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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Kerry: We are friends.^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9}

Question: So you didn't offer [McCain the vice-presidency]?

Kerry: People suggested that we look at that.^{10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19}
—Larry King Live, July 8, 2004

[1] It's a dear friendship.

[2] And I respect him

[3] and respect that friendship

[4] enormously.

[5] And I admire John McCain's willingness to stand up and speak his heart to the country

[6] sort of

[7] I think that's important.

[8] And that's what John Edwards and I are going to do.

[9] But I think that—

[10] There were some people who reached out and suggested it

[11] on the other side of the fence, may I say

[12] John and I chatted

[13] briefly

[14] about whether or not we should even explore it.

[15] And I think in his heart he felt that it was not something he wanted to do.

[16] And in the end, we saw issues about it

[17] and we didn't pursue it.

[18] It's that simple.

[19] ... Question: You never went past exploration? Kerry: Well, we never went past that there could be an exploration.

Verbatim
Kerry: We are friends. It's a dear friendship. And I respect him and respect that friendship enormously. And I admire John McCain's willingness to stand up and sort of speak his heart to the country. I think that's important. And that's what John Edwards and I are going to do. But I think that—
Question: So you didn't offer [McCain the vice-presidency]?
Kerry: People suggested that we look at that. There were some people on the other side of the fence, may I say, who reached out and suggested it. John and I chatted briefly about whether or not we should even explore it. And I think in his heart he felt that it was not something he wanted to do. And in the end, we saw issues about it, and we didn't pursue it. It's that simple. ...
Question: You never went past exploration?
Kerry: Well, we never went past that there could be an exploration.

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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 Luke Frazza/Agence France-Presse.

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