Posted on 10/01/2004 12:02:01 AM PDT by FairOpinion
John Kerry tried very hard to project strength and consistency during the first presidential debate. And he got the atmospherics right. After a shaky start, he spoke with a firm voice, and stood with a confident bearing. He had some good soundbites, too. He had anticipated Bush's attack over voting for and against the $87 billion for Iraq. "Well, you know, when I talked about the $87 billion, I made a mistake in how I talk about the war. But the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?" The staffer who drafted that line is undoubtedly a hero in the Kerry camp.
Nevertheless, the debate transcript undercuts the debate imagery. Contradictions in his remarks will provide ammunition for Bush's opposition researchers.
In Iraq, he said. Americans should share more of the burden with other countries and with the Iraqis themselves. He said he would "do what's necessary to make it so America isn't doing this alone." Therefore, the Kerry Doctrine consists of minimizing American troop commitments by maximizing international cooperation. Right?
Not necessarily. On Afghanistan, he was a born-again unilateralist. He faulted Bush for failing to get Osama bin Laden during the overthrow of the Taliban. "But we didn't use American forces, the best trained in the world, to go kill him. The president relied on Afghan warlords and he outsourced that job too. That's wrong." In other words, we should have gone it alone.
If outsourcing was bad in Afghanistan, why is it good in Iraq? Does he really think that the Belgians would have caught Saddam?
He kept referring to the Iraq war as a "mistake." Jim Lehrer asked him a logical question: "Are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?" His answered: "No, and they don't have to, providing we have the leadership that we put — that I'm offering." It's hard to see what he could have meant. Was he saying that the war was not a mistake after all? Or that it would cease to be a mistake if he became president?
He certainly was not eager to keep a lot of troops there. "And our goal in my administration would be to get all of the troops out of there with a minimal amount you need for training and logistics."
Yet just as viewers pictured Americans boarding planes to leave that country, he said: "And we got weapons of mass destruction crossing the border every single day, and they're blowing people up. And we don't have enough troops there." So he would send more troops?
Kerry's aides will say that his remarks really are consistent if you look carefully enough at his nuances and qualifications. Maybe he'd be better off if he just quoted Walt Whitman:
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
And I certainly hope the Bush campaign will use it.
Why? That line landed with a thud.
John F*ckin' doesn't hold a candle next to America's national poet.
KERRY: Well, you know, when I talked about the $87 billion, I made a mistake in how I talk about the war. But the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?
I believe that when you know something's going wrong, you make it right. That's what I learned in Vietnam. When I came back from that war I saw that it was wrong. Some people don't like the fact that I stood up to say no, but I did. And that's what I did with that vote. And I'm going to lead those troops to victory.
LEHRER: All right, new question. Two minutes, Senator Kerry.
Speaking of Vietnam, you spoke to Congress in 1971, after you came back from Vietnam, and you said, quote, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
LEHRER: Are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?
KERRY: No, and they don't have to, providing we have the leadership that we put -- that I'm offering.
With K's constant harping on not getting or concentrating on Bin Laden, W needed, in my opinion, to blast him away by pointing out the simple fact: Bin Laden is NOT the be-all and end-all of terrorism. Knock him off, and 100 others are at the ready to replace him. There is no substitute for defeating the enemy in his entirety. It will not be won by knocking off the proclaimed leader of the moment.
To quote Ketchup Boy, "when a horse is drowning in mid-stream, its time to replace him with a fresh horse."
The Dems are not prepared for what's coming tomorrow as the Reps hammer Kerry's slip-ups in the transcripts.
We are gonna here "Global Test" over and over and over. It was already mentioned by Cheney tonight. I'll guarantee you that it's in Bush's stump speech TOMORROW.
By the time this weekend is over, the main water cooler opinion of this is that Kerry will cede our security to UN hacks.
Global Test
Global Test
Global Test
Excellent point about bin Laden. At one point, didn't W name a couple of high-ranking leaders who've been captured? He should've enlarged on that theme; he should've given some numbers so that all are reminded of what a great job was done both in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Does anyone have those numbers for me?
2. To the question, "Are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?" Kerry answered: "No, and they don't have to, providing we have the leadership that we put — that I'm offering." Yet earlier, he said: "When I talked about the $87 billion, I made a mistake in how I talk about the war. But the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?" (The war in Iraq is not a mistake, but invading Iraq was a mistake. Okaaaay. Thanks kesg)
3. About the number of troops, Kerry said: "And our goal in my administration would be to get all of the troops out of there with a minimal amount you need for training and logistics." Yet a few lines later, he says, "And we don't have enough troops there." (We need just a minimal amount of troops, but we really need more over there right now!" Okaaaaay.)
Thanks for your patience. This was for my own benefit. I wish they could debate in teams, so all the contradictions could've been caught.
I will say one thing, I enjoyed listening to an argument without all the interrupting that you get on talk shows like O'Reilly and Hannity. It was refreshing to be able to hear the conclusion of every sentence.
As John O'Neill said at the rally in D.C., " So finally, we urge the nation: Please leave the terrible work of combatting terrorism in an awful time to those who will and can fight it with determination and stability... Leave John Kerry in command of the largest vessel he has ever competently handled, his surfboard."
Oh but that would be helping the enemy, wouldn't it??
But I'll betcha, Jimmy Carter thought that was a great answer
LOL, going into Afghanistan alone would have been total insanity. Kerry thinks we should have used only American troops? How many of them speak the native Afghan language? I wish GWB had asked Kerry what language that is, because Kerry probably hasn't a clue.
Sorry the problem isn't what Kerry said about it. That was accurate. The problem is, he actually did vote against the 87 billion, after he voted for it. The mistake was the vote. The problem with the statment is he was trying wiggle away from his action.
A hero to the aren't-I-clever-types, maybe. The problem, though, is not with a mistake in Kerry's language, but a mistake in Kerry's voting. The language line is really misdirection away from the hard cold fact of that vote against funding our troops while they were in harm's way.
Concise and helpful post. Thanks.
Thanks for the link, MEG33. The Bush people are top notch at this stuff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.