Kerryism of the DayThe senator's caveats and curlicues.

What did he say?(For instructions on how to read a Kerryism, click here.)

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Question: What kind of Democrat are you?
Kerry: A thinking Democrat. You can call me an old-fashioned New Deal Democrat^₁. I'm not going to break faith on Social Security. I'm not going to abandon people who are struggling to earn a decent wage.^₂

—Time, Feb. 9, 2004

[1] on X or Y

[2] But call me a New Democrat when it comes to creating jobs and being entrepreneurial and understanding the bottom line of business.

Verbatim:

A thinking Democrat. You can call me an old-fashioned New Deal Democrat on X or Y. I'm not going to break faith on Social Security. I'm not going to abandon people who are struggling to earn a decent wage. But call me a New Democrat when it comes to creating jobs and being entrepreneurial and understanding the bottom line of business.

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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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