By Matthew K. Roy
BEVERLY — Four years later, Sen. John Kerry's focus has returned to November.
"November can't come fast enough," he said during a trip to Salem and Beverly. "We are so terribly gridlocked and stalled in terms of the agenda of the country, and it's very sad to see great institutions avoiding the major choices of our time right now."
Kerry, 64, was the Democratic Party's nominee for president in 2004, but lost to President Bush. This fall, he is asking voters to elect him to a fifth term in the U.S. Senate.
During a meeting Thursday with editors of The Salem News, Kerry shared an update on his ailing colleague, Ted Kennedy; addressed the possibility of accepting a post in presidential candidate Barack Obama's cabinet; pitched a plan to help reduce gas prices; and stressed the vital importance of alternative energy options.
Kerry expressed hope that Kennedy's tenure in Congress wouldn't be cut short.
"He's a great partner and a wonderful mentor to me for 24 years, and I hope that's going to continue," he said of Kennedy, who was recently diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.
"We're all pulling for him," Kerry said.
Like Kennedy, Kerry is a staunch and outspoken supporter of Obama, who was launched to national prominence after delivering a speech at the convention that nominated Kerry for president four years ago. Despite the close connection, Kerry brushed aside the suggestion that he might fill a role in an Obama administration, should the Illinois senator succeed in the fall.
"I have no intention of it," Kerry said during a meeting at the newspaper's Beverly headquarters. "I'm running for re-election for the purpose of being elected and serving. That's my plan. To start making decisions based on some type of hypothetical just doesn't make a lot of sense."
Kerry faces a potential challenge from Gloucester lawyer Edward O'Reilly in the Democratic primary and Republican Jeffrey Beatty of Cape Cod in the general election. O'Reilly and Beatty have returned the necessary signatures to get on the ballot, but still have additional paperwork to file, according to a spokesman in the Secretary of State's office. The deadline to file is Tuesday.
From The Salem News, Kerry went to Salem to meet with Mayor Kim Driscoll.
Asked what Congress could do about high gas prices, Kerry said he was introducing a bill next week that would create an "energy fraud task force" in the Justice Department. The goal of the bill would be to highlight the marketplace "speculation" of New York investment companies, a practice that Kerry said is driving up costs.
"You've got to tamp that down, and that takes some kind of regulatory oversight in order to do that," Kerry said. "That would be the most immediate impact on people driving their cars and paying bills."
In the meantime, Kerry said consumers need to know about existing cost-saving and environment friendly alternatives, such as rechargeable car batteries that offer 150 miles a gallon.
"Imagine for a family if you only had to fill up once a month instead of twice a week," he said.
Another major issue on the horizon is Medicare, Kerry said, adding that the program is predicted to be "cash negative" by 2019 and bankrupt by 2026.
"You're looking at a system that has to be overhauled well before Social Security," he said.
On the foreign policy front, Kerry said Obama would bring an end to the United States' self-inflicted isolation and reintroduce the country as a member of the global community.
"We have to recoup our authority," he said, "our moral authority and our legitimate political authority in the world."
