Seven Oaks Magazine.

Few people know Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry like his younger sister. As the chair of Americans Overseas for Kerry-Edwards, Diana Kerry is playing an active role in her brother's campaign, rallying the party's overseas base, signing up absentee voters and defending the senator from Republican and media attacks. Diana sat down for an interview September 23 before addressing a Democrats Abroad Canada reception at the University of Toronto.

1. How would you say your brother has changed since his days, years ago, as an anti-war activist after he came back from Vietnam?

Well, I suppose he's a little older and wiser. I think he's still made of the same courage and conviction as ever, and really is very interested in making sure that there is integrity in government.

Well, he has headed up a variety of different commissions and committees in the Senate, many of which have been oriented toward making sure that there was accountability in government.

I think his proudest achievement was very sensitive and difficult diplomatic efforts to solve the POW-MIA questions that were outstanding from the Vietnam era. He worked very hard at that over many, many months, and worked as a bipartisan effort with John McCain to achieve, eventually, an answer and a response, and get closure on that very emotional issue. And then was very instrumental in bringing about the normalization of relations in Vietnam.

3. What's your opinion on the issue of same-sex marriage? A lot of gay rights groups have said Kerry's been very silent on the issue.

Well, there are lots of what we call wedge issues in the United States, which the opposition have tried to stir up as a way of distracting from the central issues of this campaign. Really, John stands in favour of gay rights for all, and civil unions is what he's proposing. But this is not the most burning issue right now in the United States and in this election.

I think there are issues of concern with regard to the loss of respect and the go-it-alone foreign policy of this administration, which are not making us safer in the United States and around the world. There are issues of burning importance, such as the education issues and health care issues, jobs issues and energy independence issues, which are front and centre in this campaign.

John is very committed to equal rights for all Americans, but the focus right now is on trying to, really, make the country stronger at home and more respected in the world.

4. Something that comes up time and time again on TV is that John Kerry is a flip-flopper. What do you say to people who say that he keeps on changing his mind on the war in Iraq?

Well, I think that simplistic reduction of John's stances on several important issues has been really a misrepresentation on the part of the opposition. John is not a flip-flopper.

He made very clear at the time that he voted to authorize the use of force if necessary that he believed that we needed to let weapons inspections run their course -- that the U.S. government needed to establish a legitimacy within the UN and a real coalition to take a stand against Saddam Hussein. That didn't happen, and John Kerry also said, "Mr. President, do not rush to war," and he made that clear from day one. So, that's not a flip-flop.

It's really the opposition that has attempted to twist John's positions, because it's not easy to understand firsthand. People present it as: "Oh, he voted for the war." Well, that's really a misrepresentation of where John Kerry stood and what he said at the time, and what he's been saying ever since.

Equally, that's true of a lot of other issues too. John voted, as many Democrats voted, to support the idea of federal funding for education with the No Child Left Behind Act. But the minute the president didn't fully fund the act and started to play politics with it, John called for a different approach. That's not a flip-flop.

5. What do you think, if John Kerry wins in November -- what will be the difference in terms of the handling of the occupation of Iraq?

John has made several very clear statements in the last few days with regard to what he would do in Iraq. He called upon the president, when he went to the United Nations, to begin to really move toward enlisting international assistance. That's one of the many steps that John Kerry has avowed.

George Bush has no plan. George Bush has not made clear what he will do. He has really walked away from his responsibilities as president in Iraq, and has painted a very untrue picture of the way things are going there. It's really George Bush that needs to be held accountable right now on this.

I think that unfortunately the media's not really being as unbiased and as investigative as they should be. I think the media has completely, really abrogated its responsibilities and has focused on silliness, has focused on negative ads and talked about a lot of non-issues. They keep giving publicity to statements and misrepresentations of the issues. I don’t think the media is managing itself very well, in fact.

I would say that we've heard more from the media about the negative aspects of John Kerry's character, and they have bought into the attempts, on the part of the opposition, to smear John Kerry and use divisive, negative strategies to campaign.

The Republicans are really unable to run on their own record. So, they use these diversionary tactics. Here were are, we're talking about huge issues in this campaign -- crucial issues for the future of the country, for the future of the planet -- and they've got some windsurfing ad out there as the discussion of who John Kerry is.

I think that's an outrageous misrepresentation of John, for one thing. But I also think it's a real disservice to the American people. We need a real discussion of the real issues in this campaign.