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If I had 15 minutes with the future President Kerry, I would not have to educate him about my ideas for energy security. That’s because he already has a deep understanding of them. Making America energy independent, strengthening our national security, and protecting the environment are causes that John Kerry has fought for his entire […]

Remember all those speeches you gave filled with statistics and stories about the middle-class squeeze? You spoke the truth. Wages really are stagnant, and we really are struggling to buy the basics. The core of a middle-class life–a home, health insurance, a good education for our children, the things our parents could take for granted–is […]

If John Kerry is elected this fall, his no. 1 task will be to deal with the huge budget mess George W. Bush’s tax cuts have created. Which begs the question: How could President Kerry build public support for the higher taxes our country desperately needs? So far, Kerry hasn’t shown any inclination to talk […]

Congratulations, Mr. President! The progressive lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community is delighted that you have an opportunity to turn America back on a path to tolerance. Here’s what we expect in return: no more, and no less, than what we got from William Jefferson Clinton. What’s that? You say that Clinton botched every […]

If he takes the oath of office as president, John Kerry would inherit an upside-down economy marked by slow job growth, stagnant wages, and rising costs; twin deficits–budget and trade–that threaten havoc for the middle class; a health-care system that’s facing financial chaos; a dangerous and costly occupation in Iraq; a vitally important but vastly […]

We routinely screen presidential candidates for demonstrated competence on national security, economic policy, and other supreme responsibilities. But neither major candidate has demonstrated leadership or expertise on racial and ethnic justice (though George W. Bush’s record is far worse). To our collective shame, it’s been a “missing issue” in the campaign. But it must not […]

When we recall the now-famous incantation, “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” we focus on its content: John F. Kennedy invited Americans to become active participants in, rather than passive recipients of, American democracy. But the word that stands out for me is the […]

Mr. Kerry, after four years of slothful leadership, the American people may be ready for the quality that the Framers referred to as “energy in the executive.” That energy, of course, can’t be solely of your own making. Since the nation’s founding, the eras that have decisively advanced democratic purposes have been built around a […]

Once upon a time — as in long, long ago — all presidents and presidential candidates were expected to have an answer for the “labor question.” Nowadays, not only are there no answers, there’s scarcely a question, at least not one demanding enough to command prolonged attention in this election year. Unasked, unanswerable, yet inescapable! […]