WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who narrowly lost his bid for the White House in 2004, announced on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday that he would not seek the presidency in 2008.
“This isn’t the time for me to mount a presidential campaign,” Kerry said. “It is the time to put my energy to work as part of the majority in the Senate to do all I can to end this war.”
Referring to his 2004 campaign, he noted: “We came close, certainly close enough to be tempted to try again.” But Kerry said he felt a special obligation to end a war that he voted to authorize, and attacked the “arrogance” of a White House that ignored the advice of military leaders to pursue its goals.
Analysts said Kerry also may have surveyed the field of Democratic candidates – with Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois among the front-runners – and determined that there was little interest in a candidate given to long speeches, a less charismatic style and a similar position on the war.
“The writing was on the wall,” said Jennifer Duffy of the independent Cook Political Report. “He was getting squeezed. Where once you saw the possibility of his running an ‘I told you so’ campaign, his position on Iraq is not unique anymore.”
About a year before the first primary or caucus vote is cast, the Demo- cratic field is taking shape. In addition to Clinton and Obama, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina – Kerry’s 2004 running mate – is preparing a challenge, as are New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, among others.
Calling Bush’s proposal to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq a “folly,” Kerry asked, “Is there one colleague here who believes that 100,000 more troops will pacify Iraq?”
Kerry, who was awarded a Silver Star and Bronze Star for his service in the Vietnam War – a war he later publicly opposed – said he would press the Senate not just to oppose the president’s strategy in Iraq but to cut off funding for the war. “We have to find a way to end this misguided war and bring our troops home,” he said.
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