long article on JK in Boston globe

[MBS]

Much of it is infuriating (infuriating above all is the headline itself :"Senator Kerry's closeness to Obama draws fire". My first reaction was: now that's supposed to be bad, too, according to the Globe? Jeez Louise.). But, in the end, the article felt to me like much ado (long article, prominently displayed on page 1 of the hard-copy paper) about pretty much nothing. Also, throughout the article (even the annoying parts) you could feel respect (grudging or otherwise) for Sen. Kerry's mastery of foreign policy, even from his "critics".
http://articles.boston.com/2012-06-24/nation/32380393_1_drone-strikes-foreign-policy-oversight

on Sen. Kerry's closeness with the White House

Since he was elevated to the leading foreign policy position in Congress three years ago, John F. Kerry has been on the road a lot. He has brokered runoff elections in Afghanistan, shuttled between warring factions in Africa, and patiently sat through marathon tea-drinking sessions with recalcitrant Middle East dictators, all to advance the Obama administration’s top ¬foreign policy goals.
In the words of Vice President Joe Biden, Kerry “probably has the closest relationship with the president and the vice president of any chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.’’ . .
“He has carried around the world the authority of president and vice president,’’ said Timothy Wirth, a former senator who runs the United Nations Foundation, a global advocacy group. “He is almost a wing of the administration.”Former senator Gary Hart, who served with Kerry on the committee in the 1980s and who Kerry recently dispatched on a fact-finding mission to Russia, put it this way: Kerry has, in effect, become “the congressional secretary of state.”
The debate over Kerry’s tenure on the committee has only intensified in recent weeks as he has emerged as a key surrogate for President Obama’s reelection campaign, attacking the foreign policy positions of the presumptive GOP nominee, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Kerry has ¬also been selected to be a stand-in for Romney in the president’s debate preparations.

Sen. Kerry has his say:

Kerry strongly challenges any suggestion that he has allowed his relationship with Obama or any future ambitions to affect his stewardship of the committee, where he first came to prominence as a Vietnam veteran-turned-war protester in 1971, famously testifying, “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
In an interview, he said his critics are simply ill informed.
I will categorically say to anybody who thinks I am pulling any punches they haven’t read my comments; they haven’t listened to me in the hearings; they are just operating off some out-there stereotype,” Kerry said. “I think we can point with clarity to real impact on the aid programs in Afghanistan, to the approaches in Pakistan. We have had a huge number of oversight hearings, and, more importantly, we have issued some very constructive reports.”

excerpt from concluding paragraphs

Even critics agree that Kerry has had several significant accomplishments through his committee. He is perhaps proudest of shepherding the New START arms treaty with Russia through the Senate with wide bipartisan support in 2010.
Yet, it is outside the committee room where Kerry most shines, many longtime foreign affairs experts say.
He was patient, tireless, pragmatic, and firm when necessary,” recalled Karl Eikenberry, who was US ambassador in Kabul in 2009, when Kerry intervened to persuade President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan to agree to a run-off election in keeping with the country’s constitution. “He is probably the most skilled negotiator I have ever known.”
Kerry insists that he will also continue to wield his oversight authority, especially concerning Afghanistan.
“I have been crystal clear about wanting a much different presence, a much clearer set of restraints” for US military involvement, Kerry said.. .