John Kerry reflects on lessons of ‘Every Day’
He urges Dems to shun the I-word for now
John Kerry, 74, notes that he is “a lot of formers” – former secretary of state, former Democratic presidential nominee, former five-term senator, former anti-war activist – and a current author. His memoir, “Every Day Is Extra,” was published Tuesday by Simon & Schuster. He sat down with USA TODAY’s Susan Page to talk about the lessons he has learned along the way. Here are five thoughts from Kerry:
1. The memorial service for his friend John McCain had a message for the White House.
“There were clearly Trumpian overtones to the entire service. Stop and think for a minute: You have President Clinton there, President Bush there, President Obama there, other people who have served ... but here you had a situation where the current president of the United States could not attend the funeral service for a national hero, a war hero. That is a remarkable, remarkable moment. It says something profound about the gap between this president and normality, and appropriateness. I think it’s just stunning, to be honest with you.”
2. In 2004, he and McCain discussed being running mates on the Democratic ticket.
“I was fascinated with the idea of really presenting America with something different, not politics as usual. … John obviously thought more about the idea and liked it, and later when he was the nominee (for the Republicans in 2008, he) thought about doing it with Joe Lieberman.”
Should Democrats consider a bipartisan ticket in 2020? “It would be a change. It would be an enormous thing. I would certainly still be willing to think about how to be creative to address the problems we face today.”
3. Democrats shouldn’t say the I-word, at least not now.
“I’m not advocating impeachment. I think we shouldn’t even be talking about it. There should be nothing. The word shouldn’t be used right now. What we need to do is focus on the real choices of American politics, the values that are being violated, and then see what happens, see if (special counsel) Robert Mueller comes out with something or doesn’t. … I think you have to let the investigation run its course, and then we can measure all of this appropriately.”
4. Trump is dismantling Obama’s foreign policy record on Iran, climate change and other issues.
“There’s a lot of evidence that he is a revengeful, a vengeance-oriented, very narrow person who discards people whenever he wants and attacks them like crazy. … The bottom line is this man is not equipped to be doing the job he is in, and it is costing us around the world right now. Chinese leadership is supplanting American leadership across Europe and Asia.”
5. He doesn’t want to talk about the 2020 presidential race.
“I am focused on 2018 and having a course correction before it’s too late to do some of the things that we need to do. I don’t think I’ll be running for office again. ... What I’m looking at is how we as activists and citizens reclaim our democracy and make it work in this country. ... Focus on what we can affect in the next two months.”