Kerryism of the DayThe senator's caveats and curlicues.

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"Essential reading? Obviously¹ I² believe³ you ought to read the Bible.^{4 5 6 7} I think a religious foundation⁸ is important^{9 10}."

—C-SPAN interview, June 3, 2004

[1] um, uh, I mean, if you—I don't know if you're picking 10 books or five books or whatever, but

[2] happen to

[3] —a lot of people don't—

[4] People might pick up the Koran

[5] or the Torah

[6] or whatever, obviously

[7] depending on your religion, but

[8] —I personally think—

[9] whether it's Confucianism or Hinduism

[10] or whatever it is.

Kerry version:

Essential reading? Obviously, um, uh, I mean, if you—I don't know if you're picking ten books or five books or whatever, but I happen to believe—a lot of people don't—you ought to read the Bible. People might pick up the Koran or the Torah or whatever, obviously, depending on your religion, but I think a religious foundation—I personally think—is important, whether it's Confucianism or Hinduism or whatever it is.

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William Saletan is Slate's national correspondent and author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War. Follow him on Twitter here.

Photograph of John Kerry by Marc Serota/Reuters.

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