Reasons To Vote For Kerry Qua Kerry

I'm not going to do a formal (or even informal) endorsement piece, because it's been clear since this blog started that I support the Democratic candidate. However, I've been asked more than a few times if I'm in any sense pro-Kerry as opposed to just anti-Bush.

So here's my attempt at the objective case for Kerry:

1) He's from the northeast.

2) He's a liberal.

3) If he wins, Howard Fineman will never again be able to say that northeastern liberals can't be elected president.

4) If he wins without carrying a Confederate state, the punditariat will be forced to re-evaluate its conceptions of "the heartland" and "real America" &c.

5) He's got a Jewish grandfather. That's a plus for me. I'm sorry, it just is.

6) He'd be competent. He's been at least competent in every venture in his professional career.

7) Most important and intrinsic to Kerry himself is the point made by Jim Holt in Slate's endorsement article:

Kerry opposes the death penalty. In doing so, he passes a test of rationality and moral decency that every other Republican and Democratic presidential candidate has failed for at least the last three elections.

Hear hear!