Political Pundits on How to Win the White House  In the end,
more voters believed Clinton's version of his story. Kerry's
personal life was not nearly as complicated as Clinton's, but
his political challenge was bigger. Clinton had a detailed
agenda, which he cared about and helped create. This is not true
of all presidential candidates. Even rarer, Clinton had been the
dominant voice in crafting that agenda. The most under-
appreciated assets in presidential politics are a coherent
rationale and the ability to defend that rationale, not just
with words but with convictions that ?ow from life experience.
Clinton had these in abundance, as did George W. Bush. Kerry
understood the issues, but had not harnessed them to a greater
vision. He had not compiled an impressive record of legislative
achievements in the Senate. Nor had he been an in?uential or
consistent voice in the conversation over the direction of the
Democratic Party, a debate that overlapped precisely with his
Senate career. In the public mind, he