He may have voted against (or abstained) the particular pieces of legislation on your list, but in the end the military got all of those things, so where is your "net effect"?

The main point I'm trying to make is that John Kerry (or any of the other dissenters for that matter) DID NOT vote against those items out of malice or indifference toward our military and national defense, but more likely out of disagreement with some rider that was attached.

As you well know, the legislative procees is VERY complex and is wrought with continual compromise.
Partisanship makes it even harder to accomplish anything. Career politicians would have VERY short careers if they completely ignored the will of their constituencies.

So while it makes for good fun in an election year to bicker over which candidate is the most evil, in reality, the REAL reason why a politician may or may not have done something is an issue that the average American voter will probably never know.