# Is Kerry "out of the mainstream"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [July 17, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517 "2004-07-17T00:25:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/1 "2004-07-17T00:25:51Z")
A common accusation against Kerry seems to be that he is “out of the mainstream”. Do a Google search with **kerry “out of the mainstream”** to see what I mean.
On what issues does he hold a non-mainstream view?
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### Author:  [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/2 "2004-07-17T00:31:22Z")
He has the nutty idea that we need a different President. If that isn’t out of the mainstream, what is?
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### Author:  [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/3 "2004-07-17T00:32:48Z")
Well, for the most part, he _isn’t_ out of the mainstream. And Bush probably isn’t either, seeing how both men will receive tens of millions of votes in November. Usually, if you’re out of the mainstream, you won’t get that many votes.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/4 "2004-07-17T00:51:54Z")
Mr. Kerry’s not out of the mainstream by any reasonable definition of “mainstream.” He is somewhat liberal, but that’s perfectly palatable to millions.
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### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/5 "2004-07-17T02:08:50Z")
Those sites in your search. I’d check out their bias.
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/6 "2004-07-17T02:12:39Z")
His family’s net worth is over half a billion dollars. That puts him out of the mainstream.
I don’t see his views on any particular subject to be out of the mainstream, though.
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### Author:  [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/7 "2004-07-17T02:22:10Z")
If you are going to make a serious inquiry into every slogan churned out by the PR machine of every major political candidate you are going to spend a lot of time being disappointed and frustrated. This is a course to madness. And the Arabs don’t hate us because they hate freedom, either. This is not a new day for America. Happy days are not here again. There is no thousand points of light. The mission is not accomplished. There will not be a chicken in every pot. What is good for General Motors is not good for America. There are two Americas.
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### Author:  [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/8 "2004-07-17T02:45:03Z")
Depends on who and what you think is “the mainstream.”
[This Washington Times Article](http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040715-082644-9272r.htm) puts an interesting position that he’s operating in a very elite mainstream.
Kerry’s “mainstream” alledges to represent “the ‘heart and soul’ of our country,” comprising rich elite who use crude jokes and sexual innuendoes to fight their battles.
Well, if our “mainstream” is the far-left…
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/9 "2004-07-17T02:50:06Z")
I think he’s in touch with the mainstream. I’m a big Manny Ortez fan too.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/10 "2004-07-17T03:56:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> His family’s net worth is over half a billion dollars. That puts him out of the mainstream.
Actually it’s his wife that brought the big money into the marriage. Kerry grew up in a family that was upper middle class. His father worked for the government (the State Department) and his mother was a nurse. There was some money from his mother’s family but most of it had been spread out pretty thinly and there was no great fortune.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/11 "2004-07-17T04:17:36Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#):
>
> Depends on who and what you think is “the mainstream.”
Likewise, if you think the Washington Times is mainstream… 😛
I don’t think Kerry’s out of the mainstream at all. He’s pro-choice, like roughly half the country. He thinks Iraq was done wrong, like roughly half the country. He dislikes the Bush tax cuts, which I believe gets a similar ~ 50% figure in the polls. It’s just part of the “Ooooh, liberal! Scary!” part of the GOP campaign.
Perhaps some of us saw the very amusing Daily Show piece on ‘talking points’ last night? I thought that was some of their best work.
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### Author:  [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/12 "2004-07-17T04:20:38Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#):
>
> [This Washington Times Article](http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040715-082644-9272r.htm) puts an interesting position that he’s operating in a very elite mainstream.
Maybe they’d like him better if he had [placed a crown on the head of the Washington Times’ owner and declared him to be the Messiah](http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/06/21/moon/index_np.html).
Of course, in the respect that he has not done so, Kerry is firmly in the American mainstream.
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/13 "2004-07-17T04:40:52Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#):
>
> Actually it’s his wife that brought the big money into the marriage. Kerry grew up in a family that was upper middle class. His father worked for the government (the State Department) and his mother was a nurse. There was some money from his mother’s family but most of it had been spread out pretty thinly and there was no great fortune.
I stand by my comment.
His family is worth over half a billion dollars.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/14 "2004-07-17T04:49:56Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#):
>
> I stand by my comment.
>
> His family is worth over half a billion dollars.
His family is certainly wealthy, but growing up rich and marrying into money aren’t the same thing. The implication that he grew up rich (accounting for his liberalness, out of touch-ness, and lack of concern for everyday people) is part of the caricature of him. Which is pretty silly given that the Bushes were surely more wealthy than the Kerrys, but whatever…
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/15 "2004-07-17T04:56:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Which is pretty silly given that the Bushes were surely more wealthy than the Kerrys, but whatever…
I don’t think that is true.
Regardless, it puts him out of the “mainstream”, don’t ya think?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/16 "2004-07-17T05:17:23Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#):
>
> I don’t think that is true.
I mean John Kerry’s parents vs. Bushes. Today I don’t know. Bush’s father is still alive, so it’s not a good comparison anyway.
> [@](#):
>
> Regardless, it puts him out of the “mainstream”, don’t ya think?
Yes, although as you said when you brought it up, the OP was about issues- not his marriage. My point remains, which is that the statement as it’s being spread around (and as you made it) is misleading. The money is his wife’s, not his, just like most of the property they own.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/17 "2004-07-17T05:26:12Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#):
>
> I don’t think that is true.
It;s true as far as Kerry’s upbringing VS. W’s. The Shrubster grew up with true wealth and privelege, Kerry just grew up as upper middle class. I don’t know exactly what Kerry’s father’s status was with the State Department, but _my_ father has been at State for 23 years and while he does relatively well, he’s not a millionaire.
> [@](#):
>
> Regardless, it puts him out of the “mainstream”, don’t ya think?
Not out of the _political_ mainstream, which is the what the GOP talking points are suggesting (The Daily Show did a great job of harpooning this exact slogan just last night, btw).
Anyway, if you’re going to say he’s out of the mainstream for being rich, then so are Bush and Cheney. At least Kerry wasn’t _always_ rich and he actually knows what it’s like to work for a living.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/18 "2004-07-17T06:02:48Z")
Hell, he’s no more “out of the mainsteam” than I am!
(Maybe I didn’t phrase that quite as well as I might have…)
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### Author:  [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/19 "2004-07-17T06:23:30Z")
> [@minty green](#):
>
> Maybe they’d like him better if he had [placed a crown on the head of the Washington Times’ owner and declared him to be the Messiah](http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/06/21/moon/index_np.html).
Gee, I guess you have to be in “John Kerry’s mainstream” to access that article… or be a regular subscriber to “[Salon.com](http://Salon.com)” - now\* that \* sounds mainstream, for sure… must be a real reputable news source… or, you can watch a commercial to get in… if you trust them to plant cookies in your computer…
Is this kinda like an online national Enquirer?
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### Author:  [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kerry-out-of-the-mainstream/255517/20 "2004-07-17T06:26:04Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> The money is his wife’s, not his, just like most of the property they own.
Lucky for her they don’t live in a community property state! 😛
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