SwiftVets.com

[kate]

Massachusetts Newspapers Database
The Boston Globe (1980-), Boston Herald (July 26, 1991-), and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette(1989-)

Blast from the past...some of these are real chucklers and some are quite.....ironic

> Note that sKerry was labled a flip-flopping waffler as far back as 1980!



Blurbs from some of the articles below click the 'date' to go to the article, or scroll on down to view all

May 5, 1980
Kerry said to be ‘waffling”

September 2, 1984
"John Kerry changes his tune depending on the audience he's addressing."

"he again charged Kerry with "answering in different ways to different audiences."

"another example of Kerry's flip- flopping here."

October 31, 1984
On the other side we find John Forbes Kerry, the Democrat. He looks as if he would be uncomfortable in anything other than ascot, smoking jacket and satin pants.

Kerry's biggest baggage happens to be his personality: He's tough to take. He looks like the kind of a guy who wrote down a game plan for life when he was still sitting in a sandbox. And he's the kind of candidate who can make even the strongest of Democrats just a bit undecided about what to do next Tuesday.

So, just hold your nose and vote for Kerry

September 13, 1984
When Vietnam is remembered, he said, it should be "as a place where America turned and soldiers like us helped it in the turning."

August 12, 1983
As a Vietnam veteran," Lt. Gov. John Kerry said at the announcement, "I can say to you the road back has obviously been a long one.

"I think a lot of us who have been on that road have a strong sense we've been a long time waiting for various expressions of recognition and hope for the capacity to bring back the 20 percent that's left that still needs to come home."

October 27, 1984
John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, opposes the major new weapons systems sought by the President and goes substantially further than the mainstream of his party, as represented by Walter Mondale, by calling for outright reductions in defense spending rather than a mere slowdown in its growth.

September 12, 1984
No one in this state has fought harder, more consistently, and more effectively in the last 15 years against militarism and for a sensible, peace- oriented foreign policy than John Kerry

February 19, 1984
During a question-and-answer period, Kerry was asked why he, the only candidate who is a member of the administration of Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, doesn't have the governor's endorsement.

May 7, 1985
Indications from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Havana are that while Vietnam and Cuba are great at staging May Day parades of armor, missilery and goose- stepping cannon fodder, they are not very good at feeding their subjects or maintaining democracy, freedom and social felicity.

It is difficult to believe, though, that the 1,313,150 Massachusetts voters who chose Kerry thought they were electing a senator from Managua.

March 1, 1985
In addition to being a senator, Kerry is also a creative financial whiz who just obtained a $473,313 loan from a Rhode Island bank in order to buy a $175,000 town house on Capitol Hill.

Now, either John Kerry is quite popular in Rhode Island or that state has three senators this morning. Or maybe he was just reluctant to dicker with local banks because of recent publicity surrounding their inability to understand federal law or recognize local desperadoes laundering money down at the old neighborhood branch office.

April 10, 1986
Kerry, a Vietnam veteran and leading advocate for special recognition, said yesterday that the veterans "have really engaged in not one, but two struggles.

"The first was the conflict in Southeast Asia, where they served their country. The second was the struggle for recognition and respect at home."

December 1, 1986
Kerry is undeniably one of the biggest media hounds in Washington. If it's 11 o'clock, you know where your senator is: He's on the Capitol steps, adjusting his necktie, waiting for Chet or Nat or Jack or Liz to interview him for the nightly news. A hard worker, bright, cosmopolitan, fixated on career, Kerry is apparently a man of limitless ambition. So single-minded is his drive, say other Bay State pols, it's doubtful that even becoming president would suffice. Is there a goal after president? Do they give Olympic medals to politicians? Nobel prizes?

August 14, 1986
"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" it wasn't.

Sen. John Kerry was not Jimmy Stewart.

"Lesser issues than this get filibustered all the time," Kerry said in defense of the strategy he pushed vigorously. "There was nothing we could do about the parlimentary situation.




Fast Forward to Kerry's 1996 reelection campaign
Kerry's war record was an issue in that election, as it was in the most recent one. Articles start on page 3
here
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one of..... We The People

[kate]

VIETNAM FOES SPLIT\ ACTIVISTS OPPOSE, SUPPORT CARTER SPEECH
Boston Globe
January 25, 1980
Author: Richard H. Stewart Globe Staff

Antiwar activists from the Vietnam era are not as united about President Jimmy Carter's tough-sounding speech on the Persian Gulf as they were about the war in Vietnam.

In interviews yesterday, academics like Prof. Noam Chomsky of MIT and Prof. Howard Zinn of Boston University reacted to Carter's address to Congress Wednesday night by expressing concern that the heightened nationalism in the United States will result in increased expenditures for the military at the expense of domestic needs.

But Sen. George McGovern, who based his race for the Presidency in 1972 on opposition to the Vietnam war, offered his support to the President, as did the man who ran McGovern's campaign, Gary Hart, now a member of the Senate himself.

"I'm really worried about playing on the mood of nationalism which Carter seems to be engaged in," said Zinn. "That doesn't have much to do with what the Russians are doing in Afghanistan as far as the moral issue is concerned, but it does have to do with our oil interests.

"I see it all as a game of power by the elite leaders in the big world. The people whose lives they hold hostage are Americans, Russians, Iranians and Afghans."
Zinn insisted the President's proposal to revive registration for the draft "is part of a general attempt to bring the nation back to acceptance of a war economy and a war psychology."

"What will happen will be an increased allocation of resources for the military and less resources available to solve the problems of fuel and improving living conditions."
Chomsky viewed developments in much the same light.

"I think it's a further step toward enhancing a militaristic posture domestically and internationally, which is extremely dangerous at home and abroad."

Chomsky continued, "When we devote resources to arms - essentially to waste - that means we take them away from productive enterprises. We will suffer."

Chomsky added: "If we proceed to respond to the situation in Asia by giving arms to Pakistan, we will harm the long-term interests of Pakistan as well as our own." Chomsky said the military regime in Pakistan would use the increased weaponry "to repress its own population."

Jerry Grossman, longtime activist and currently involved with the Council for a Liveable World, an organization devoted to international arms control to reduce the prospects of nuclear warfare, said Carter's reference to "military force" if the Russians intrude on the oil-rich Persian Gulf region "means nuclear because that's the only way we can compete with them in that area."

Grossman also took strong exception to the President's move toward renewing the military draft system.

"I'm totally opposed (to the draft) in peacetime. It's irrelevant to the present crisis. We're not going to send masses of troops to the Soviet border or anywhere near it."

As for Carter's proposal to remove some existing restraints on the CIA, Grossman said it "would encourage the CIA to repeat some of the outrages they have perpetrated in the past 20 years. That is extremely dangerous to the health of the republic."

John Kerry, now a State Street attorney but during the Vietnam war the man who organized Vietnam veterans opposed to the war, said he agreed that Carter "has to make a statement about American interests in that area (the Persian Gulf), but I would like to see a greater effort made to bring our allies into that declaration."

Kerry said he would like to see Carter "use caution in the escalation of the rhetoric" involved in the warnings to Russia.

As he did during the Vietnam era, Kerry said he favors the draft - but a "fairly administered and equitable draft" that does not favor the rich and well-educated over the poor.

A spokesman for McGovern said in Washington that the South Dakota Democrat "thought it was a strong and constructive speech. He fully supported the President on the Persian Gulf but parted company with him on the draft."

Hart also offered his support to the President on the warning to the Soviets. A spokesman for the Colorado Democrat said, however, that Hart's position was coupled with an insistence that if the Carter Administration had pursued "a consistent, strong policy" the United States wouldn't be trying to solve these problems today.



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one of..... We The People

[kate]

SUCCESSION TO BE HECTIC
Boston Globe
May 5, 1980


For residents of the 4th Congressional District, it will be difficult to walk the streets today and tomorrow without being asked to sign the nomination papers of a candidate for the seat being vacated by Robert Drinan.

The district covers 20 cities and towns from Brookline northwest to Gardner and Fitchburg, and to get his name on the ballot, a candidate needs 2000 signatures by 5 p.m. Friday.’

"It's not going to be easy," said a legislator. People sign the wrong way, so they'll need 4000 signatures to make sure they've got 2000 good ones, and it'll take an army because the most signatures one person can get in a day is 150 to 200.

"If they don't have an organization, it'll be impossible."

The race promises to be lively.

The first person to announce his candidacy doesn't even live in the district.

State law does not require that a congressman live in the district he represents, but Rep. Barney Frank, the Democratic legislator, decided at once that he would move from the Back Bay of Boston to a 4th District community to enhance his chance of winning Drinan's seat.

The second candidate to announce was Arthur J. Clark, 59, six-time mayor of Waltham.

Late last night, though, the candidate who might provide the toughest challenge to Frank had not yet decided to run.

Atty. John Kerry, former assistant district attorney of Middlesex County, had been sounding his depths of support throughout the district throughout the day, and with the deadline for signatures only 40 hours away, he had not yet made up his mind.

"I would not include him at this point," said an aide late last night. "He's still on the fence, and probably won't decide until Monday morning."

Kerry was on the telephone himself Saturday night to supporters, measuring his support, and although he asked supporters to obtain the appropriate papers for nomination signatures, by Sunday night, he was still waffling.

It was expected he would circulate papers anyway, and postpone a decision on whether to run.

Among Republicans, the only likely candidate appeared to be Avi Nelson, the former host of a talk show and now an aide to Gov. Edward King.

Among those who decided last night that they would not run are former Gov. Michael Dukakis, gubernatorial aide Paul Guzzi, former representative Lois Pines, and state Sen. Jack Backman of Brookline.

John Kerry already has run once for Congress. In 1972, he moved to Lowell and became a candidate for the 5th District seat, winning the primary in a field of 10, then losing in November to Paul W. Cronin of Andover.

The district is made up of 20 communities, five cities: Waltham, Newton, Gardner, Fitchburg and Leominster, and 15 towns: Ayer, Bolton, Brookline, Framingham, Harvard, Lancaster, Lincoln, Lunenberg, Maynard, Shirley, Stowe, Sudbury, Wayland, Westminster and Weston.

"This is a hellish thing," said Frank yesterday. "Everyone is so depressed that Drinan is leaving. You feel almost embarrassed trying to put something together in a short space of time. You have to feel anguish for the man. It's a tough thing personally."

Frank said he saw no impediment in the fact that he has not been a resident of the district.

"But John Kerry has moved around some, too," he said, "but I know as much as anyone else about the economic problems of Eastern to Central Massachusetts."

Kerry conferred several times yesterday with an ally, Norfolk County Dist. Atty. William Delahunt, who provided Kerry with blank nomination papers.

The race is complicated by the probability that this year's census will show a reduction in the state's population, which would mean the number of congressional seats would be reduced from 12 to ll.

The districts most likely to be merged are the 4th, now held by Drinan, and the 12th, now held by Republican Margaret Heckler, because, as one legislator put it, they are composed artificially.

The expectation is that the 4th and 12th Districts would be combined into a pie-shaped district, with Brookline at the apex, and stretching crustward to Concord on the north and Medway and Millis on the south.

The new district would be geographically suburban, philosophically liberal and politically Democratic or Republican.

Most political observers last night were anticipating a primary fight between liberals Frank and Kerry, and a classic liberal-conservative runoff in November between the winning liberal and the conservative Avi Nelson.


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[kate]

CAMPAIGN '82\ KERRY'LL CALL IN THE IOUS
Boston Globe
September 20, 1981 Author: David Farrell

John Forbes Kerry, the much-decorated Vietnam War veteran who became one of the outspoken foes of the Southeast Asian conflict has decided to run for lieutenant governor next year.

The recent decision of Middlesex County Dist. Atty. John J. Droney to retire after more than two decades of distinguished service as county prosecutor, had prompted some of Kerry's supporters to urge him to enter that race in 1982. But Kerry, who served as first assistant district attorney of Middlesex under Droney, will enter the growing field of Democrats seeking the party's lieutenant governor nomination. Those hoping to succeed Lt. Gov. Thomas P. O'Neill 3d include Evelyn Murphy, former secretary of environmental affairs; former state rep Lois Pines of Newton; and William Geary, former top aide to ex-Gov. Michael S. Dukakis. Several other politicians, including Rep. Louis Nickinello of Natick and Chelsea Mayor Joel Pressman, are considering entering the contest.

Although he has already received commitments from many leading Democrats across the state, Kerry's candidacy is not without problems. Ever since he ran and lost a close contest for Congress in 1972, the Yale graduate often has been unfairly viewed as a perennial candidate for office.

For a few days in 1980, he considered running for former Rep. Robert Drinan's seat in Congress, but he stepped aside to support Drinan's successor, Barney Frank. The latter is expected to reciprocate in the upcoming lieutenant governor battle.Stepped aside for Droney in '78

In 1978, Kerry, though he would have liked to have run himself, stood by his boss Droney in that tough Middlesex DA fight against Scott Harshbarger. During his stewardship as Droney's top assistant, Kerry created a white-collar crime unit to combat political corruption and a priority prosecution unit for quick action against violent crimes. He personally supervised the grand jury investigation of the Somerville pinball machine case which resulted in the conviction and incarceration of organized crime figure Howie Winter.

Kerry's rape counseling division and several other programs he launched to combat and deal with child abuse have served as prototypes for similar bureaus in other counties.

But his heroics as a young naval officer during the Vietnam War earned him the national respect still accorded him. The same moral and physical courage which won him the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts during action in the Mekong Delta, also influenced him to go before Congress in 1971 and lead the mounting charge against our continued involvement in the war.

Kerry's Silver Star citation, from the President via former Chief of Naval Operations Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., tells it all:

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepedity in action while serving as an officer in charge of U.S.N. Patrol Craft Fast 94," the citation reads, "while transiting the Bay Hap River along the Dong Cung River on Feb. 28, 1969, P.C. Fast 23, 43 and 94 came under heavy enemy small arms fire from the river banks. Lt. Kerry directed his units to turn to the beach and charge the Viet Cong positions . . . later upstream, Kerry's craft received a B-40 rocket close aboard. Once again Kerry ordered his units to charge the enemy positions . . . then he beached in the center of the enemy positions. Lt. Kerry led an assault party and conducted a sweep of the area. After the enemy was completely routed, Kerry's units again came under a hail of fire, this time from the opposite bank. Lt. Kerry suppressed the enemy fire. Later, after disembarking personnel while exiting the Bay Hap River, P.C. Fast again came under fire and Lt. Kerry maneuvered his craft through several strafing runs which completely silenced the enemy . . . Kerry's devotion to duty, courage under fire, outstanding leadership and exemplary professionalism directly contributed to the success of this operation and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the US Naval Service."Won gains for Vietnam veteransKerry was awarded the Bronze Star for "his great personal courage under fire" rescuing a comrade while he himself was wounded and under fire from the Viet Cong on March 13, 1969.

After he was discharged from the Navy, his antiwar crusade, combined with his efforts on behalf of Vietnam veterans, helped produce many of the major gains won by the veterans of the unpopular conflict. These include the extension of the GI Bill, the recognition of the post-Vietnam syndrome as a VA-treatable disorder, and the outreach and psychological rehabilitation programs which became crusades of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

His work for the Democratic Party over the years has earned him the right to call in his many political IOUs for his lieutenant governor campaign. His party endeavors include extensive campaigning in several congressional and two national presidential campaigns.

Kerry feels that his background as a prosecutor and his experience in national and state affairs during the past decade make him the best qualified candidate now seeking the lieutenant governorship. He concedes that the position of lieutenant governor does not have a great deal of the muscle so necessary for keeping Massachusetts economically competitive with other high technology and industrial states.

But there are some tools in the office which, he says, can be utilized to those ends. He also feels that the commonwealth is not doing enough to deal with the sharp increase in crime reported here and around the nation and says he will have some specific proposals to deal with that problem when he formally announces his candidacy.

As an undergraduate at Yale in the mid-'60s, Kerry was president of the Yale Political Union and treasurer of the Young Democrats. He won prizes for oratory and debating as well as several varsity letters. He delivered his class commencement address at graduation in 1966. He then entered the Navy and served as an officer on a guided missle frigate in the Gulf of Tonkin prior to his assignment to a command post over patrol boats in the Mekong Delta.

He thinks his greatest achievement as first assistant district attorney of Middlesex was reducing the backlog of pending cases from 12,000 in 1977 to 228 by the summer of 1979. In a 12-month period, he also secured more than $4 million in federal grants for the DA's office, more than any other prosecutorial office ever received in such a short span.



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one of..... We The People

[kate]

VIETNAM OFFICER TO HEAD VETERANS SERVICES
Boston Globe
August 12, 1983 Author: Associated Press

A retired Air Force colonel who flew 57 combat missions in Vietnam and was described as a man whose career bridges generations and wars was named yesterday as commissioner of veterans services.

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis named retired Air Force Col. John Halachis of Framingham to the post being vacated by Commissioner Charles Collatos after 27 years.

"I assure you that I will use every ounce of my energy to right some of the lingering wrongs of the Vietnam vet and the concerns he has," Halachis pledged.

Halachis will be formally sworn in to the $39,000-a-year post in September.

"As a Vietnam veteran," Lt. Gov. John Kerry said at the announcement, "I can say to you the road back has obviously been a long one.

"I think a lot of us who have been on that road have a strong sense we've been a long time waiting for various expressions of recognition and hope for the capacity to bring back the 20 percent that's left that still needs to come home."

He noted World War II and Korean War veterans are reaching their 50s and 60s, and "these veterans cannot be forgotten."

"We are a family of veterans," Halachis added. "My marching instructions are very clear."

Halachis retired in 1979 after 20 years of service and had since been managing director for Interact Ltd. in Athens, Greece. He sold the business to relocate in the United States in 1981.

Dukakis joined Kerry and Halachis in praising the years of service by 66- year-old Collatos.


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[kate]

KERRY SAVORS VICTORY, PRAISES VOTE FOR DEMOCRATIC IDEALS
Boston Globe
November 7, 1984 Author: Andrew Blake, Globe Staff


With family and friends around him, more than 1000 chanting supporters in front of him and red, white and blue balloons above him, John F. Kerry accepted the mantle of US Sen. Paul Tsongas shortly before 11 p.m.

Although exit polls and early tallies projected a substantial victory for the state's lieutenant governor, Kerry and his supporters tried to contain their joy until Republican opponent Raymond Shamie had conceded.

When that concession came, shortly before 10:30 p.m., Kerry took to the Sheraton Boston ballroom stage "to quote that philosopher Jackie Gleason, 'How Sweet it is.' "

Taking a line from his opponent, Kerry said voters did have a clear choice, and they rejected a political philosophy that would not lead to an end to the arms race and would not care deeply about people.

But, he added: "I wish he (Shamie) and Edna well as they return to private life."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam war veteran who became an antiwar activist, vowed last night to keep a pledge when he promised supporters that he would work for peace over the next six years of his term.

From time to time, the lively and animated crowd burst into chants of "Kerry, Kerry, Kerry " switching the refrain at one point to "Duke, Duke, Duke."

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis was at Kerry's side on the stage as were most top Massachusetts Democrats, including US Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and Thaleia Schlesinger of Brookline, twin sister of Sen. Tsongas.

Tsongas chose not to run again because of family and health reasons.

Dukakis said he was never prouder of the youth of the state than yesterday when so many of them cast their votes for John Kerry. Young people made up a large portion of last night's crowd, and their cheers made their presence known.

Kerry called the chanting, cheering, applauding supporters "a wonderful, unruly, boisterous group" but also told them that it was time to party because they had earned it.

Also with Kerry were his daughters, Alexandra, 11, and Vanessa, 8, who, Kerry said, yawned to remind him when they thought his speech was going on too long.

But the crowd didn't mind. They liked what they heard - that Kerry would uphold the ideals of the Democratic Party by working for peace and showing compassion for all people.

The throng in the ballroom was bathed in an eerie light coming from chandeliers but mixed with the silver-blue lights from television crews. People cast long and multiple shadows accentuated by rows of mirrors around a balcony.

Kerry, tall and slim and with an impressive speaking voice that won him honors at Yale University, started the day on a less happy note.

When he arrived to vote at the Boston Public Library, not far from his Beacon street house, he was greeted by a contingent of Shamie supporters, carrying their candidate's sign and chanting his name as Kerry attempted to speak.

As one who bucked the Republican tide that swept the country behind President Ronald Reagan, Kerry was sought after by national media last night. He planned several television appearances this morning.

Acknowledging that "this was a coattail election year," Kerry said if he is not the only freshman Democratic senator elected to Congress, then whoever else makes it will be able to meet with him in a phone booth.

Kerry, 40, is a graduate of St. Paul's Preparatory School in New Hampshire, Yale University and Boston College Law School. He flies private planes as a hobby.

With the oratorical skill and style he developed at Yale and the political intensity that emerged after his tour in Vietnam, Kerry gained national recognition in 1971 when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Vietnam experience.

The thrust of his testimony was contained in one question he asked the committee members: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

In his first bid for public office, Kerry ran an unimpressive third in 1970 in a Democratic Party caucus to choose a candidate to run for Congress in the 4th District, a caucus won by Rev. Robert F. Drinan. But Kerry mounted a more serious challenge two years later.

In the 5th Congressional District, Kerry narrowly won the 10-candidate Democratic primary only to lose in a three-candidate general election.

After that defeat, Kerry went to Boston College Law School and worked as a prosecutor in the Middlesex County district attorney's office where, four years later, he became first assistant district attorney under an ailing John Droney.

In 1979, he went into private law practice as well as a cookie business before he jumped back into electoral politics with a successful bid for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

He emerged the winner in a field of five to be elected along with Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in 1982. He has been the administration's federal liaison and key person on the issue of acid rain.

Kerry, in the process of a divorce, married Julia Thorne, the sister of one of his closest friends. They have two children who live with their mother in Newton, Alexandra, 11, and Vanessa, 8.

The Senate seat became open when US Sen. Paul Tsongas decided not to run for re-election because of health and family considerations.



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one of..... We The People

[kate]

EDITORIAL
A CHOICE OF CHARACTER
Boston Globe
November 4, 1984

When Henry Adams defined politics in Massachusetts as "the systematic organization of hatreds," he referred to the fractious period before the Civil War when the commonwealth was represented in the US Senate by two men who rose above that definition, Edward Everett and Charles Sumner. They are part of a tradition that includes John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, David I. Walsh, Leverett Saltonstall, Henry Cabot Lodge, Edward W. Brooke, John F. Kennedy and Paul Tsongas.
When voters choose a senator Tuesday, they must decide between that tradition of distinctive service or an updated, computerized mass-mailing systematic organization of hatreds known as "the New Right.

In John F. Kerry, what voters see is what voters get. Like Lodge and Kennedy, he is a well-educated war hero. An Ivy League degree need not impress anyone in Massachusetts, but a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts are impressive testimonials to character. As lieutenant governor, he has shown that his intelligence strengthens his character.

This election, after all, is a choice of character, not of personality. Kerry's Republican opponent, Raymond Shamie, has the appealing self-assurance of a self-made millionaire. His grandfatherly image masks a character not in keeping with the tradition of senators from Massachusetts.

Shamie is not in the mainstream of his own party in Massachusetts. He is not in the tradition of Silvio Conte, Francis Sargent or John Volpe. He is in the tradition of Paul Weyrich, Richard Viguerie and Rev. Jerry Falwell. These are the architects of the "New Right" and the Moral Majority, a mix of fundamentalist religious fervor and narrow-minded political zeal.

"This will help the Moral Majority in Massachusetts," one of Falwell's assistants, Cal Thomas, said last week about a posssible Shamie victory. "Nobody would have thought it possible a few months ago," said Viguerie, whose direct-mail skills have swelled Falwell's television congregation. Weyrich, who has advised Shamie in the past, directs the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress. He found President Reagan too liberal for its tastes in 1980, backing Philip Crane and John Connally before accepting Reagan as a last resort.

This tradition is not one of Republican responsibility, nor is Shamie's admitted "flirtation" with the John Birch Society, an extremist conspiracy- minded group that branded Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy as "Communist sympathizers." The Birch Society's crypto-fascist leanings were well known to most Americans before Shamie's association with it. He thought the Birchers "sincere, patriotic Americans."

Shamie's debut in politics was with his Political Action Committee, the Camelot PAC, presumably some ironic twist on the Kennedy legacy. The PAC sent a $500 contribution to Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), the most bizarrely right-wing member of the Senate.

John Kerry's values include tolerance, compassion and an understanding of the issue of war and peace. He stands in the tradition of John F. Kennedy, of Edward Kennedy, Paul Tsongas, Speaker O'Neill, Governor Dukakis and other public figures whose values are known and admired. He does not stand with shadowy right-wing zealots who have a rigid agenda for "Christianizing America."

"Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you what you are" is an old New England saying about character. In this election, John Kerry offers intelligence, eloquence and energy. He also offers the most important trait for a Massachusetts senator, character.



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one of..... We The People

[kate]

JUST HOLD YOUR NOSE AND VOTE
Boston Globe
October 31, 1984 Author: Mike Barnicle, Globe Staff

Why kid around? The race for the United States Senate seat is a real nose holder, a contest between one guy who sounds as if he doesn't know too much and another guy who sounds as if he thinks he knows absolutely everything.

On one side you have Ray Shamie, the Republican. On TV, he looks like such an awfully nice fellow that on more than one occasion during the last couple of weeks I've been tempted to throw him a vote.

On the other side we find John Forbes Kerry, the Democrat. He looks as if he would be uncomfortable in anything other than ascot, smoking jacket and satin pants.

But you have to remember that, outside of being a head coach in the National Football League, the job of United States senator is one of the most overrated slots in the annals of employment. All too often it is important only to the ego of the person who holds the position.

It isn't the same as being a mayor, a governor, even a congressman. Those people are on the line, constantly held responsible by a public they have to serve diligently and daily or else it's out the door.

A United States senator is usually somebody who campaigns for office telling us how he or she intends to do this to the tax code, that to urban unemployment and these three things to the skyrocketing cost of government. Once elected, however, they spend almost all their time glorifying themselves while hinting that voting on the floor of the Senate is comparable to working a lathe. How can they keep a straight face?

The good news is that a United States senator can seldom do anything to help you. The bad news is that a senator might be able to hurt you.

Now, the argument for Shamie goes a little like this: He's a nice guy. He's got some ideas he picked up from running a successful business that he wants to carry to Washington. He will be a dependable vote for Reagan in the Senate.

Kerry's brief is different: He fought in one war and doesn't want to see your kids fighting another one based on the premise that if we don't stop the commies in Managua, they'll be knocking on the door in San Antonio by Opening Day 1986. He doesn't think the federal government is all bad. He doesn't think Reagan is automatically entitled to every new toy the Pentagon dreams up, regardless of how much it costs.


Both men carry a little baggage: Shamie still thinks the John Birch Society is a collection of really swell people. At one point, while deciding when and how many Birch meetings he actually had attended, Ray pointed out that, unlike Kerry, the Birchers at least didn't protest against the war in Vietnam, a bloodbath that Shamie still thinks was a fabulous idea.

Shamie believes government is too big and that the private sector - banks, insurance companies, your own employer et al - can be more effective in dealing with human needs. If he had been in charge, there would certainly have been no welfare programs and probably no VA mortgages, no student loans, no hot school lunches and maybe no tax increases to keep Social Security from going belly-up, either.

Kerry's biggest baggage happens to be his personality: He's tough to take. He looks like the kind of a guy who wrote down a game plan for life when he was still sitting in a sandbox. And he's the kind of candidate who can make even the strongest of Democrats just a bit undecided about what to do next Tuesday.

"I was thinking of blanking it until I thought about what Shamie and the Republicans stand for," Harry McDonough was saying yesterday. "They wouldn't give you a glass of water."

McDonough was found down by Pleasure Bay, where he runs a sailing program for kids. He has spent a life working hard to raise a family, fighting a war to maintain a democracy and voting for people with "Democrat" beside their name.

"My car, my home, my family's health, my refrigerator, stove, the washer, the dryer, you name it and I have it because of the Democratic Party," Harry McDonough said. "People think I'm crazy when I say that but lemme tell you something: My father told us a long time ago that if anyone helps you on the road through life, you have a moral obligation to help them if you get the chance. The Democratic Party helped me.

"And I can't understand how so many people my age and older, in their 60s and 70s, can vote for anyone who would even think of dismantling what this country has done to help people. I'm not in love with John Kerry, but shame on you if you ever vote for anyone who thinks the way Ray Shamie does. He's no nice guy. He's a Republican who's against everything except the military budget. So, just hold your nose and vote for Kerry.


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[kate]

ARMS AND THE SENATE
Boston Globe
October 27, 1984

No set of issues confronted by a US senator is more important than the one involving major weapons systems and their relationship to the Soviet-American balance of power and the prospects for arms agreements.

Raymond Shamie, the Republican nominee for the Senate, supports the Reagan Administration weapons policies down the line, including the MX, the B1 and the Star Wars space-defense system. He shunts aside suggestions that the MX is a needless first-strike weapon or that Star Wars is a technological impossibility in the near future and, if ever built, could throw the Soviet- American nuclear balance out of whack and actually be a provocation to war.

John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, opposes the major new weapons systems sought by the President and goes substantially further than the mainstream of his party, as represented by Walter Mondale, by calling for outright reductions in defense spending rather than a mere slowdown in its growth.

Both candidates will have an opportunity to amplify their positions at a forum scheduled for Tuesday at the Federal Reserve Bank. It is sponsored by the Lincoln Filene Center at Tufts and by the Business Executives for National Security. About 1500 corporate leaders have been invited to attend.

Unlike most forums it will focus on defense and national security issues. It will also allow the candidates an opportunity to express their view in some detail. Shamie and Kerry will make 10-minute opening statements based on a series of questions compiled by the sponsors. It promises to be a particularly instructive session for those in attendance and for the Massachusetts electorate.


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DIGGING DEEP FOR ISSUES
Boston Globe
October 17, 1984 Author: Mike Barnicle, Globe Staff


It's getting to the point where you need coveralls and a pair of gloves to read about the race for the United States Senate seat. As the election draws closer both candidates - Ray Shamie and John Kerry - are going to the dumpsters.

The Republican, Shamie, is getting his lunch handed to him because of the John Birch Society. The Democrat, Kerry, is being slapped around because of the war in Vietnam. Kerry, according to Shamie, is just another one of those soft-headed, limp- wristed, big-spending, high-taxing, all-forgiving liberals. While Shamie, to the Kerry folks, is a reactionary, hard-line, stingy, selfish, petty, narrow-minded conservative.

For me the highlight of the campaign is not the name calling between the two men. It is Ray Shamie's challenge to my editor, the great Tom Winship, for a debate.

When I heard this, I became so excited that I had trouble getting my breath. My heart was going like a triphammer because I could envision myself in Winship's corner, acting as his second, placing both hands firmly on his shoulders and thrusting him into the arena, shouting, "Go get him Tiger" while making sure he was wearing comfortable shoes so he could stand up nicely for 90 minutes of chitchat.

Of course, Shamie's request for such a debate was not a serious thing, merely smart politics. The boulevards are lined with people who hate The Globe and if the Republican candidate ever secured the vote of anyone who has ever had a moment of dislike, mistrust or suspicion about something appearing in the pages of this paper, he would win in a landslide.

You name it and The Globe has been blamed for it: Busing, abortion, lack of prayer or toilet paper in schools, high taxes, pornography, homosexuality, wimpy judges, the breakdown in family values, the breakdown of the family car, acne, crabgrass, everything.

A lot of politicians have keyed parts of their campaign around opposition to this paper.

Apparently, it drives Ray Shamie bonkers. So much so that he wants to run against it, debate the editor, not speak to its reporters and generally impugn the product. Fine.

Now, on TV, Ray seems like a great guy. He acts like a real gentleman who has more than an ounce of common sense, dignity and manners and would probably be no better or no worse than some of the other knuckleheads in Washington.

And it doesn't really matter what kind of books he keeps in his library. People probably don't even care much about what meetings he attended a decade ago either. A man is entitled to his own views and his own friends.

As a matter of fact, when a past link to the John Birch society first became public and he complained that the disclosure was dirty politics and a kind of "McCarthyite" guilt by association tactic, you had to award round one to Ray Shamie. The man told us it was simply a brief flirtation.

Yet a few days later we found out that this momentary "flirtation" was in fact more like going steady for a few years. Then Ray, sounding like a guy in the process of shooting himself in the foot, defended his Bircher cronies: "I never thought much about it. I argued that, 'What are you so excited about?' These are not violent people. They are very sincere, patriotic Americans. They are off on a tangent, sure, but they're certainly nothing to be ashamed of or frightened about."

This depends on your point of view. A lot of people and the bulk of recent history can testify to the fact that there are more nuts in the John Birch Society than you'd find in a warehouse full of Cracker Jack boxes. The Birch Society is a small cell of paranoid fruitcakes who think very little of democracy, good old Ike, Nixon, FDR, Harry Truman, a couple of Popes and all Jewish bankers.

Yet, instead of smartly allowing this ridiculous comment to just disappear, the Shamie campaign in the person of state rep Andrew Natsios decided to hit John Kerry on 14-year-old positions and statements he made about Vietnam. Natsios, a ROTC man at Georgetown during the war and Shamie, who safely viewed World War II action from about 6500 miles away, apparently thinks Kerry, combat survivor, gave aid and comfort to the enemy when he got home.

Obviously, the Republicans are steamed at Kerry and the media, especially The Globe. Hurling an insinuation of near-treason isn't exactly shooting blanks.

Now John Kerry is no day at the beach. You can say an awful lot of things about him but implying he helped the North Vietnamese cause is a bit much. After all, even the Birchers know it's tough to say anything good about someone who tries to kill you in a real live war.


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[kate]

KERRY FILM CALLED ILLEGAL\ REPORT: TV AT WAR MEMORIAL FORBIDDEN
Boston Globe
October 17, 1984 Author: Jim Calogero, Globe Staff

A controversial primary campaign advertisement showing Democratic Senate candidate John F. Kerry in front of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington was filmed illegally against the wishes of the National Park Service, a TV news report said last night.

The report also said that the advertising film crew was chased away by a national park ranger - but apparently not before the TV ad was completed.

Park regulations forbid filming within 200 yards of the memorial without a permit, which the Kerry camp did not have, according to the report by Martha Bradlee, chief correspondent for WCVB (Ch. 5).

Kerry's media consultant was quoted as saying the advertising crew filmed the memorial without a permit because Kerry "had every right" to use it for an ad. Kerry, a former spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, was quoted as saying he had "no idea" a permit was required.

A consultant for the campaign of Republican Senate candidate Raymond Shamie said the incident "raises questions" because the memorial was filmed "after they knew it was illegal."

Fran Wigglesworth of the National Park Service was quoted as saying, "I remember the people from Boston. I got a call from a park ranger. They were chased out of there by the ranger. They did not have a permit to shoot within the restricted area. I don't know how much of the filming they completed before they were stopped. Obviously they thought they could get away with it because the ad would not be seen in the Washington area."

Wigglesworth was emphatic that a permit would not have been granted Kerry's people had they sought one.

The Kerry ad, which is no longer running, was criticized during the primary by some Vietnam veterans supporting Kerry's chief Democratic opponent, Rep. James M. Shannon. They said that use of the memorial as the backdrop for an ad by Kerry was exploitive.

The Channel 5 broadcast quoted Daniel Payne, Kerry's media consultant as saying: "We tried several times . . . to secure a permit from the US Park Service, and they told us there was nothing they could do to help us.

"We decided," Payne said, "that John Kerry had every right to use the war memorial for a commercial. We made a good faith effort to get the permit. We couldn't get past the bureaucracy so we shot the commercial."

The Channel 5 broadcast quoted Kerry as saying he had no idea a permit was needed. "He said he was told to be in a certain place at a certain time and was there," Bradlee said. "He also said he was not chased out by the park ranger but told to leave after the shot was finished."

"Kerry also said he thought it was ridiculous that Wigglesworth would even suggest that it would not be allowed," Bradlee added.

Todd Domke, consultant to the Shamie campaign, said last night that "we wanted to tape a commercial of Ray at Faneuil Hall. They wouldn't allow any political filming. We obviously didn't do it.

"It does raise some questions. After they knew it was illegal. It does raise a serious question since John Kerry did authorize its usage as an ad.

"The Park Service said they never allow any political filming at the war memorial. They also don't allow any demonstrations at the memorial. The point is they consciously violated whatever regulation or whatever is in force. A guy running for public office is supposed to obey the law.


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PRO-KERRY VIETNAM VETERANS RALLY AT STATE HOUSE, CRITICIZE SHANNON
Boston Globe
September 13, 1984 Author: Eileen McNamara Globe Staff

Dozens of Vietnam veterans rallied on the State House steps yesterday to protest what one called "unnecessary personal attacks" on Lt. Gov. John F. Kerry by other Vietnam veterans who are supporting Rep. James M. Shannon in the Democratic race for the US Senate.

Underscoring the political divisiveness within the ranks of Vietnam veterans, the Kerry group lashed out at the Shannon group for questioning the lieutenant governor's commitment to veterans' issues.

Several demonstrators and Kerry himself criticized Shannon for comparing his change of vote on the MX missile to Kerry's change of mind on the Vietnam war. During a debate televised on WNEV-TV (Ch. 7) Tuesday night, Shannon suggested that if Kerry had opposed the war as strongly when he enlisted as he did when he returned, he probably would not have gone in the first place.

"Last night Jim Shannon insulted every Vietnam veteran by suggesting that they were either stupid or lacked integrity for fighting for their country. That's easy to say if you were either in high school at the time or had a student deferrment," said Joe Bangert, a former Marine Corps sergeant who was a helicopter gunner in Vietnam.

Shannon said yesterday his comparison was meant to demonstrate "that it takes more courage to change your mind than to stick to your position." The three-term congressman voted for the MX, or missile experimental, in 1979. He reversed that vote in 1981.

"It's clear these are partisan people. These guys are looking for an issue," Shannon said of Kerry's Vietnam veteran supporters. "I've gotten nothing but positive response on that remark as I've been campaigning today."

Kerry said he thought the analogy was "inappropriate. I didn't make a mistake going to Vietnam. The mistake was the war itself and it was the congressmen, not the soldiers, who kept that war going."

During the hour-long rally, a parade of veterans testified to Kerry's concern for the housing, employment and medical needs of veterans, particularly victims of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in Vietnam that has been linked to cancer and birth defects.

"For 10 years the black community has come up to this State House and to the federal building to ask for a little money to establish a clearinghouse for veterans," said Ralph Cooper, a black veteran on crutches. "It wasn't until the Kerry-Dukakis Administration that (we received* $20,000 seed money so we could start our outreach center in Roxbury."

Kerry's most emotional endorsement came from Thomas Bilideau of Dracut who served with him in the Mekong Delta.

"I was part of that crew. I was with John when he won two of his three Purple Hearts in Vietnam," Bilideau said, choking back tears. "John Kerry is a man of courage and conviction."

In his own remarks to his supporters, Kerry said he was as proud of his service in the Vietnam war as he was of his work opposing the war when he returned.

When Vietnam is remembered, he said, it should be "as a place where America turned and soldiers like us helped it in the turning."



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[kate]

BARNEY FRANK\ THE CASE FOR EACH CANDIDATE\ KERRY: PROGRESSIVE ADVOCATE
Boston Globe
September 12, 1984 Author: BARNEY FRANK

The Globe asked the staffs of the six Senate campaigns to select a supporter to explain why their candidate is best.
I support John Kerry for the Senate. Sometimes, in a primary, we have to choose between the candidate likeliest to do the best job and the candidate likeliest to win in November. This year Democrats face no such dilemma: John Kerry is both the strongest general-election candidate and the best potential United States senator.

Electability is critical this fall because it is vital that the Democratic Party - the party that cares about arms control and social justice - regain control of the Senate.

Polls are not the only sign that John Kerry is the strongest Democrat for November. His eloquence, maturity, and ability to run a first-rate campaign in 1982 and this summer reinforce that point.

I also believe John's qualities are especially well-suited to the US Senate. We work hard in the US House and we get a lot done. But institutional forces and the national news media combine to make the Senate the forum in which great debates take place. John Kerry's ability to articulate forcefully the case for progressive values is an enormous asset at a time when those values are under attack. No other candidate in the Senate race can equal John Kerry's skill in this important area.

In addition, John Kerry has shown in the past decade that he can couple persuasive public speaking with effective action. As first assistant district attorney for Middlesex County, he won high praise for improving the effectiveness of that office in fighting crime. As lieutenant governor, like Tom O'Neill before him, he showed that he can be an effective force representing the state's interests in Washington and, in John's case, fighting hard for action on acid rain.

His staff appointments - including minorities and women - reflect an understanding that government policy-making must include those whose interests have not been well represented.

For more than a decade, John Kerry has been a valued collaborator with other political figures and organizations in the state on behalf of progressive causes and candidates. Politics is a business where egos often get in the way of cooperation; yet, on several occasions, he stepped aside from races he had a good chance to win to help other candidates. Robert Drinan in 1970, Paul Guzzi in 1974, and myself in 1980 - we all benefited from his selflessness, a selflessness that is rare in Massachusetts politics.

None of this would mean much if John Kerry were not such a committed, issue-oriented public official. He has shown leadership and determination on every major issue facing the Senate, from the arms race to the Equal Rights Amendment to environmental quality to fairness for working people, racial minorities, and those vulnerable people left behind by the current economic advance.

No one in this state has fought harder, more consistently, and more effectively in the last 15 years against militarism and for a sensible, peace- oriented foreign policy than John Kerry. The fact that he was wounded in combat in Vietnam adds extraordinary force to his long-standing commitment to peace. John Kerry helped lead the fight to end the Vietnam War in the 1970s. I believe he will be equally effective in the fight to end the nuclear arms race in the 1980s.

Peace, social justice, economic fairness, environmental quality, civil rights and civil liberties all need strong advocates in the US Senate. That is why I support John Kerry.

Barney Frank represents Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional
District.


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[kate]

MIKE BARNICLE\ LET'S LOOK AT THE RACE
Boston Globe
September 10, 1984 Author: MIKE BARNICLE

One great thing about political campaigns is that they peak in early fall when there is a lot to do. After all, anything is better than listening to candidates run around telling us how great they are and how wonderful our lives are going to be once they assume office.

Sorting your socks is more interesting than reading about the day in, day out "drama" of a campaign. Building a replica of the Chrysler Building with old belly-button lint is a more useful expenditure of time than watching political commercials or debates.

Face it: The only things you can really pick up about those running for office in this media-crazed age is whether the candidates are capable of stringing several sentences together and whether or not they've recently had a haircut, a shave and an afternoon under a sunlamp.

Of course, local contests are different. People running for city council or a state rep's seat are forced to be more responsive to voters and to react immediately to bold statements like, "Hey, if you can get my mudder-in-law int'a de elderly apartments in town, you got my vote."

But it is the glamorous races that get the bulk of the attention. It's beauty contests like the run for a seat in the United States Senate that capture the imaginations of activists and the inches of ink and minutes of air time doled out by editors.

This, the run to succeed Paul Tsongas, is where the really, really big things are being discussed. Forget about the train getting stuck again this morning between Central Square and Park street or the pound of flesh you left in the department store over the weekend when you had to buy a few back-to- school clothes for your 13-year-old. Not important.

The race for the Senate, we are told over and over and over, is going to decide whether or not your grass will start talking out loud someday because of acid rain or whether or not your son will be in uniform next February fighting in the outskirts of Managua or whether or not the Russians will finally be pushed into agreeing to stop making nuclear weapons and appoint Peter, Paul and Mary to the Politburo. Maybe, maybe not.

Toss out the nonsense and doubletalk of all the position papers, ignore the packaged and manufactured half-truths of commercials and you might find that the politics of running for the United States Senate are similar to any lunge for public office in Chelsea. The only real difference is they use smaller words in Chelsea and get to the point a bit more quickly.

When you get right down to it, people want to be a United States Senator because it is a great job. The pay is reasonable. The perks are fantastic and the boss only looks over your shoulder once every six years.

So, let's take a look at the boys running for the slot.

Jim Shannon: He is the congressman who committed the incredible blunder of doing something effective for a Massachusetts business concern. The fact that this race is still a tossup is an indication that Shannon might be too polite. He's the only one on the Democratic side who won't need a learner's permit in Washington but, oddly enough, he has allowed his own skill to be hammered away at as if it were a liability.

John Kerry: His best friend is a mirror. No pushover when it comes to banging away at an opponent, Kerry successfully slam- dunked Shannon by linking him to a tax bill that helped a state insurance company. Of course, Kerry's complaint about Shannon was about as valid as saying that Kerry was personally responsible for every rapist, wife-beater and child molester who got a plea-bargaining arrangement while Kerry was an asst. D.A.

Michael J. Connolly: Doesn't have much to spend on TV but he's the guy with the "boy's regular" haircut. He has spent time during the campaign working as a farmer, a fisherman and a couple of other things. He has not spent much time acting like a United States Senator so it's hard to get a fix. A week from Wednesday, he starts working as a Secretary of State.

David Bartley: You remember him. He used to be Speaker of the House. He was a good one, too. His basic problem these past few months is that he got amnesia and forgot he ever served in the Legislature or as chief aide to former Gov. King.
Raymond Shamie: A Republican, Shamie has been going around the state looking and talking as if he were doing a Glad bag commercial. No problem is too big or too small for Ray to toss into the same can.

Elliot Richardson: Another Republican. What can you say about a man who seems to be starring in the political version of "Mr Rogers' Neighborhood." If you really want to vote for the hero of Watergate, write in the name of either Archibald Cox or Frank Wills.


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ROBERT L. TURNER\ SHANNON'S PLOY COULD BACKFIRE
Boston Globe
September 2, 1984 Author: ROBERT L. TURNER


It was the old chameleon routine, a staple of political candidates who find themselves trailing in the polls with time running short.

US Rep. James Shannon changed the dynamic of the US Senate race last week when he charged that his chief rival, Lt. Gov. John F. Kerry, was changing his rhetorical color to match his audience.

The attack was notable for its suddenness, its vehemence and its shaky foundation.

Kerry has plenty of vulnerabilities. He has no legislative experience. He is politically ambitious. His effectiveness is questioned in some quarters; for instance, advocates of tough state legislation against acid rain say that Kerry's strong stand in support of federal action contrasts with what they say has been foot-dragging by him at the state level. And there is a certain distance in his style that puts some people off and may have contributed to the fact that Shannon has captured far more key endorsements than he.

Shannon has been emphasizing some of this - particularly his own performance in Washington for six years. Practically every question at public appearances produces a reference by Shannon to something he did "on the floor of the House." Neither Kerry nor the other Democratic candidates, former House Speaker David M. Bartley and Secretary of State Michael J. Connolly, can make any such comment.

But Shannon, with no warning, leaped out of this context on Monday and began jabbing an accusatory finger at Kerry, charging in a press release that "John Kerry changes his tune depending on the audience he's addressing."

The following night, Shannon jacked up the decibel level several notches. At a debate in New Bedford, he again charged Kerry with "answering in different ways to different audiences."

Then he pointed to what he said was "another example of Kerry's flip- flopping here."

And Shannon said that candidates who take liberal positions "should have the guts to tell the Chamber of Commerce that as well." This was a clear reference to a March appearance by Kerry before the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, which generated a disputed news story in the Salem Evening News that is the source of half of Shannon's charges.

Every political candidate since creation has accused the opposition of waffling or being vague on some issue or another. But when a candidate charges repeated flip-flops and lack of courage, the accuser had better have the goods. Shannon didn't.

One alleged example raised by Shannon was that Kerry had talked about government assistance to a company like General Dynamics to keep American boatbuilders at work, while at the same time supporting an increase in the overall tax rate for corporations.

There is some disagreement over exactly what Kerry said, but the point is that, even taking Shannon's version, there is no flip-flop. There is no contradiction between aid for a particular industry, or even a particular company, and support for an increase in corporate taxes generally.

And no one should know this better than Shannon, who has very forthrightly talked about the need for increased tax revenues next year but who has spent much of the last two weeks defending a very specific $14-million tax break for the Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Company.

Every public official has some discrepancies in his or her record. Shannon, for instance, has recently been citing the rioting in Lawrence three weeks ago as demonstrating the failures of the Reagan Administration as well as state and local officials. But some officials point out that Shannon, in six years in Congress, has not succeeded in pushing his home city along the same path of progress that Paul Tsongas did with Lowell.

There are other more specific examples. Early this year, when some Shannon supporters were accusing US Rep. Edward J. Markey, then a Senate candidate, of flip-flopping on various issues, Shannon conceded quite straighforwardly that he had earlier changed his own position on the MX missile.

The flip-flop charge can be effective. If Shannon's accusations had been well-supported, they would have been devastating for Kerry. But flimsy charges can backfire badly. David I. Finnegan at least had a number of legitimate examples to cite when he accused Raymond Flynn of being a "chameleon" in the Boston mayor's race last year (remember Flynn's immortal: "He called me a lizard."), but Finnegan seemed hurt more in the end than Flynn.

Shannon is a resourceful and bright and at times even brilliant congressman. One of his most engaging qualities has been has apparent quick candor.

But he has shown recently that he finds it all too easy to point a finger at someone else, while he is not so comfortable when the finger is pointed at him.

One of Shannons's favorite public figures was Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson once said, "The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning."



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