John Kerry: “I want to make clear that I do not feel that way at all. I think there are many different crosscurrents with respect to…”

“I want to make clear that I do not feel that way at all. I think there are many different crosscurrents with respect to anybody's nomination, and I certainly do not disagree with the comments of my good friend and colleague, Senator Dodd, who spoke a few minutes ago about what has happened to the nomination process, or to the review over the course of the last years here in this city. While I certainly raised questions early on with respect to this nominee, I tried, in the course of this process, to refrain from making any final judgments until the hearings were held, until questions were asked, until Senator Ashcroft himself had an opportunity to lay out the record, so to speak. I listened very carefully to what Senator Dodd said a moment ago about not making choices on ideology. I agree with that. My opposition, which I announced yesterday, to Senator Ashcroft's nomination, is not based on ideology.”