feinstein Former Georgia Senator Max Cleland Previous Colorado Senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart Previous Labor Secretary and Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich Previous Ambassador Joseph Wilson (of Valerie Plame fame)

Inside sheer amounts, all the same, Kerry experienced fewer endorsements than Howard Dean, who was far leading in the superdelegate race going into a Iowa caucuses inside February 2004. Running into a primaries, Kerry's campaign wwhen largely seen as around pain; a key factor enabling it to endure was Kerry's mortgaging his own front yard & lending a money to his campaign.

A sole notable trades union to originally endorse him was a International Association of Firefighters; however, Kerry's trend lines quickly snowballed when he won caucuses & primaries. He received a endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters prior to the Future Hampshire primary, the 1st for that organization. He likewise received a trend lines of every of his previous contender when it misused primaries & dropped away from a race, beginning by owning Missouri representative Dick Gephardt. Plenty of more notability Democrats followed, when did several trades union which got antecedently backed Gephardt or even even Dean or stayed away from a race totally (he won a endorsement of the entire AFL-CIO just prior to his Super Tuesday showdown with Edwards).

Becoming a candidate, he gained a trend lines of virtually each Popular politician & organization in the united states. Both notable exceptions were retiring Georgia Senator Zell Miller, a conservative Democrat who endorsed George W. Bush, and Ed Koch, the former three-term mayor of New York City. Tons of the previous candidates for the nomination endorsed Kerry.

In September 29, John Eisenhower, the boy of the previous Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower, endorsed Kerry in the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper, saying that the Republican Party of today "is one with which I am totally unfamiliar".

Ralph Nader's running mate in the 1996 and 2000 elections, Native American activist Winona LaDuke, refused to support him in 2004. Instead, she declared: "I am voting for John Kerry this November. I love this land, and I know that we need to make drastic changes in Washington if we are going to protect our land and our communities." [http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=5316]

Campaign controversies
"Global test" / "truth test"
Kerry was under attack per Bush campaign for this statement from either a number 1 debate: "But if and when you do it [protect the United States of America], you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons." When a debate, a Bush campaign presented that statement when grounds to believe that Kerry would allow foreign nations veto power across a united states's national security. Kerry denied that assertion, stating that there is no united states have had veto power all over a security of the United States. In the third debate, Kerry rephrased it as a "truth test."

"Swift Boat Veterans for Truth"
Early in the 2004 presidential election campaign an organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was established to challenge John Kerry's bid for the presidency.

A class action, led by Vietnam seasoned John O’Neill, claimed that Kerry was "unfit to serve," based on various cited anecdotes regarding his wartime conduct, but largely focusing on his past activism in the anti-Vietnam war movement. When Kerry got criticized the food and drug administration's extremely unpopular war policy, the SBVT class action claimed that his criticism was a "betrayal of trust" by owning more soldiers, & that by his activism he experienced driven straight & unforgivable "harm" to soldiers however at war. More Vietnam veterans, including many world health organization got served by using Kerry, denounced a charges against him when entirely traitorously. (Watch John Kerry military service controversy.)

Numbers of suppose that a organization’s accusations coupled by having a Kerry campaign’s slow reaction to the babies were the important factor out Kerry’s November kill.

Vice-presidential selection
Kerry's campaign began the run of shopping for a vice-presidential nominee, for instance known as a "Veepstakes", shortly after Kerry's Super Tuesday victories. Kerry known as Jim Johnson, former consultant to Vice President Walter F. "Fritz" Mondale, as the head of a vice-presidential search process.

One of the major even criterithe considered to exist as the factor finding the vice-presidential candidate is the ability to deliver a traditionally Republican or a swing state in the November election. Each successful Popular presidential campaign since 1960 has included the politician from either the swing state (ordinarily in the South) who helped deliver one or more states for the Democrats.

Per number 1 week of July 2004, learned person & victims about a Kerry campaign indicated that a vice-presidential choice experienced narrowed to trey expected options: U.S. Sen. John R. Edwards (N.C.), U.S. Rep. Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt (Mo.), and Iowa Gov. Thomas J. Vilsack, all of whom have reportedly been instructed to clear their calendars for a potential annoucement during the second week of July. Edwards, from either North Carolina, is a Southerner; a more deuce, from either Missouri and Iowa respectively, are Midwesterners (the Midwest is take for a key area containing many swing states). When latterly June, a charismatic Edwards was the number one selection of Popular elector, based on data from many polls; occasionally savant attribute this to high name recognition, due to his runner-up status in the primaries.

On the morning of 6 July 2004, Kerry announced the choice of John Edwards when his running off mate. All the same, at Tenner p.m. on a nighttime prior to the official announcement, the information was leaked by an aerodrome worker world health organization saw Edwards's title existence painted in Kerry's plane, which was to exist as utilized to announce his selection of running off mate. In 6 July, the Kerry campaign sent an e-mail message to his supporters at about 8:15 the.m. EDT informing the children of the selection, & manufactured the formal announcement for Ennead a.m. EDT inside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

For the history & discussion of the conceivable options that were considered prior to Edwards was chosen, view John Kerry presidential campaign VP selection process.

Democratic Convention
At a Democratic National Convention, Kerry processed his Vietnam War experience a large theme. Around accepting a nomination, he began his speech by using, "I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty."

Charted his official nomination at the Convention, Kerry received sole a little bounce in the polls & remained "neck and neck" by owning his opponent, Bush. This was the 1st period around recent political history that the candidate failed to receive a material boost around post-convention poll figures. A few political savant attributed this little boost to the unco little total of undecided elector every bit equated sustaining last presidential elections.

Debates
In March 13, while at the speaking engagement around Quincy, Illinois site of one of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates, Kerry challenged Bush to a series of each month debates. A Bush campaign declined a challenge.

In September 20th, a Bush campaign & the Kerry campaign jointly released a memorandum of understanding between the two campaigns. A 32-web page MOU covered around microscopic detail numbers of aspects of the staging & format for the presidential and vice-presidential debates.

In September 30th, Kerry and Bush debated at University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in the first of trinity scheduled debates. This debate focused in foreign policy issues. Polls conducted immediately following the debate suggests that a majority of undecided elector think that Kerry fared better than Bush did. Streaming late showed Kerry pulling something away from his jacket, apparently the piece of paper, inside violation of the MOU. the Kerry campaign stated it was a pen. This however violated the MOU, however it would become taken lot less seriously than in case it were a piece of paper. the story did non grow into the major even issue, though it received very much coverage for a day or ii.

In October 8th, Kerry and Bush debated at Washington University in St. Louis in a town-hall style debate, with the questions asked by the audience of undecided voters. Polls were split when to world health organization won this debate, when Bush's performance was greatly improved.

In October 13th, Kerry and Bush debated at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. A focus of this debate was domesticated policy issues. Once again, polls were split, however extrthe indicated a win for Kerry than Bush.

In additiin, on October 5th, the vice presidential candidates Senator John Edwards and Vice President Dick Cheney engaged in the debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Miscellanous events
Project Vote Smart challenge
Kerry, like Bush, has refused repeatedly to respond to Project Vote Smart's National Political Awareness Test. [http://www.vote-smart.org/npat.php?can_id=S0421103]. Anthrax scare
In July 22, 2004, campaign staff were opening mail at Kerry's campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C. when white powder fell out of one package at around 5 p.m. on the eighth floor, in which the campaign has its fund-raising & mortal resources departments, along by having a fiscal company unrelated to the campaign.

Unlike a 2001 anthrax attacks, there wwhen no threatening message in, however police force address such incidents as conceivable bioterrorism. On the advice of the Secret Service, a campaign known as local police force, world health organization sealed off the building & encompassing streets. A hazardous materials squad of the District of Columbia Fire Department was also known as. An internal e-mail distributed to a lot campaign workers said:

Though a air conditioning unit was shut down for the half-30 minutes, many aides continued working. When personnel in filarial entered a building, initial tests completed at around Septenary p.m. showed that a powder was actually harmless & was even a select few nature and severity of garlic powder seasoning. A envelope, which contained 2 letter-size envelopes, was turned on top to the FBI for farther touching.

Neither Kerry or even Edwards were at a headquarters whilst this happened. Kerry was political campaign inside Michigan at the period, when Edwards was fund-raising around Connecticut.

Views of Kerry

Tremendously of Kerry's popular trend lines come from either "Anybody but Bush" voters - users who voted for him as a repudiation of the Bush administration's policies. One of a major focuses of his campaign was to attract elector to his stances on the issues, instead of as a de-facto opponent of the President.

A official Kerry for President site declares:

A Kansas City Star endorsed Kerry prior to a Missouri primary & wrote of him:

A Chattanooga Days Yours free! Click endorsed Kerry prior to a Tennessee Democratic primary & editorialized:

A Wa Post experienced this editorial comment in Kerry's approaching front-favorite status:

In an appearance in Milwaukee, fellow candidate and political rival Howard Dean stated, "When you work rather Senator Kerry does, he appears to become extrthe rather George Bush than he does such as a Democrat." [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/7931838.htm]

Critics of Kerry cite Associated Press reports that Kerry made efforts to keep loopholes for special interests. One loophole allowed American International Group to profit from liability insurance coverage it provided for the "Big Dig" project in Boston. AIG later provided the funds for Kerry's trip to Vermont and donated $30,000 (or more) to a group used to set up Kerry's presidential campaign (Company executives also donated $18,000 to his campaigns). Charles Lewis, head of the Center for Public Integrity, stated that "the idethe that Kerry has non helped or even benefited from either a specific favorite interest, which he has said, is perfectly absurd."[http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-02-05-kerry-big-dig_x.htm] Kerry has denied any connection between his assistance to AIG and its contributions to his campaign.

Other politicians, such as Republican opponents and conservative foes, describe Kerry as liberal and out-of-touch with their perception of the mainstream of American society. Commentator Pat Buchanan wrote:

Kerry was in favor of free markets, free trade, and fiscal prudence. The Americans for Democratic Action, a prominent liberal organization, rates Kerry's voting record better than that of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), causing Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie to joke, "Who would use estimated it? Ted Kennedy is the conservative senator from either Massachusetts." [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/previous/?040216frprsp_previous2] (Kerry got a 93 percent from the ADA, Kennedy an 88 percent.) [http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/vote/7055.php] ADA's rating is based on only a smattering of votes.

On June 21, 2004, 48 Nobel laureates endorsed Kerry as they thought that he would increase the prosperity, health, environment, and security of Americans, attract talented scientists and engineers from abroad; and nurture a business environment that creates quality jobs. They criticized the Bush administration for reducing funding for scientific research, setting restrictions on stem cell research, ignoring scientific consensus on critical issues such as global warming, and hampering cooperation with foreign scientists by employing deterring immigration and visa practices. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=5476374]

A [http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/GlobeScan-PIPA_Release.pdf poll] conducted in July and August 2004 showed that citizens of 35 countries, 30 preferred Kerry over Bush. Only Nigeria, the Philippines and Poland preferred Bush. India and Thailand were divided. US Allies such as the UK (47% Kerry to 16% Bush), Germany (74% Kerry to 10% Bush), Spain (45% to 7%), Italy (58% to 14%), Japan (43% to 23%) were all in favor of Kerry. Other countries such as Mexico (38% to 18%), Colombia (47% to 26%), China (52% to 12%) and South-Africa (43% to 29%) are in favor of Kerry as well.