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That's so long time ago!
Barack Obama.
He offered a heartfelt speech about the need to elect Obama, and then reminisced about his campaign of 2004 with some of the precinct volunteers. Then he had a short Q&A session. I held up my old Army CVC bag with my unit patches from the Gulf War so he could see it, and asked him: "When you are going after those Swift Boat slugs? Real veterans understand the truth about your service!" He laughed and said that his priority was getting Barack Obama elected.
The best moment came when the precinct captain stood and asked the Senator: "Senator, I was precinct captain here for your campaign in 2004. The majority of voters in this district voted for you, and we were all very upset when you didn't win. Could I please shake your hand, sir?"
John Kerry replied: "I don't want to shake your hand." Then he paused for a second. "You come up here and give me a hug!" The precinct captain embraced Kerry, and Kerry thanked him tearfully for working so hard on his behalf. It was a great moment.
I have a lot of respect for John Kerry. 
in 2002 at an SC Democratic Party gathering. Bushco was already talking up action against Iraq and potential presidential hopefuls for 2004 were already making the rounds in this 1st primary in the south state... so both Kerry and John Edwards, among others, were present.
My friends and I made a point to talk to both Senators and future presidential candidates about voting against any sort of Bush-Iraq scheme. We cited the 11 years Iraq had been under awful sanctions since the 1st Bush war in 1991, the Saudi connection to 9/11 (since 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia), the Bush family history of lying which surely Kerry knew since he had investigated Iran-Contra... We were ready and informed.
But Kerry was arrogant and dismissive. He knew more than we did, or so he said. He was privy to additional information and Iraq was definitely a threat. I will never forget my disgust and disappointment. The condescension was palpable; he acted as if we were some dumb SC hicks which especially offened me since I am a transplant (marriage), but grew up and lived in DC for 40 years. I left that gathering sorely dismayed about a man I had once admired. And later in 2004 as my friends and I watched him offer convoluted excuses for his IWR vote, we just rolled our eyes and screamed at the TV... "some dumbass rubes in SC warned you not to support Bush, but you were sooooo much smarter!"
I held my nose and voted for him, but I never respected him again.
As for pretty boy John Edwards... he was pretty 
! But he was clueless and in over his head. He too blathered about the threat posed by Iraq, blah, blah, blah. But for some former hotshot litigator, he came across as dumb and blinded (starstruck) by the attention and the spotlight. Based on what we know now, all that attention went to his head!
my hand was in a sea of hands that touched his hand afterwards.
I got to meet him as part of a small group a couple times. I think he's a truly incredible person. Smart, sincere, and honorable in a way that the people who have trashed him politically, and especially the infamous Liars of 2004, could not remotely comprehend.
I'm glad he's Secretary of State now. Very sorry he didn't win the Presidency - the day after that election was one of the worst days of my life, short of the death of a family member.
I hope you get your opportunity to meet him someday.
