John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign
The 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, the longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, began when he formed an exploratory committee on December 1, 2002. On September 2, 2003, he formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination.[2] After beating John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and other candidates in the primaries, he became the Democratic nominee, challenging Republican incumbent George W. Bush in the general election. Kerry selected Edwards as his running mate.
John Kerry for President 2004
John Kerry
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1985–2013)
John Edwards
U.S. Senator from North Carolina (1999–2005)
Announced: September 2, 2003
Presumptive nominee: March 2, 2004
Official nominee: July 29, 2004
Lost election: November 3, 2004
Mary Beth Cahill (Manager)
Bob Shrum (Consultant)
A Stronger America
Let America Be America Again
Stronger at Home, Respected in the World[1]
Kerry conceded defeat in a telephone call to Bush at around 11 a.m. EST (16:00 UTC) on the morning of November 3, 2004. Had Kerry won, he would have been the first incumbent senator since John F. Kennedy to be elected president. Edwards would have been the first vice president from North Carolina.
Edwards would run for president again in the 2008 Democratic primary, finishing third. That year's Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, became the first senator elected president since Kennedy. After Obama's reelection in 2012, he nominated Kerry as Secretary of State.
Political positions[edit]
Economy and budget[edit]
Kerry supported enhancing the Balanced Budget Act. In 1993, Kerry voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Kerry supported eliminating tax incentives for companies that move operations overseas and making efforts to reduce outsourcing.
Kerry was against funding cuts in Social Security benefits. He opposed privatizing Social Security accounts.
Immigration[edit]
Kerry supported cutting the Bureau for Citizenship and Immigration Services' application pending backlog and reducing the lag for the naturalization process. Kerry endorsed benefits to legal immigrants. Kerry supported the DREAM Act. Kerry supported the proposal of legalizing the status of illegal immigrants, pending a certain amount of working time in the US and passing a background check. Kerry proposed border enforcement reformation and an increase of border enforcement funding.
Education and science[edit]
Kerry voted for the No Child Left Behind Act and argues that it should be "fully funded" which would entail funding several programs up to authorized levels of funding. He proposed a new "Education Trust Fund" to require the federal government to fund programs up to their authorized levels. He also proposed a "College Opportunity Tax Credit" for "economically vulnerable" students.
Kerry promised to increase funding for scientific research, to reduce restrictions on stem cell research, and to facilitate cooperation with foreign scientists by improving immigration and visa practices. He said he would support efforts to reduce global warming.
Law and justice[edit]
As an assistant district attorney, Kerry personally prosecuted armed robbers, rapists, and mob bosses. He is in favor of putting resources in the community, backing the Community Oriented Policing System Act (COPS), and creating laws that lead to criminals being arrested and convicted. Kerry has advocated expanding the COPS program to place 100,000 police officers in community policing assignments. Kerry supports the Police Corps program. In the Senate, Kerry has advocated laws that punish drug dealers and money launderers.
Campaign history[edit]
Campaign managers[edit]
Early on, John Kerry's campaign manager was Jim Jordan. However, Jordan was replaced by Mary Beth Cahill. Kerry also hired Bob Shrum as a campaign consultant. Cahill and Shrum were known for disagreeing on how the campaign should be run.
Kerry's team of advisors included Robert Rubin on economic affairs and Gary Hart on foreign policy. James Johnson, a Washington businessman and democratic veteran, coordinated Kerry's search for a running mate, eventually settling on John Edwards.
Kerry's campaign used many slogans to describe his run for the presidency: