At the Democratic National Convention, Senator John Kerry delivered a speech that demonstrated the party’s unity, his personal commitment to reach out across generations to American citizens, and his conviction that America requires a change in presidential leadership to do better at home and play a constructive role in the world.

In 1971, Lt. John Kerry, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to testify about his experiences in Vietnam, asked hard questions to Senator J. William Fulbright and his colleagues about America’s involvement in the war. “…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?” Lt. Kerry’s experiences of US military conduct in Asia and its impact on the country’s morale resonate strongly 30 years later. In the Vietnam era, the Democratic Party lacked strength and unity, a new generation of Americans was losing faith in government, and the nation’s credibility in the world was in doubt.

The 2004 election is difficult to predict because of the undecided voters who are uncertain about America’s future. Kerry’s ability to ask the hard questions as he connects with the American people is a decisive factor. This election is a test of citizen action and determination to reject the “nation of sheep” syndrome that William Lederer analyzed over 40 years ago. His conclusion is no less relevant today:

“Every moment reveals a new frontier studded with challenges. To survive, we must stop acting like a nation of sheep; instead we must once again become patriotic revolutionaries. We must move and grow with changing events… We must drive ourselves to stay well informed; we must not be afraid to move ahead and change at a bold, vigorous pace. The nation that stands still, apathetically hoping that everything soon will be all right, has surrendered its chance of survival. An accelerating history will roll over it.”*

In the face of recent negative campaigning about his Vietnam record, Kerry’s determination to run a positive campaign sets the tone for the Senator from Massachusetts to speak with voters about the issues that matter the most to Americans. A recent Pew Survey http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/222.pdf reveals that for the first time since the Vietnam era voters are more concerned about foreign affairs and national security issues than economic concerns in a presidential election. The loss of American lives in Iraq and the difficulties of reconstruction amidst violence there speak to the degree of insecurity voters feel. Most importantly, Americans are worried about the loss of international respect the country faces in the world. This concern speaks also to the findings of a new RAND study http://www.rand.org/publications/IP/IP233/ that analyzes the absence of sufficient US leaders “who combine substantive depth with international experience and outlook.”

It is the mounting domestic budget deficit, $445 billion by latest White House estimates, and the way to sustain America’s capabilities in the face of global terrorism that raise the hardest questions. Both of these objectives are impacted profoundly by the continuing US engagement in Iraq. In the Convention acceptance speech, Kerry explained his perspective to a Democratic Party united mainly in its opposition to the Bush Administration. In his words, the only justification for taking America to war is to protect the American people and American values against a real and imminent threat. His words illustrated the lessons the Democratic Party and generations of Americans learned from the war in Vietnam. These lessons can be a source of strength to take the country into a new era.

It is clear that the challenge a Kerry Administration faces at home is to provide universal health care for citizens, reform primary education, and address other concerns in the American society without raising the taxes of the middle class. This tension in the goal to provide for comprehensive benefits and to reduce a run away deficit reveals the need to explain candidly to voters that there can be no free lunch. How will the campaign speak to the need for a collective sacrifice by the American people? Kerry’s campaign promise to tax those Americans earning over $200,000 a year is only the first of many steps for a nation whose spending must be brought under control.

Kerry’s vision, which recalls his wartime experiences on gunboat patrol, is of a country in which all Americans are in the same boat. At any time in our nation’s history, was this ever the case in the American society? In a dangerous world at present, undoubtedly the boat we share is the fate of all Americans. Our fate rests in the hands of those in a courageous majority who make the choice to reject apathy, to resist mistrust of government, and to participate as electors. This election is about believing in a president who unifies by inspiring citizens to care for the dignity and integrity of others, to reflect upon the state of civil liberties in America, and to be knowledgeable about human rights in the world. It is about the choice we make to steer a ship of state that is capable of staying the course domestically and globally.

The Kerry/Edwards campaign is a grassroots effort, which makes organized use of the Internet and multimedia communications. Its initiative mobilizes Americans in the United States and their compatriots around the globe to vote their conscience. Kerry’s ability to rebuild strained relationships and lead his team to negotiate with US allies provides the genuine test of his presidential leadership credentials. America and its transatlantic partners share a destiny to face hard questions with common purpose. Kerry is aware of the ways in which unjustified wars have distorted the American nation’s view of its institutions and its values. This understanding can shape his alternative way of thinking about how the US is able to cooperate with allies in Iraq. The manner in which Kerry believes it is possible to persuade allies to engage there is a critical element.

The question to ask is why should European countries that were against the Iraq war cooperate with a future Democratic Administration? Kerry has the chance to address this question in the campaign debates this fall. His candidacy presents a necessary opportunity for Americans to weigh the facts sensibly in an urgent national discussion. Citizens must decide which leader is fit to command. And ultimately it is the American people, not the President or his challenger, who must ask and answer the question as to whether the nation is better off presently than it was before the Bush Administration took office 4 years ago.
In this our national dialogue, the questions candidate Kerry asks can unify his party, generations of Americans impacted by the 2004 election, and the country as a whole. There is a place in the Kerry/Edwards campaign to emphasize the importance of “soft power,” defined by Joseph Nye, Jr. as the strategic use of America’s diverse resources. Economic resources, the American system of higher education, including the use of technology in learning, and public diplomacy are an integral source of American strength.

Only a diverse combination of US assets can overcome the present liability- misguided leadership combined with an excessive reliance on military force. The United States faces the choice in November to strengthen the collective resolve to maintain peace in the Balkans, restore stability in Afghanistan, to negotiate purposefully with North Korea, address the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and, most urgently, to develop a comprehensive peace settlement in the Middle East.

In a campaign debate that is likely to focus too exclusively in the media on the military dimension of US policy in the world, Kerry’s task as a unifier is to prompt Americans to discuss the impact on global terrorism of an intelligent use of “soft power.” Kerry seized the moment to begin talking constructively with communities across the nation right after the Democratic National Convention. Citizens who care about this election are encouraged to participate in the democratic process via the Kerry/Edwards website http://www.johnkerry.com/index.html to learn more about proposals for change and to join the campaign by hosting neighborhood discussions about decisive issues.

Americans at home and concerned peoples throughout the world are invited in this election to take the action necessary to create a different kind of America. The significance of the choice in November, what is at stake in the nation and around the globe, demands no less.

*William Lederer. A Nation of Sheep. London: World Distributors, 1961, p. 152.

Brooklyn, New York, @ 2004