Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., spoke Tuesday after returning from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said the United States has vital national security interests in the region.

The discovery of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan angered American lawmakers who have suggested cutting American aid to Islamabad.

Kerry says the U.S. has to get the policy right with Pakistan in the aftermath of the raid May 2 in which U.S. SEALS apprehended and killed bin Laden on an estate near a Pakistani military training academy. On Afghanistan, Kerry says he sees no purely military solution but he is optimistic about the overall outlook.

Continue Reading...

This is the context in which Kerry seems to be launching his latest -- and very possibly final -- push for a big career promotion. The five-term Massachusetts senator, who has chaired the Foreign Relations Committee since 2009, has been highly visible as anti-government protests have swept Egypt in the past two weeks. There was a well-received Op-Ed in the New York Times on Jan. 31, a "Meet the Press" appearance on Sunday and "a lot of headlines in between. Given that no one expects Hillary Clinton to stay on even if there's a second Obama term, the Boston Globe's Joan Vennochi wrote that Kerry "is running an unofficial campaign to become the next secretary of state." And, she added, "for once, he looks artful, as well as ambitious."

Continue Reading...

A quick check turned up citations of the senator's remark by Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters, Tucker Carlson's The Daily Caller, and the right-wing blog Legal Insurrection, which apparently started the ruckus.

Continue Reading...

Reid was originally going to maybe put some Earth-helping stuff in a bill responding to the Gulf oil spill, with the idea that Republicans would be embarrassed to vote against a bill addressing the oil spill, but Republicans are shameless, and so Harry Reid gave up.

John Kerry -- who made headlines for incessantly bugging his peers to pass a climate bill despite the fact that no one wanted too -- promises this won't take as long as health care did, which is probably good, because if it takes as long as health care did, there won't be much the Senate can do.

Continue Reading...

Everley led off with his thoughts this morning, and a response from Roberts followed a few hours later (it appears below Everley's post).

Steve Everley: With the unemployment rate near 10 percent, creating jobs should be the first consideration of our elected leaders, but instead President Obama and his liberal allies in Congress are insisting on enacting a national energy tax that will kill jobs and drive American businesses overseas.

Continue Reading...

And it probably won't go anywhere. Because Graham threw a tantrum about immigration reform (a cause he also supports!) and backed out of the traditional Masonic bill-unveiling ceremony. Then he told everyone that the bill couldn't pass anyway. So now John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, America's original odd couple, are traveling the media circuit, trying to sell a climate bill without ever using the phrase "cap-and-trade."

(Oil executives couldn't make it to the unveiling either, because they're embarrassed about the millions of gallons of oil they spilled.)

Continue Reading...

In a joint statement, Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., write:

We are more encouraged today that we can secure the necessary votes to pass this legislation this year in part because the last weeks have given everyone with a stake in this issue a heightened understanding that as a nation, we can no longer wait to solve this problem which threatens our economy, our security and our environment. Our optimism is bolstered because there is a growing and unprecedented bi-partisan coalition from the business, national security, faith and environmental communities that supports our legislation and is energized to work hard and get it passed.

Lieberman said on "Fox News Sunday" that even with the (presumably modified) offshore drilling proposals in the bill, "I think we've got a real shot at this."

Continue Reading...

John Kerry is going to introduce the climate legislation that he wrote with Graham and Joe Lieberman next week. And Kerry promised Graham would vote for it! Roll Call reports:

Of Graham, Kerry said: "He's going to vote for the bill" regardless of whether he's at the unveiling.

The Senate cannot do one thing at a time. Sen. Kerry should know this. I'm not sure how he expects them to do three things. (Sorry, four things. Next week is also when President Obama will most likely introduce us to his new Supreme Court nominee.)

Continue Reading...

At an event on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., announced their version of the cap-and-trade legislation.

"We know clean energy is the ticket to strong, sustainable economic growth," Boxer said. Kerry echoed Boxer's optimism about the measure. "Ultimately, this bill is about keeping Americans safe," he said. President Obama lauded the tandem, saying in a prepared statement, "With the draft legislation they are announcing today, we are one step closer to putting America in control of our energy future and making America more energy independent."

Continue Reading...

Biden:

Kerry:

Continue Reading...

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, for one, repeatedly emphasized during his press briefing Tuesday that the decision to withdraw was Daschle's, and not President Obama's. "I don't know how much more clear I could be. The decision was Senator Daschle's," Gibbs finally said. "I don't know how much more clearly I can say the word 'no.'"

And some of the former Senate majority leader's old colleagues are still standing behind him. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) released a statement in which he said:

I wish Tom Daschle had not decided to withdraw his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services. While Tom's decision is a reminder of his loyalty to President Obama and his determination not to be a distraction, this was no ordinary appointment and today is not a good day for the cause of health care reform... Tom made it very clear he'd made a mistake and he took responsibility for it. I believe that when the smoke clears and the frenzy has ended, no one will believe that this unwitting mistake should have erased thirty years of selfless public service and remarkable legislative skill and expertise on health care. I know Tom Daschle well. I know his integrity and I respect his heart for this cause, and I know Tom will find other ways to contribute to this central mission.

Continue Reading...

If the fall campaign brought with it the risk of drowning in a tidal wave of polling data, the occupational hazard during the transition period between presidents is dying from thirst in a parched landscape devoid of any reliable information. Even the ballyhooed release Wednesday of the identities of Obama's major transition team leaders in Washington may have been a diversion from the real drama in Chicago. As one veteran of the Clinton White House says, "The only transition that matters is in Barack Obama's living room."

Continue Reading...

Florida

Obama won: 51%-49%

Kerry lost: 47% to 52%

Gore "lost:" 49% to 49%

North Carolina

Obama won: 50% to 49%

Kerry lost: 44% to 56%

Gore lost: 43% to 56%

Virginia

Obama won: 52% to 47%

Kerry lost: 45% to 54%

Gore lost: 45% to 52%

Pennsylvania

Obama won: 55% to 44%

Kerry won: 51% to 49%

Gore won: 51% to 47%

Ohio

Obama won: 51% to 47%

Kerry lost 49% to 51%

Gore lost 46% to 50%

Indiana

Obama won: 50% to 49%

Kerry lost: 39% to 60%

Gore lost: 41% to 57%

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...

Water under the bridge, yes, I know. But a link recently passed to me by one of my cycling buddies offers fresh reminders of the difference between then and now.

In 2004, Republicans seized every chance they could to mock Kerry for riding an $8,000 titanium frame Serotta road bike, contrasting it relentlessly with George Bush's more manly Trek mountain bike. Rush Limbaugh took particular glee in painting Kerry as an elitist -- hell, everyone knows road-biking is the sport most beloved of the pusillanimous French!

Continue Reading...