Portsmouth (NH) Herald: Sen. Kerry is Herald's choice in N.H. primary

In 2004, along with traditional election-year issues such as the economy and health care, a new question has arisen. Americans are asking who is best qualified to fight the threat of terrorism at home and lead our military operations abroad?

We believe that candidate is John Kerry.

The senator is a war hero. He received the Purple Heart for his service on a gunboat in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. When he speaks of the war in Iraq, he speaks with the moral authority of a man who has put his life on the line for his country. Kerry’s public life began when he returned from the war angry and disillusioned. His passion and eloquence quickly made him a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War. When he testified against the war before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971, the Nixon administration took notice and talked about ways to undermine him.

But it is hard to undermine Kerry.

He has spent his life serving his country, growing from an angry anti-war activist into an active elected official - first as a prosecutor, then as Massachusetts’ lieutenant governor and now as a U.S. senator. He currently serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, before which he testified as a young veteran. During his three-plus terms in the U.S. Senate Kerry has fought against corruption and the abuse of power.


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Kerry, Dean and Edwards have delivered powerful messages in the run-up to Tuesday’s primary. John Kerry is the candidate with the history, the record of service, the experience and the moral authority to deliver those messages to George W. Bush and to the American people.

On Jan. 27 we urge you to vote for John Kerry.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/01232004/opinion/71903.htm