Rory, here are my reasons:

I hesitate to respond to this thread because I truly believe that I will not convince very many people (if any). My experience has been that if you are willing to post, your opinions are strongly set. Just as I could never vote for GW, I expect that there are others (on this board, maybe a lot!) that could never vote for Kerry. But, here goes anyway. My reasons for Kerry:

1. The environment - I see GW as representing a group that for want of a better word, I will call extractors. Global warming is "junk science", trees serve no purpose other than lumber or pulp, streams and rivers are best used for Hydro and Irrigation, etc. I believe that Kerry stands for conservation and the use of technology to preserve and protect our National resources.

2. National defense - I believe that GW has diluted our resources (people and money) in the War on Terror through his adventure in Iraq. Afghanistan was a correct response. If you looked to define those country's involved in State sponsored Terrorism that posed a threat to the US on 9/10/2001 I believe the list would have looked like this:

Afghanistan

Iran

Syria

Saudi Arabia

Pakistan

North Korea

I believe that Kerry will reprioritize our War on Terror to go after those that can and will try to harm us. And, yes, I do believe that GW (and those in his Administration) lied to us about Iraq. I remember watching Donald Rumsfeld on Meet the Press in February 2003 (approx.) saying, "Of course Sadaam has WMD, We know that, and we know where they are." Now, this statement was made while the UN weapons inspectors were still on the ground. My red flag went on full alert when I heard this because I knew that GW was going after Iraq no matter what. And, it also meant that this Administration had no intention or motivation to find WMD - otherwise why wouldn't they have just told the UN Inspectors where the weapons were? I believe that he has strengthened the terrorists in the long run because of what we have done in Iraq.

3. The deficit - GW has chosen to fight his war "on the come". Rightly or wrongly, Kerry has supported a balanced budget. He has shown that he is willing to make the hard choices (in his case, usually higher taxes) in order to fund the Budget. GW has no more Budget discipline that a sailor on leave, drunk on Saturday night.

4. The economy - Under GW's watch, the economy has stunk. The root cause of the decline may have not been in his power to control, however, his response is certainly under his control. Job creation has not lived up to his own projections given early this year. The types of jobs created, are not the ones that will sustain the middle class. Kerry's plan of investing in Infrastructure holds much more promise to me than the failed ideas of the "trickle down effect." Reducing taxes while running huge deficits, does nothing to help the economy in the short run and causes escalating damage in the long run.

5. Libertarian issues - I believe that John Kerry represents a much more "hands off" approach on moral issues. I do not want my Govt. telling me what to do and setting out a moral code for me to live by. That is between me and my God (and my God is not GW or John Ashcroft, or Pat Robertson.)

6. Leadership - Every four years, we the stockholders (voters) get to have a referendum on the CEO. I believe that any Company in America that had a CEO make the above blunders would vote to get in new blood. GW has rightly earned the label decisive. However, decisive and wrong still makes you wrong. I do not trust his judgement and I will cast a vote for change.

These are my reasons why I will cast my vote for John Kerry in November. I don't intend to get into a debate here, I doubt very much that I can convince anyone who posts that my position should prevail. And, I can guarantee you that nobody will convince me to vote for GW. If I did, I'm afraid that lightning would strike me dead.