Suspense Is over: Kerry won't run for president

By Jill Zuckman and Michael Kranish,Globe Staff, February 27, 1999

Ending months of soul-searching and speculation, US Senator John F. Kerry yesterday took himself out of the running in the race for president in 2000.

Kerry's decision narrows the field of Democratic candidates to two: Vice President Al Gore, generally viewed as the front-runner, and former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley. At this point, the one-on-one Democratic primary is shaping up as a sedate affair, though the Rev. Jesse Jackson may yet launch a campaign and enliven the race.

Political fireworks are likely to be the preserve of the crowded Republican nomination contest, where there is no virtual incumbent, like Gore, to unbalance the field.

During an afternoon news conference yesterday, Kerry said he felt happy that he had made his decision, difficult as it was to set aside his presidential ambitions.

"My heart loves the battle. My heart loves these issues. My heart said go out and fight for these things," he said. "My head said the day after I make an announcement, I have to raise an exorbitant amount of money and do it all in 10 months."

Kerry also said he was dissuaded by the compressed primary schedule that would have required him to spend money in five or six states simultaneously before a single vote was cast.

"That's different from the way it's been in any prior presidential race and that's what makes it very complicated," he said. He also said he feared that the race could become too personal as he, Gore, and Bradley, who share similar views, sought to differentiate themselves.

Kerry made his decision at about 1 a.m. yesterday, after discussing the possibilities one last time with his wife, Teresa Heinz, in their Georgetown home. Heinz, who attended yesterday's press conference, said she was relieved that Kerry had made a decision, although she tried to stay neutral and supportive.

"I was very good," said Heinz. "I thought my duty was to be as a good friend, as Socratic as possible, ask him all the hard questions and make a list of the positives, the negatives, the difficulties.

"And whenever he felt desperate and said, 'What should I do?' I said, 'It's your decision,' " said Heinz, who had previously expressed some concerns about the arduous process of running for president.

Kerry said he and Heinz had discussed using their considerable wealth to pay for his presidential campaign, but decided against it. "We both felt it was the wrong thing to do," he said.

As he returns his attention full time to his Senate duties, Kerry said he wants to concentrate on education and children's issues, and hopes to help elect Democrats to office in 2000. He said he would eventually endorse a candidate for president, but would not say yesterday which candidate he supports.

Kerry did not rule out a future run for president; indeed, he declined to speak to the issue at all. "It's too early to talk about 2004," he said.

Kerry began informing aides, advisers, friends, and colleagues of his decision yesterday morning. His first call was to Gore, and he also met with Senate minority leader Thomas A. Daschle of South Dakota.

For months, Kerry had stoked the possibility of a presidential bid, and by January, some close advisers were convinced Kerry was going to run.

But John Marttila, one of Kerry's closest associates, said Kerry was torn over the idea for months and never seemed strongly inclined to run.

"It obviously just never felt right to John," Marttila said. "He never was able to bring himself to the ultimate decision. There has been an absence of 'I'm going to do this' for the past three or four months. He was not comfortable with the decision to go, that has been clear."

Nevertheless, Marttila added, "He was so anguished by it and wanted to do it so badly there continued to be a possibility."

Kerry considered running for president in 1992, said one associate who helped talk Kerry out of the idea at the time. But this associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he strongly urged Kerry to run in 2000.

This adviser said Kerry was leaning toward running in January, but then had many discussions with fellow senators that helped convince him it was all but futile. Then came the impeachment trial of President Clinton, which delayed Kerry's announcement by a month. Some Kerry advisers had thought Gore would be hurt by the trial, but the opposite seemed to have occurred, with Gore's job approval rating climbing as loyal Democrats rallied around the White House.

Kerry had plenty of enticements to run, even if he had little chance to win. He could have raised his national profile and gained national media scrutiny of the issues important to him. And if Gore bombed as a campaigner, only Bradley's candidacy would stand in the way of the nomination.

Moreover, some of the biggest obstacles to running had been cleared away. Senator Bob Kerrey, the Nebraska Democrat and a 1992 candidate, decided against running partly because -- unlike Kerry -- he was up for reelection in 2000. Kerrey also conducted polls in Iowa and New Hampshire that found Gore's standing strong among the activist Democrats whose support is crucial in early caucus and primary states.

After Kerry heard that his Nebraska colleague had compiled a 300-page document outlining the pros and cons of a race against Gore, the Massachusetts senator met privately with Kerrey to discuss the matter.

Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, then House minority leader, dropped out of the race in hopes of becoming speaker if Democrats gain control of the House in 2000. If Kerry really wanted to run, his worries about a crowded field and lack of money had been greatly eased.

"The clear majority of his friends and advisers and staff recommended and hoped that he would run," said a top Kerry aide. "He was in the end probably more detached and rational than the people around him."

There was one huge obstacle remaining, and that was Gore.

Kerry's advisers drew up several memos arguing that the electorate was unenthusiastic about Gore and ready for the kind of dynamic candidate they expected Kerry to be. But one adviser said yesterday that the Kerry team knew the odds against beating Gore were enormous. The vice president has effectively been running for president for six years and had locked up the support of most of the Democratic political and financial hierarchy.

Another longtime Kerry associate said the senator simply was exhausted from his 1996 Senate reelection race and the resulting two-year effort to pay off the more than $2 million in debt from the race.

"He just didn't have the energy in him to go another 19 to 20 months of nonstop campaigning and fund-raising," the associate said.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Jackson said Kerry's decision will not affect his own thinking "very much," but he said he was disappointed that Kerry stayed out of the race.

"He has a lot to offer," Jackson said. "He would have been very well organized and financed." But, the civil rights leader added: "I think perhaps Al Gore's strength ran Kerry off the road."