Kerry choked like Hillary. He stood for nothing, ran for nothing, and his campaign was basically summed up with: Bush
Kerry also never took off the gloves, he should of called Bush a liar on the Iraq War but just like with Hillary's inability to put away the phony email scandals...he played it safe and the right just tore him up for it.
I think Kerry could of won against Trump. Hillary was the most disliked democratic nominee. Trump is no George W Bush. Kerry lost to someone who can govern.
I remember Bush had a bad first debate performance. The swiftboat ads were on the air for much of the summer. Kerry was slow responding. Bush and his team defined Kerry early on,similar to what Obama did with Romney.