John Forbes Kerry: The second coming of JFK?

It seems that Kerry has been an amazing phenomenon in American politics in many decades. The election seems to be fought on personal credibility and on war records of the candidates. The Democratic voters want a man who has the best chance to defeat President Bush in November. They are rallying support for Kerry because of his war records in Vietnam. The contrast with George Bush's record is so obvious to voters that it does not need to be spelt out ( Bush avoided military service in Vietnam by joining up with the Texas National Air National Guard and his controversial absence for duty in Alabama lingers on).

The movement among Democratic voters is known as ABBA: Anybody But Bush Again.

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Given the mood of American voters, a person with a balanced view on national and global issues fits in with John Kerry's image. Dr. Dean appears to be too radical [to the left] in his views for the Americans at this point of time. This simply means that electability is the prime consideration for Democratic voters.

Senator Kerry's rapid rise has aroused interest around the world to find out who this second JFK from Massachusetts really is.

Born on 11 December 1943 in Denver (Colorado), John Kerry had an upper class upbringing. His father was a diplomat posted in Europe and Kerry went to expensive public schools in Europe including in Switzerland, and to a good private establishment in New Hampshire and then took a law degree from Yale University in early 60s, where he was two years senior to President Bush.

Kerry's ancestors have both Anglican and Jewish roots. His grandfather was born Fritz Kohn in what is now the Czech Republic. Kohn migrated to the US and changed his name to Kerry in 1907. Kerry's grandmother later converted to Catholic. Thus Kerry is very much part of the American melting pot. Kerry is a Catholic, like the Kennedys.

Kerry's life changed in 1969 when he arrived in Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam as a naval officer. Six months later Kerry returned from Vietnam wounded, mourning dead comrades and deeply embittered by a war sinking into a quagmire of atrocities. He was decorated hero, with a silver Star, a bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for bravery.

In 1971, at 27 years old, Kerry joined thousands of Vietnam veterans in Washington to demonstrate against the war. He had the political shrewdness when he threw his ribbons of medals on the steps of the Capitol ( Congress Building). The anti-war Democrats in Congress chose Kerry to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry did not disappoint his sponsors. In a searing indictment of the war he described not only the waste of American lives, but war crimes against the Vietnamese. Finally, Kerry's memorable words turned on the Senators with a question: " How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

That day made Kerry a celebrity, a household name and face of the Vietnam veterans' anti-war movement. Democratic Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Islands thanked Kerry for testifying before the Committee, expressing his hope that Kerry " might one day be a colleague of ours in this body."

Kerry became a top prosecutor in Middlesex County and took on organised crime and put the number two mob boss in New England behind bars. He modernised District Attorney's office and created an innovative crime unit against women's violence. As a private lawyer, he worked long and hard to ably defend his clients. In one case he proved innocence of his client wrongly given a life sentence for a murder he did not commit.

Kerry lives in Boston. He married two heiresses. In 1970, his first marriage was to Philadelphia heiress Julia Thorne ( US$ 300 million fortune) that did not finally work out and divorce took place in 1988. His second marriage in 1996 took place with a wealthy Republican widow Portuguese born Teresa Heinz (her personal fortune is estimated at US$675 million). Although he became one of the richest men in Congress, he reportedly did not spend a single cent from his wife's fortune for election campaign but had to mortgage his house to fund it. He has two adult daughters and Teresa has three adult sons. All of them are engaged in the election campaign.

He went into state politics and in 1982 was elected as a Lieutenant Governor in Massachusetts. Ever since he was elected as a Senator in 1984, he has focused his career on foreign affairs and intelligence policy. He took a leading role in attacking the war in Central America during Ronald Reagan's presidency. In lengthy hearings, he exposed links between CIA-backed rebels in Nicaragua and cocaine trafficking. He shone light on the great "Iran-contra" scandal where White House officials were intimately involved in trading arms for American hostages in the Middle East to help fund the war in Nicaragua.

Kerry voted in favour of the war against Iraq in 2002 but has since been critical of American policy. He explained recently he supported war on the condition that the US would get endorsement from the UN. He opposed the 1991 Gulf War but was in favour of military action in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia and Panama. He is a strong supporter of the UN and wants to advance America's foreign policy interests in cooperation with other countries. He wants to repair relations with nations of "Old Europe" (Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used the term for France and Germany) which did not support war against Iraq without UN authority.

Kerry is a classic Washington insider and his experience dealing with business and politics help relate to domestic issues. He supports a corporate rate reduction for manufacturers. He wants to make heath care affordable to all Americans through reforms in medicare system. He also wants to reduce prescription drug prices. He supports tax cuts for middle class. He has a plan to invest in renewable source of energy and new technology that will create 500,000 jobs for Americans. He is an enthusiast to clean up environmental damages. He supports educational reforms, wants to strengthen economy and encourage the growth of the high tech new economy.

Despite this meteoric rise as the front-runner in the Democratic race, Kerry has a few image problems. First he is known to be associated with "big business" what is usually known as "special interests" lobby. Second, he is known to be wooden campaigner with little charm. Many say that he has overcome this problem by presenting himself as someone who has done his duty for his country. He knows war firsthand and also knows the limitations of war.

If Kerry wins the super Tuesday (2nd March) round of 10 contests in big states like New York, California and Ohio that provide more than half of the required delegates to win the Democratic nomination in the July Democratic Convention in Boston, he will carry an unusually heavy load of party as well as voter expectations.

There is a lingering question as to where the Clintons throw their support? They have not shown their hands as yet. However it is believed that Clintons, like the rest of the Democratic Party and an increasing number of Americans, believe another four years of Bush presidency would be bad for the US and catastrophic for the world.

There are signs that energised Democratic voters will do whatever it takes to topple Bush. Preliminary indication looks promising as the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll survey issued on 19th February showed Senator Kerry would get 55 per cent of the votes in a direct match up with President Bush, against the President's 43 per cent. However the poll may be considered in caution as President Bush has not as yet started his campaign with his massive funds and an incumbent President, especially in times of insecurity and threat of terrorism, is difficult to beat.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.