John Kerry, senator

‘Judge me by my record,’ John Kerry told voters during his acceptance speech in Boston last month, but he gave them precious little evidence to go on. In a 5,000-word address that stretched on for nearly an hour, Kerry managed to find time for only 73 words about his two decades of service in the U.S. Senate.

It wasn’t an accident, but it may have been a mistake. Throughout his presidential campaign, Kerry has focused on his service in Vietnam rather than on his service in the Senate. While war heroes surely play better than Washington insiders, Republicans sense vulnerability in Kerry’s choice and are seeking to capitalize on it. With the president’s approval ratings in dangerous territory and bad news coming in on Iraq and the economy, the GOP needs a way to persuade voters that, as bad as Bush might be, the Democrat is unacceptable. In Kerry’s Senate record, the Bush-Cheney campaign sees a way to make that case. And Kerry, focused on his opponent’s record rather than his own, seems to be letting it happen.

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