After weeks of unusually positive press, Americans are getting a clearer picture of the presumptive Democratic nominee, John Forbes Kerry. And it's not such a pretty picture after all. As Kirk Victor of the National Journal magazine noted, "Kerry's Democratic rivals never seriously attacked him, allowing him to emerge virtually unscathed with the nomination. Now that he is the nominee, however, Kerry's free pass has expired..."

Historically, the give and take of the nomination process allows voters to see what they are buying. This did not happen with Kerry. As Americans get a chance to examine their new purchase. Kerry's negatives grow stronger every day.

Democratic activists, who months ago had rightly written off Kerry as too boring and too liberal, suddenly rediscovered the Vietnam "war hero" as the emotionally unhinged Howard Dean imploded in Iowa. Needing an “electable” nominee, the Democratic machine, aided by the Iowa Democratic voters and the mainstream media, immediately switched to the Kerry camp with virtually no thought. This moved him to front runner status nearly overnight.

Had Kerry not mortgaged his second multi-millionaire wife's home to the tune of $6 million in December to make a loan to his campaign (another controversial issue), he might not even be the nominee now. Some Democrats now think their party should have done more due diligence on Kerry before jumping pell-mell on his bandwagon. Others may be having “buyer’s remorse.”

In one Miami radio debate in which I participated a month ago, hispanic Democratic pollster, Sergio Benedixen, launched into his remarks with guns blazing, endlessly repeating Kerry's "war hero" mantra, using the term a half dozen times in so many minutes. Appealing to the conservative Cuban American community, he added that with Kerry “the war hero” as the Democratic nominee Republicans could no longer claim Democrats were soft on communism and national security.

He seemed genuinely taken aback when I quickly challenged that assertion by noting Kerry's extensive involvement in the leftist anti-war movement. Many Vietnam veterans felt betrayed by Kerry’s group -- the Vietnam Veterans Against the War -- believing that these protesters were traitors who helped demoralize US and South Vietnamese forces prior to the conquest of South Vietnam. To those veterans Kerry and his group greatly aided the North Vietnamese enemy achieve victory, ensuring that our soldiers died in vain.

And as details of Kerry’s four brief months in Vietnam emerged, including the three minor "scratches" he received that earned him the three Purple Hearts medals he used to leave Vietnam eight months early, much of his “war hero” shine began to fade. 

Meanwhile photos of the cover of Kerry’s 1971 book, "The New Soldier," which displays long-haired, bearded “veterans” carrying an upside-down American flag mocking the famous raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima by the US Marines during World War II, only highlighted Kerry’s disdain for the uniform he wore.

This disdain was reinforced by the incident where Kerry, during an anti-war protest, threw either his medals -- or someone else’s medals -- over the fence at the US Capitol in a public show of disgust with his military service. Later, after he was elected to the US Senate, his medals -- or someone else’s medals -- hypocritically reappeared proudly on his office wall.

In his book, Kerry also downplayed any threat posed by the Communist government of North Vietnam and instead charged that American soldiers in Vietnam "were killing women and children" and helping to create "a nation of refugees, bomb craters, amputees, orphans, widows, and prostitutes."

And in testimony before the Congress, Kerry quoted numerous “veterans” who told tales of widespread atrocities by US forces in Vietnam. Sadly, many of the so-called veterans proved to be frauds, and the claims of atrocities wildly exaggerated or outright fabricated. We have since heard much less of Kerry “the war hero.”

Photos of Kerry with Jane Fonda and other prominent anti-American leftists along with Kerry's photo shaking hands with Nicaragua’s communist dictator Daniel Ortega have only added to the image of Kerry as an out-of-the-mainstream leftist.

Meanwhile Kerry’s current wife, Teresa Heinz’s strong ties to numerous extreme left organizations, such as the Tides Foundation, have also surfaced. And more people are talking about one of Kerry’s biggest liabilities: his arrogance, pomposity and foul mouth which add to his likeability problem.

This was vividly underscored recently when Kerry referred to the Secret Service agent who accidentally collided with him on the ski slopes at his wife's winter retreat in Idaho as the “son of a bitch” who knocked him over. Kerry should be reminded that the SOB in question is charged with taking a bullet for him if necessary.

All these issues, combined with Kerry’s Senate record, which the respected, non-partisan Washington magazine, National Journal, rates as the most liberal in the Senate -- may make Kerry a lot less "electable" than previously thought. Soon many Democrats may be asking of Kerry: “Can we get a refund?”

Paul Crespo is a former member of The Miami Herald editorial board. He teaches politics at the University of Miami. This column appears this week in Tiempos del Mundo.