I checked out the candidates pretty closely a while back--Kerry is a great candidate, dammit! Clinton, while soiled, was sparkly and we loved to love him, AND he was a great policy wonk. Now, I like Kerry, his keen intelligence is as sparkly to me as Clinton's ability with oratory. But, you don't get a lot of Clinton's in a row. Doesn't mean you should knock Kerry!

My first criteria is for a candidate who understands the necessity of a healthy environment (which incidently, is why I knew Bush was a disaster going in). Respect for the environment implies some pretty basic values: respect for the people who live in that environment; willingness to put people's health over big business profit; courage to fight for the middle class in arenas other than the environment; displays his ability to think long term and take responsibility for existing problems.

Put in Kerry's experience with our government when it squandered it's political reputation in baseless wars, and you have a damn fine candidate.

Still, even if Kerry is elected, there is a whole lot o crap to deal with. We've gotta knee cap the GOP to get any of it done (need a Democratic majority in Congress), because the GOP is quite happy to cut off its nose to spite it's face--or more appropriately, cut off our noses to spite our faces.