# The first President Kerry thread: how will he serve? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 2, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633 "2004-11-02T23:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/1 "2004-11-02T23:43:52Z")
Gee, I hope I don’t jinx this like I did with game 6 in the NLCS last season (long story), but it looks like Kerry’s in a good position to become our next president. I have seen no considerations of how Kerry might serve… what kind of president he will be. I don’t know if this is because past projections on the administrations of candidates were reviled by the public, or because nobody gave the guy a chance, but I haven’t seen such articles as I’ve seen in the past. I think the so-called character deficits (flip flopper! say anything to get elected! etc.) will turn out to be benefits to a president. It’s unfortunate that we vote for candidates and end up with presidents, since the skills that make a good candidate are quite different from those that make a good president. Kerry could be a consensus-builder and a prudent manager of the US government, one who considers everything and is able to appreciate many different perspectives. If he doesn’t have an agenda or pet projects, he can gain our faith as a fair-minded leader. Let me suggest that such qualities were absent in (cough) recent administrations. Abandon, if you will, either the utopian or apocalypic visions you have had during the campaign cycle, and post your thoughts on how Kerry might (will) (would have) serve(d). ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/2 "2004-11-03T01:42:56Z")
I say he will serve differently than Bush did. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/3 "2004-11-03T02:10:00Z")
The Republican controlled Senate and House will not let him get much, if any, of his agenda off the ground. At what point will people start blaming the stituation in Iraq on him? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/4 "2004-11-03T02:21:15Z")
Dewey WINS!! 😃 What I can’t wait to see is how suddenly (when Kerry gets in) the economy will be ‘better’ while actually trending exactly the same. How the situation in Iraq will be ‘better’ though Kerry won’t have done anything substantial yet. How suddenly the environment will be ‘better’ despite the fact that Kerry won’t have really don’t anything yet. How health benifits will be ‘better’, how social security will be ‘saved’, Etc, etc etc. Should be a fun 4 years. -XT ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/5 "2004-11-03T02:39:15Z")
Kerry will be a disappointment to his supporters and better than I think. They won’t admit it and neither will I. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/6 "2004-11-03T02:41:15Z")
As of 9:47 EST, what exactly suggests a Kerry win? Nothing that I can see. Is isn’t the leader in either Florida or Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/7 "2004-11-03T02:54:05Z")
This will be the first and last “President Kerry” thread. Let’s face it. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/8 "2004-11-03T03:54:26Z")
BWAHAHAHAHA! Um… To answer the OP’s how will President Kerry serve question… “A very long distance from the Oval Office.” ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/9 "2004-11-03T04:02:06Z")
Ohio hasn’t been called yet. Until it is, I will continue to believe that Kerry will win. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/10 "2004-11-03T04:13:37Z")
Even if Kerry pulls off an astonishing comeback in Ohio - and despite what you may have heard, there ain’t enough votes left in Cuyahoga County to give him the state - the reports are now that he’s losing Wisconsin. Without Florida, he can’t lose any of the Great Lakes states. He’s DOA. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/11 "2004-11-03T04:45:38Z")
Underarm ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/12 "2004-11-03T06:38:04Z")
Maybe Bush can find a job for him in the new Bush whitehouse. Otherwise, I’m afraid you jumped the gun…If Kerry becomes President, it will have to be head of some organization but not of the People of the USA. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/13 "2004-11-03T07:35:57Z")
In the soup kitchen? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/14 "2004-11-03T09:07:59Z")
…so is this the gloating thread? _G_ It’s not OVER, but yeah, it is over. Yay President Bush! Yay Republican Congress! Yay Marriage Referendums! Yay also to our our Coalition friends & our Iraqi & Afghan supporters. ---
**Author:** ![BadBadger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BadBadger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBadger)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/15 "2004-11-03T09:12:49Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Gee, I hope I don’t jinx this Ooops. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/16 "2004-11-03T10:57:33Z")
> [@Cricetus](#): > > The first President Kerry thread… “The first shall be last.” — Jesus ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/17 "2004-11-03T10:57:35Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > BWAHAHAHAHA! > > Um… > > To answer the OP’s how will President Kerry serve question… “A very long distance from the Oval Office.” Laugh while you can. You can gloat for a while, feeling like you’ve won, before you realize you’re just a pawn in Karl Rove’s chess game and you’ve been used. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/18 "2004-11-03T11:17:22Z")
Pretty well but his backhand will need some work. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/19 "2004-11-03T11:47:14Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Laugh while you can. You can gloat for a while, feeling like you’ve won, before you realize you’re just a pawn in Karl Rove’s chess game and you’ve been used. You’re a bitter little thing, ain’t ya? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633/20 "2004-11-03T11:49:33Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > You’re a bitter little thing, ain’t ya? What makes you think I’m little? Well, I guess I am a rodent. Bush backers are in for a rude awakening. It’ll be great to gloat the day that people realize, hey! Debt and war do NOT add up to a strong America? We’ve been had! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-president-kerry-thread-how-will-he-serve/272633.md?page=2)