[2] After beating John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and other candidates in the primaries, he became the Democratic nominee, challenging Republican incumbent George W. Bush in the general election.

Kerry supported cutting the Bureau for Citizenship and Immigration Services' application pending backlog and reducing the lag for the naturalization process.

Kerry supported the proposal of legalizing the status of illegal immigrants, pending a certain amount of working time in the US and passing a background check.

He had previously opposed the death penalty for terrorists on the grounds that it would make it difficult to extradite suspects to the United States to stand trial.

He has, however, expressed reservations about affirmative action in the past, most notably in a 1992 speech in which he reportedly called the practice "inherently limited and divisive," explaining that it "has kept America thinking in racial terms."

Kerry voted in support of the Senate resolution authorizing the President to use force against Saddam Hussein if he failed to surrender his weapons of mass destruction and related tools for constructing and distributing them.

The Bush campaign immediately seized on the comment, using the footage in television ads to illustrate its charge that Kerry flip-flops on issues, particularly the war in Iraq.

Kerry explained his vote authorizing force by claiming that he believed the Senate resolution was intended to be a diplomatic "threat" to Saddam Hussein and not a blank check for war.

In the first of the 2004 United States presidential debates, Kerry argued that Saddam Hussein had posed a significant potential threat, but that President Bush was premature in going to war.

"[15] Kerry advocates involving NATO, troops from other countries and the United Nations in U.S.-led efforts to achieve the goals of a "stable" and "democratic" world.

Kerry cosponsored an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Bill that allows the military to transport families of soldiers wounded while on active duty.

Kerry detailed proposals for homeland security efforts include enlisting the National Guard and AmeriCorps, creating a community defense service, ensuring first defenders and first responders are equipped and ready, improving information technology, reforming domestic intelligence, implementing public health initiatives and improving infrastructure security.

In 2002, Kerry was one of the leaders of the Senate filibuster that defeated the Bush administration's proposal to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

James Johnson, a Washington businessman and democratic veteran, coordinated Kerry's search for a running mate, eventually settling on John Edwards.

The only notable labor union to endorse him early was the International Association of Fire Fighters; however, Kerry's support quickly snowballed as he won caucuses and primaries.

Two notable exceptions were retiring Georgia Senator Zell Miller, a conservative Democrat, and Ed Koch, the former three-term mayor of New York City, both of whom endorsed George W. Bush.

[50] Rush Limbaugh, in conjunction with his broadcast on the matter, posted a doctored photo of the incident on his website, but stated that the Newsmax report that made the claim was his only source.

[51][52] Early in the 2004 presidential election campaign an organization known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was established to challenge John Kerry's bid for the presidency.

The group, led by Vietnam veteran John O'Neill, claimed that Kerry was "unfit to serve," based on various cited anecdotes regarding his wartime conduct, but also focused on his past activism in the anti-Vietnam war movement.

Kerry named Jim Johnson, former advisor to Vice President Walter F. "Fritz" Mondale, as the head of a vice-presidential search process.

One of the major criteria considered to be a factor in selecting a vice-presidential candidate was the ability to deliver a traditionally Republican or a swing state in the November election.

By the first week of July 2004, pundits and those close to the Kerry campaign indicated that the vice-presidential selection had narrowed to five potential choices: U.S. Sen. John R. Edwards (N.C.), Ret.

Edwards, from North Carolina, Graham, from Florida, and Clark from Arkansas all were Southerners; the other two, from Missouri and Iowa respectively, are Midwesterners (the Midwest is viewed as a key region containing numerous swing states).

[53] As of late June, the charismatic Edwards was the first choice of Democratic voters, according to several polls; some pundits attributed this to high name recognition, due to his runner-up status in the primaries.

With his personal war experience and deep background in foreign policy, he would exercise sound diplomacy in foreign affairs.The Washington Post had this editorial comment on Kerry's approaching front-runner status: JOHN KERRY has become the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination without a detailed or clarifying debate on many issues.... Now, with the nomination seemingly within his reach, the Massachusetts senator must begin to more fully explain where he stands on the major challenges facing the country.

One loophole allowed American International Group to profit from liability insurance coverage it provided for the "Big Dig" project in Boston.

Charles Lewis, head of the Center for Public Integrity, stated that "the idea that Kerry has not helped or benefited from a specific special interest, which he has said, is utterly absurd.

The Americans for Democratic Action, a prominent liberal organization, rates Kerry's voting record better than that of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), causing Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie to joke, "Who would have guessed it?

Prior to the election, Kerry and his senior advisors began discussing details for a potential presidential transition should he defeat President Bush.

[60] On October 19, it was announced that Jim Johnson, who had led the search for Kerry's running mate, and David McKean would officially lead the transition effort.