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John Kerry for president
Super Tuesday offers real choices. George W. Bush’s hateful move to amend the Constitution. And Speaker Tom Finneran gets spanked.



NEXT TUESDAY, Massachusetts voters can — at long last — have an official say in the Democratic presidential-primary process. At this point, the field has been winnowed to four candidates: US Senators John Kerry and John Edwards, US Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. But we believe the best candidate is still in the race. The Phoenix urges voters to support Massachusetts senator John Kerry for president on March 2.

As we’ve previously noted (see "Vote Kerry in New Hampshire," Editorial, January 23, available online at www.bostonphoenix.com), of all the candidates, Kerry has the broadest vision and experience for the job. His public life is impressive. A 19-year veteran of the United States Senate, he’s grappled with issues of war and peace, terrorism and international malfeasance, social justice and human rights. He’s worked to improve health care and education for all citizens. He opposes George W. Bush’s irresponsible tax cuts, yet he is loath to repeal those portions of Bush’s three tax bills that benefit the middle class — provisions insisted upon by congressional Democrats, it should be noted, and not initiated by the president or his minions.

He is equally accomplished in other areas. Kerry served in Vietnam, where he was three times wounded and twice decorated for bravery. Recognizing the magnitude of our national error, he then helped lead the fight to change policy there. Amid all this, he helped raise two daughters. He understands the balance between the public and the private.

It’s an impressive résumé. All the more impressive when stacked up against Bush’s spotty attendance in the National Guard during the Vietnam War; his having presided over 152 executions as governor of Texas (more than any other governor in history); and the sleazy way he has governed our country in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bush responded to the greatest national-security crisis since World War II by shifting the nation’s attention and resources from Al Qaeda — a legitimate threat — to Iraq. And he did so while shoveling tax cuts to his wealthy supporters while running up the biggest budget deficit in our nation’s history.

Next Tuesday, the choice is clear. Kerry isn’t just the best candidate the Democrats can field against Bush; he’s the best candidate the Democrats can field, period.

VOTERS IN Needham, Natick, Wellesley, and nine other western suburbs will also select their new state senator in a special election next Tuesday. The victor will fill the seat vacated when former state senator Cheryl Jacques resigned to lead the Washington, DC–based Human Rights Campaign, a national gay-rights group. The choice here is an easy one. The Phoenix urges voters to elect Democrat Angus McQuilken.

Jacques’s former chief of staff, McQuilken comes to the race with more experience than you’d expect from someone who has yet to hold elective office. He’s familiar with the hot-button issues on Beacon Hill, having worked on them with Jacques: education reform, the need for full-day kindergarten, funding the Prescription Advantage Program, reforming business tax credits to make sure companies live up to their job-creation promises. Unlike his opponent, Republican state representative Scott Brown, McQuilken opposes the death penalty and refuses to sign a no-new-taxes pledge. Perhaps most important in light of the debate over gay marriage set to resume when the constitutional convention reconvenes on March 11, McQuilken is a strong supporter of civil-marriage rights for same-sex couples, while Brown is not. Indeed, Brown is opposed even to civil unions.

Governor Mitt Romney has thrown his support behind Brown. He has donated money to the campaign and stumped for the candidate. This is an exceedingly important local election. Electing McQuilken will not stop Romney’s push to install more Republicans in the state legislature, but it will be a significant defeat. There may be a real need for more party balance in the legislature — Democrat Tom Finneran is the personification of the conceit of one-party rule. But we need Republicans in the mold of former governor Bill Weld, who recently endorsed gay marriage, or the late Frank Sargent, an environmentalist and education advocate, rather than the socially conservative clones Romney is trying to foist upon the public.

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Issue Date: February 27 - March 4, 2004
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