The SBVT didn't hurt Kerry as much as his remarks re: his IWR vote.

[Kimber Scott]

Think about it. Most people know the SBVT are partisan hacks, but Kerry's own words regarding his IWR vote, (he would have still voted for it, knowing what he knows now), really took the wind out of the campaign sails.

Here is a paragraph out of a NYT article:

"Two weeks ago, after learning that Mr. Kerry said he would have voted to authorize the president to invade Iraq even if he had known that Saddam Hussein was not armed with weapons of mass destruction, the president jumped at what he described as a political opening, aides said. "That was a mistake - we need to seize on it," Mr. Bush said, according to aides. The next day, he began hammering Mr. Kerry on the issue, and has not stopped."

Bush Takes On...

Kerry needs to put some effort into fixing this. This is a much bigger problem than the lies.

edited to correct acronym

[BeatleBoot]

1. Crickets

<chirp> <chirp>

I love August evenings...

[w13rd0]

2. Problem of course...

...is that he never said that, and the aide responsible for passing along his own impressions of what he thought Kerry might think has since apologized...

[Rose Siding]

5. I believe those are seperate incidents

The aid said Kerry would probably have gone to war by now if he had been president, and apologized for it. Kerry answered a question about "if you knew what we know now"...

*I'd really like to be wrong about that, if you know!

[Kimber Scott]

8. You're right. Two incidents.

A Kerry aide did retract his statement saying Kerry probably would have gone to war by now. Kerry himself said, while touring the Grand Canyon, he would have Kerry Reaffirms War Vote still voted for the IWR, but would have done things differently. While WE understand what we think he meant, this was a terrible blow to the campaign and I'm wondering, if this isn't what has pulled him down in the polls, more than the SBVT b.s.

[papau]

3. Kerry needs daylight between his position on future Iraq and Bush's - say

bring the kids home come hell or high water by a given date since not making that date would mean the people do not want democracy imposed by the US .

[Rose Siding]

4. I must concur

IMO, a simple twist of that question could have provided some Bush-stomping clarity. "The only theoretical I'll address is how would I have voted if I'd known how badly Bush would have screwed it up: No!". He's said as much, in other words, in other interviews.

[xrepub]

7. YOU'VE GOT IT RIGHT

If Kerry had said :"Yes the no WMD and the no connection to Al Quada would have made me pause, but knowing what I now know about bush's incompetency I would have voted differently".

Then we would now be ahead by at least 5 points. Karl Rove would have known what to say, why didn't Kerry's advisors?

[Old and In the Way]

6. Was this caveat attached to the question Kerry was asked?

"even if he had known that Saddam Hussein was not armed with weapons of mass destruction"

I don't think so. I believe he was asked a more generalized question and his answer addressed the aspect of giving a President the authority to back the UN Inspectors.

[mzmolly]

9. I think it was two fold. But you bring up an excellent point.

:hi: