Dueling Opinions: Jobim's First Response To Me

Take it away, Antonio:

As I understand it, Bush's service records were released, as they should be. (And the report that records were "destroyed" or "lost" apparently turned out to be erroneous.)

But, as I've already stated, I'm not particularly interested in what happened with either of these men 30-odd years ago, but if one (or both) wishes to campaign on what they did back then, I think they should disclose the information.

As for the National Journal thing, the first time I cited it on this list, I noted it was for the last year and not a career rating. It is certainly possible that had Kerry made more votes, he would have had a more "moderate" record. But it's also possible his voting record moved to the left as he sought to outflank Dean for the nomination. Either is possible (as [someone on the list] has already note[d]).

The larger point remains -- John Kerry is well to the left of the American people even if he is "only" among the ten most liberal members of the U.S. Senate. (Indeed, most Senate Democrats are to the left of the American public. The exceptions -- Bayh, Miller, Nelson, Breaux -- are notable. Indeed, HRC is notable in her moderation compared to most of the caucus. It's no wonder that several Democratic Senate candidates in non-liberal states skipped the DNC convention.) Edwards voting record (which I have never criticized as being liberal) is more moderate, and on some issues
Edwards has been more responsible than Kerry throughout his career.

In any event, I believe Kerry is quite vulnerable on his voting record -- both for being liberal and for flip-flopping opportunistically. More importantly, I think that in evaluating a candidate's fitness for office, recent political positions and actions are far more significant than the idiocies and irresponsibilities of youth. George W. Bush was a drunken, womanizing lout in his youth, but that has little bearing on his fitness for the office of President. That John Kerry may have been a scheming, conniving, opportunistic lout way back then is only relevant (in my mind) to the extent he remains that sort of person today -- and I expect most Americans fell [sic] the same way.