HOME /  Kerryisms :  The senator's caveats and curlicues.

Kerryism of the Day

The senator's caveats and curlicues.

By |Updated Monday, June 28, 2004, at 4:19 PM ET

What did he say?
What did he say?

(For instructions on how to read a Kerryism, click here.)

"If I'm president, we'll have a military second to nobody in this world, and I won't hesitate to use force 1 2 to achieve our goal."

­­—Washington Post interview, May 28, 2004

[1] if necessary

[2] as a last resort

Verbatim:
If I'm president, we'll have a military second to nobody in this world, and I won't hesitate to use force if necessary as a last resort to achieve our goal.

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Photograph of John Kerry by Marc Serota/Reuters.