Keller Leads Drudge With Kerry Story

Wow. The lead item on the Drudgereport right now is Jon Keller’s item suggesting that John Kerry really might be a vice presidential pick for Barack Obama.

Given the fact that Kerry lost four years ago, Keller’s potential scoop seems unlikely. But here’s the case WBZ’s political analyst, citing political insiders, makes for it:

“Kerry brings more money and name recognition to the table than any other name on the Obama list so far. Americans do tend to love a comeback kid and this would be the most amazing political comeback since Richard Nixon came back from the dead forty years ago…Polls show many voters question Obama’s foreign policy credentials to be a wartime president. As a decorated veteran and longtime member of the senate foreign relations committee, Kerry could fill that gap. Obama suffers from being a new face on the political scene, but Kerry – warts and all – is well known to the voters, and in 2004, he did draw more votes than any Democrat ever has.”

Keller could have added that Obama owes Kerry, big time, as Dick Cheney would say. Kerry picked Obama to give the keynote address at the 2004 convention launching the rise of his political star. No John Kerry, no Barack Obama candidacy. Plus they also share an important fundraiser, Alan Solomont.

I still think it’s unlikely. Isn’t the country sortof, well done, with Kerry. And from Kerry’s perspective, why would he want the number two job, when he was a state away (Ohio) from having the top position?

Still it’s an interesting premise. I bet WBZ’s site gets the most hits it ever has. That’s the value of having a t.v. political reporter who actually reports.

BTW, I’m writing this from the important swing state of Pennsylvania, which Kerry won in 2004. I could envision a scenario where Kerry is an asset in this race. The main problem, however, is that he reinforces one of Obama’s negative qualities. While he brings great foreign policy and military experience — notwithstanding the shameful and spurious charges of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — he is also elite and, a bit, effete. I’m not sure he plays in Peoria.

EDIT. I have to correct my item and give credit where it’s due. While Drudge linked to Keller, Keller himself gives the credit for the Kerry story to David Bernstein of The Boston Phoenix. Here’s Bernstein’s original item. BTW, Bernstein has become an invaluable resource on local and national politics.

Implications of Jon Keller’s Bluest State

I know there’s a debate right now at BlueMass and elsewhere about Jon Keller’s new book, “The Bluest State:How Democrats Created the Massachusetts Blueprint for American Political Disaster.” Adam Reilly has also weighed in.

What I’m most interested in are the implications of his book for the 2008 presidential race.

While the nation contemplates taking a chance on Barack Obama, an erudite black Harvard Law grad, we’ve already taken the plunge with our own mini-Obama,” he writes of the Massachusetts’ election of Deval Patrick as governor in 2006.

Although Mr. Obama’s opponent, Senator Clinton, is also a baby boomer and perhaps her generation’s most famous liberal woman, Mr. Keller sees her as being able to transcend the political pathologies of her generation. In his book, Mr. Keller writes of a speech Mrs. Clinton delivered in 2006, in which she referred to abortion as a “sad, even tragic choice” and called for the promotion of contraception and prevention of unwanted pregnancies and was consequently pilloried in the pro-choice community. He quotes a National Organization for Women official criticizing Mrs. Clinton for her comments and for supporting anti-abortion Democratic candidate, Bob Casey, a “significant concern” for NOW.

On Romney: “A fully engaged Romney, downplaying social positions that few Massachusetts voters support and using the threat of a second term to enhance his clout, might have gotten more done for the beleaguered working classes here,” Mr. Keller writes. “Instead, Romney leaves behind a compelling diagnosis of what’s wrong with Kennedy country but no antidote.”

Read more here.