More on Sen. Kerry Blog Conference

As noted previously, Sen. John Kerry (D – Massachusetts), the 2004 Democratic nominee for President, held a blog conference this evening with several Massachusetts political bloggers, including Susan from Beyond 495, sco from .08 Acres and a Donkey, Lynne from Left in Lowell, and The Eisenthal Report.

Sen. Kerry spoke about his new book, This Moment on Earth (written with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry), and answered questions from the bloggers.

Regarding the book, Sen. Kerry said that he and his wife wrote the book in order to help people “connect the dots in terms of these environmental issues…and to help people see the ways in which they individually can make a difference” on the environment. He wanted to tell the stories of people who are making a difference on the environment. One example he related was of the Silent Spring Institute, which is a Massachusetts-based organization that focuses on the relationship between the environment and women’s health – particularly related to breast cancer. Sen. Kerry said that another objective of the book was to communicate the idea to business that positive steps on the environment can be economically healthy. He believes that business “can do well and do good” on the environment – “by doing good, they can do better.”

Blogger questions ranged from the environment to the war in Iraq to a potential impeachment of President Bush.

One environmental question was on Cape Wind, the wind power project proposed for Nantucket Sound off of Cape Cod. Sen. Kerry believes that “there are legitimate questions being raised about the project,” ones that are being addressed “as the process works its will.” He said that “in principle, I’m a very strong advocate for wind power, and for solar power, and alternative renewables.” He is not sure that the proposed location for Cape Wind is the right one, however.

Another blogger asked about decentralized energy generation as an approach to the future of energy consumption. Sen. Kerry responded that “this is a big deal. I think it is the future. I think that decentralized, small unit, personalized kinds of energy sources are going to be a very big part of how we deal with these problems. We want to put in place incentives that make it easier for people to do this.”

Other issues covered included the war in Iraq. In response to a question regarding the statement by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that we really face four different wars in Iraq, Sen. Kerry said that he disagreed with Secretary Gates. “There’s really one war that our troops are involved in fundamentally – on two fronts. The one front is Al-Qaeda and the other is the insurgency/civil war…the bottom line is that this is a struggle for the future control of Iraq.” He went on to say that “you’ve got to resolve the stakeholder interests” among the parties involved in that struggle.

What do the Sunnis want, what do the Shia want, what do the Kurds want? Ultimately, you’ve got to isolate some of those groups…by getting a center that has agreed on a future…for which they’re willing to take some risk. Right now, we’re taking all of the risk without addressing any of those stakeholder interests. Nothing our troops are doing banging down doors…is going to resolve those fundamental stake questions. The absence of diplomacy is atrocious; our administration has no diplomatic lift, no credibility in the region, and increasingly people are saying ‘we just have to wait for the next president.'

In response to a question as to whether impeachment of the President is a viable option, Sen. Kerry said, “if you could succeed, do you want Dick Cheney?” He went on to say that there are not sufficient votes in the Senate for impeachment and that such proceedings would detract from the mandate that the American people gave to congressional Democrats in the 2006 election.

One blogger noted that Sen. Kerry seems increasingly focused on activism – both nationally and in Massachusetts – and asked what role the Senator planned to take with such activism. Sen. Kerry responded that “you’ve got to motivate people and you’ve got to give them something to organize around.” He identified both the environment and helping the Democrats win back the Presidency in 2008 as issues he would be focusing on.

The blog conference concluded with a question on what thought process that the Senator will use in choosing a Presidential candidate to endorse in 2008. “Right now, it’s early. I want to see where the staying power is – and also who’s saying what.” He said that he wants to see what candidates are saying on issues that he has worked on for several years - universal health insurance, foreign policy, the environment, and “the middle class squeeze.” “We can do better on all of these issues – and I want to see whose agenda addresses them and proves the ability to get things done.”