Does Kerry help or hurt Obama?

After the 2000 election, many Democrats were furious with Gore. How could he accept the results of the election and walk away? As time progressed, Gore started to speak out and was right. Again and again and again. He said what was unpopular but spoke with passion and Democrats found him to be the only person who dared speak the truth, no matter how many times he was smeared by the White House and the GOP. When other Democrats were trying to figure out how to stand up to Bush, Gore was doing it. He won back the party and to this day, Democrats love Gore for being the voice that was otherwise missing.

Then compare that to Kerry, who ran a painfully bad campaign in 2004 and never knew when to stop opening his big mouth and sticking his foot right in it. He alienated Democrats and then delivered one misstep after another. Every time he tried to be cute, he made himself and the party look bad. He never ignited the passion of the party faithful and never offered any new ideas. Maybe he's OK for the Senate but outside of that, meh. Just how beneficial is it that Kerry is standing on stage with Obama? His team can talk all they want about his Rolodex but I fail to see where that endorsement gives Obama much of anything other than a reminder of yet another blown election and a meek candidate who couldn't call out one of the worst presidents ever. I'm not so sure a Kerry endorsement is such a big coup and how long will it take before Kerry puts his foot in his mouth again?