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Bob Novak: John Kerry is 'Almost Hysterical'

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John Kerry certainly came out swinging at Republicans with his press conference on Tuesday, and while the TV airwaves and Web logs are now ablaze with commentary, Robert Novak cut through the hoopla on Fox News with this simple statement: "I think the biggest damage was done to his presidential campaign because I don’t think he looked very presidential with his performance.”

Novak also opined that it was never a good idea to "let politicians ad-lib too much ... particularly when they’re like John Kerry.”

He explained that Kerry, while in Los Angeles, "sees all these kids there and he says, ‘You gotta study. What’s the worst thing that can happen to you if you don’t study? You get stuck in Iraq.’

"He wasn’t trying to insult the troops, he was trying to make a point and it was stupid,” said Novak. "Now, there are two things [Kerry] could have done. He could have said, ‘I apologize, I misspoke,’ or he could go on the offensive. Why did he go on the offensive?

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  "He has been under terrific criticism inside the Democratic Party for not reacting more vigorously to the ‘Swift Boat’ attacks on him. This is something he lives with every day.”

Novak added that Kerry said twice in his press conference that he wasn’t going to "let this happen again,” meaning, according to Novak, "I’m not going to be a weakling again.”

Fox News anchor Jane Skinner said that it looked like we weren’t going to get "what some people were hoping for – even if it wasn’t an apology ... maybe an admission that everyone is misunderstanding him.”

Novak said, "One of the press conference questions was would he express regret ... he’s not going to do that. This whole business of the Swift Boat veterans is something that weighs on him. He thinks that if he had reacted more vigorously he’d be president of the United States right now.

"I don’t think it’s true, but John Kerry thinks it’s true and therefore there is this almost hysterical mode where he repeats himself over and over and over again. I really believe it hurt his presidential prospects.”

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