The Two John Kerrys

With all this sort of thing in Kerry’s past and present, it’s no wonder that the Center for Responsive Politics’ director, Larry Noble, told the Washington Post that “it’s harder for someone like Kerry to take on” Bush over special interests “because he’s taken money from . . . a lot of the same” corporate sectors. The fat cats have flocked to Kerry: 55 percent of his presidential campaign’s cash comes from $2,000 contributors, meaning he’s closing in on Bush (who gets 73 percent from such big-check writers), according to The New York Times. There’s more. Kerry the “populist” voted in 2000 to shred the Community Reinvestment Act, which obliged banks to service impoverished areas and lend them money. Kerry voted just two years ago to repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act, designed to keep energy prices to consumers low by forbidding utilities companies to invest speculatively in businesses outside the energy field.

Kerry’s Janus-like profile isn’t confined just to serving the special interests while denouncing them to win the Democratic nomination. He voted for the blank check for war in Iraq — and now denounces Bush for “lies” he once believed. On October 9, 2002, Kerry told the Senate, “Why is Saddam Hussein attempting to develop nuclear weapons when most nations don’t even try? . . . Iraq has chemical and biological weapons . . . Iraq is developing unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering chemical- and biological-warfare agents.” Of course, every single one of those statements about Iraq has since been proved to be empty rhetoric.

So, the question before Democratic voters is: If you cast your ballot for John Kerry, which one will you get?