Opinion: John Kerry’s help a blessing or a curse?

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

John Kerry’s decision to publicly back Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential campaign invites comparisons to a star-crossed endorsement during the party’s 2004 race: Al Gore’s embrace of Howard Dean. And, on the surface, that won’t evoke pleasant thoughts for the Obama camp.

Gore wasn’t the acclaimed prophet of global warming when he endorsed the former Vermont governor -- then a hot candidate -- in early December 2003. No, at that point Gore was, to a swath of Democrats, the guy who blew a presidential election he should have won (without the angst and controversy of the Florida recount). Kerry, of course, is viewed much the same by some.

In political lore, Dean’s collapse four years ago is often correlated with Gore’s support -- mostly jokingly, but with some serious undertones. And Gore’s backing, to some degree, did appear to undercut Dean’s anti-establishment appeal. But Dean’s undoing was mostly of his own making -- a series of verbal gaffes on his part just coincidentally happened to follow in the wake of Gore signing up with him.

That said, Kerry’s endorsement does seem ...

to cut against the grain of Obama’s effort to pitch himself as one who can redefine the ways of Washington. Kerry, given his career path, is an embodiment of those ways. And their personas could not be more different -- Kerry is as charisma-challenged as Obama is laden with that elusive quality.

Perhaps that’s the upside of the Kerry endorsement -- he can help Obama deflect criticism that he’s mostly flash. And then there’s the 3-million-strong donor list that Kerry and his aides love to tout. We imagine most of those folks already have given and committed to a candidate in this cycle’s contest, but perhaps a small number have been waiting for a nod from Kerry. And perhaps some of those who have been for Obama now will sign up to actively work for him

Add it all up and, as with most endorsements, the bottom line on Kerry’s announcement is that it’s worthy of note, but then quickly becomes a footnote in the campaign’s narrative.

Ironically, one of the two Democratic bigwigs whose support might make a big difference but who remain on the sidelines now includes Gore (the other being liberal lion Ted Kennedy).

-- Don Frederick