Opinion
 

Kerry's leadership ability forged in battle

By David C. Salinas

This Thursday in Boston John Kerry will accept the Democratic nomination for president. He will be the first sitting senator and Catholic to do so since another "Massachusetts liberal" stood in front of the Democratic National Convention 44 years ago (with the same initials no less). Today's conventions are as mundane and redundant as a Britney Spears or Jennifer Lopez wedding, but this year's conventions could be a nice change of pace.

A few weeks from now in New York City, where recent polls have had him down by as many as 20 points, George Bush will accept his party's nomination. What is interesting about this is that after months of chastising John Kerry for being a "flip flopper" and a man who "takes both sides of every issue," the prime-time speakers at the Republican convention will have social and domestic views diametrically opposed to those within the Bush/Cheney campaign. Some of the speakers include Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of New York George Pataki, and Rudolph Giuliani, who, for the most part, support civil unions, a woman's right to choose and immigration rights. Angered and disappointed by this, Rep. Mike Pence, a conservative Republican from Indiana, said, "The real muscle in the party is not in the California governor's office but in the pro-family movement." 

The theme for this convention will probably be "strong and steady leadership in times of change," a slogan the Bush campaign has used a great deal. The Kerry convention might have a similar theme.

Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton will probably speak at the Democratic convention. Besides Kennedy, none of these speakers really knows John Kerry -- they are speaking more out of ritual than reason. In fact, Hillary Clinton only received a speaking role after a few days of protest by her close allies. 

It's too bad these people don't realize the Democratic Party no longer belongs to the Clintons, but to John Kerry and John Edwards. The real speakers will be the men who served with Kerry in Vietnam, like the man who will introduce Kerry, triple amputee Max Cleland. To the chagrin of some of those on the right who may be embarrassed at their lack of service, a lot of this week's convention will deal with John Kerry's service in Vietnam.

Let's put away the slogans, the speakers attending out of sheer politics, the delegates with the cheesy hats, the bunting and the balloons, and let's look at the real message each candidate will present and how he will do this. It appears, even though both Bush and Kerry will have similar messages of "leadership," they will be coming at it from very different angles.

Bush will have speakers like Pataki, Giuliani and even former rival John McCain vouch for his leadership, using their past experience along with the backdrop of 9/11 to make their point. 

As for Kerry, he'll have men he personally served with and in some cases, like former Green Beret Jim Rassman, pulled from the grips of death. 

Some critics will say Kerry spent too much time talking about Vietnam, but they don't realize this was a defining time in his life. He fought, killed and saved lives for his country, in a war he would end up fighting against. While Bush can give speeches about leadership, or hold a bull horn on a pile of rubble and sound convincing, he's never been in a position where it was his life on the line or someone else's. 

At a time when we have thousands of soldiers making the same choices Kerry did so many years ago, it's important to make this comparison. Leadership comes in action, not words. Though balloons do help.

Salinas, a columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at dccampus@mail.uh.edu.