First, let me echo the sentiments of countless journalists and others in saying that you are a smart and impressive young girl. You carry yourself in a way well beyond your 12 years and I won't be surprised to see your name in the years to come in either California state or national politics. I applaud you for taking an interest in and action about things that will affect your life for years to come. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the similarity between those comments and mine. Most of them continue on to fawn on you and your speech at the Democratic National Convention. And for good reason - it apparently made for great TV during an event that was lackluster by most accounts. Sorry, kid, but I don't let you off that easily.

I say "apparently" because I didn't see your speech. I was spending the evening with my own kids and having a much better time than sitting in front of the TV watching Teddy Kennedy sing his one-note song about the evils of Conservatism. (From the highlights I saw, however, I would have liked to see Barack Obama's full speech. There's another name to watch for.) Anyway, I went looking for a transcript of your speech online but, alas, I couldn't find one.

[Ed. note - I take that back. I just looked again and found one on what, I'm sure, will quickly become one of my favorite sites. I didn't find it on Friday when I started writing this. Appropriate parts following have been amended to reflect this.]

The only part of your speech that got any media attention was, of course, where you said that Vice President Cheney deserves a time-out for using "a really bad word." Do you also think that Sneator Kerry needs the same for using the same word in a Rolling Stone interview last December? (Gee - everyone seems to have forgotten that one, huh? His wasn't even uttered in anger but as part of a casual conversation.) Consistency says you need to denounce that publicly as well.

Your speech was not much different than the content of your website and actually less detailed - not that your site contains many details itself - so I will use your site as the basis for my comments. (On an technical note - while all of the Springsteen references in your domain name registration may be cute and all, it is against ICANN rules to provide false information and is grounds for cancellation.)

You lament the fact that kids don't have a voice in their own future yet your entire site displays exactly why that is. Wide-eyed, idealistic optimism may play well for the cameras but it's not a good foundation on which to base policy decisions. Like most kids (and far too many adults) you address the issues on only a surface level without regard for their deeper and much more complex underpinnings and their ramifications on other parts of life. Your own accounts of how KidsForKerry started show that you've gotten all of your information from your parents and not researched the issues you espouse for yourself. In children, that is to be expected - even encouraged under some circumstances, so I don't hold you accountable for that. In adults, it's shameful.

I was going to examine your issue statements - your ABCs as you call them - but they are far too generic. You'd be pretty hard pressed to find someone who doesn't care about America, Better education and Compassion for children. So let's look at your 12 reasons to vote for John Kerry, which are slightly more detailed.

1> John Kerry has been a REAL hero to America. As a Swift Boat officer in the Navy, he received 3 Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, and a Bronze Star with Combat V, for his service in combat. Additionally he has been credited with saving the lives of some of his crew.

While this may qualify him as a really good guy to go into battle with, it certainly doesn't qualify him as a leader. He made it to the rank of Lieutenant and served in Vietnam for almost 5 whole months before transferring to a desk job in Brooklyn. Less than a year later he requested an early discharge to run for Congress. On your site you say you want honesty, but you endorse a candidate who is portraying himself as a strong military-type leader but has repeatedly voted to cut funding for our military and intelligence services. You may also want to ask your parents why none of this military service stuff mattered when Bill Clinton (who fled the draft) was running against George H. W. Bush (fighter pilot in WWII; shot down over ChiChi Jima; awarded Distinguished Flying Cross) in 1992 and Bob Dole (infantry in WWII; shot in the back trying to help a fallen soldier) in 1996.

2> John Kerry has been a Senator for the past 20 years. During this time he has consistently been very helpful to the environment.
3> He has the highest score by the League of Conservation Voters (96%) of any Presidential candidate.

Funny - this is the only place that the environment shows up on your site.

4> He wants to find alternatives to oil so we will not have to ruin the unspoiled beautiful land in Alaska by drilling
5> By focusing on alternatives to oil, there will be a half million new jobs created, and we will find an alternative!
6> By finding alternatives to oil, we can end our dependence on Middle East oil. And hopefully, that will lead to a lasting peace in that troubled region.

Until alternative fuels are developed and are capable of sustaining our needs we will be dependent on oil. I agree that we need to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of that oil and retrieving the untapped reserves in Alaska is the fastest, most cost effective and least harmful way to do that. Advances in technology now allow oil producers to drill and pump oil with a much smaller footprint than ever before. High estimates are that 5,000 acres out of 19,000,000 would be affected (or 0.026%). Estimates range down to less than 2,000 acres. Job estimates range from 250,000 to 736,000 - and that doesn't preclude research from continuing into alternative sources which could mean even further job growth.

As for lasting peace in the Middle East, that has nothing to do with oil sales to the US. Those are religious issues which have been around for centuries and will continue to be. The only thing that reducing our purchase of oil from them will do is reduce the wealth of those nations, some of which gets funneled to terrorist activities against other countries in the region.

7> He wants to set aside more forests for public use

OK - so fully half of your 12 reasons are environmental. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different to come out of the Bay Area. I would just urge you, as you get older, to look at the overall effects of the polices you endorse. For instance, leaders in the Bay Area claim to be in favor of affordable housing for those in need but they also pass numerous building restrictions in the name of preserving the environment that only serve to drive up housing costs. Noble intentions are all well and good but the economics don't add up and the two intentions work against each other, usually with poor people getting the short end of the stick.

8> John Kerry believes that all children have the right to an excellent education. He will see to it that all children are given an opportunity to excel in school.
9> He understands that teachers have one of the most important jobs in America, and they must be paid more. He will make sure that they have all the supplies that they need, and that all buildings where children attend school are safe.

As I said earlier, everybody wants to improve education. The difference stems from the fact that not everyone agrees that continually pumping more money into the existing system will achieve that goal. Again, I would urge you to learn to check out the facts. (All the data below is from the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education.) In the 1999-2000 school year (the last year for which I found complete data), the three school systems with the highest expenditure per student were the District of Columbia, New York and New Jersey, in that order. SAT scores for those systems were among the bottom of all the states. Lest you think this was just a one year thing, I looked at the financial data going back to 1960 and these three are consistently in the top four. Here's a table of their scores out of the 50 states plus DC:

In addition, there are plenty of examples of private and charter schools which produce students who perform above the national averages and do it for less money per student. So more money for schools can't possibly equate to better education. Or if it does, then all that money is being skimmed off the top before it ever gets to the schools. Either way, throwing even more money into education is not the answer.

10> He wants to pass laws so that every citizen is this country will be able to have health care, and he believes that seeing a Doctor should be a right, and not a privilege.

First of all, no one in this country should ever go without health care. Hospitals in this country are required by law to provide medical care regardless of the patient's ability (or inability) to pay for it. Health insurance on the other hand is another matter. If you're talking about the government mandating that insurance companies cover everyone, that will drive the insurance companies out of business. If, on the other hand, you're talking about National Health Care (where the government essentially becomes the insurance provider), I would urge you to look at the example of Canada where the waiting lists for anything but the most emergency procedure are weeks and months long (sometimes resulting in death while waiting for treatment). In the 1990's, doctors by the thousands (my own physician among them) moved from Canada to the US to be able to work where they did not feel helpless.

11> He will create 10 million new jobs to help families realize their dreams.

This is far too generic. There's no basis for it other than the fact that it sounds good in a speech.

12> He is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry who is an incredible person. She really loves children, is concerned about kids issues, is very intelligent, can speak 5 languages, and she is a huge philanthropist (she does a lot to help people). She will be an absolutely wonderful First Lady! Kids For Kerry representatives have met her on 4 occasions and we think the world of her!

This means nothing when it comes to her husband's ability to effectively lead our nation.

Again, I applaud you for your initiative and concern for the future of our country. I would urge you, however, to look at things at more than just face value before taking your cause to the national stage. To do any less is a disservice to yourself and to our country.