Reply #17: Poor litmus test--a Rove trap

[Dr Ron]

The Democrats who voted againt the IWR were voting against going to war, but that doesn't necessarily mean that all Democrats voting for the IWR supported going to war. Some did and some didn't.

This was a typical Rove trap to split the opposition--not a vote to determine whether we'd go to war.

At the time of the vote, Bush was going around saying that the vote was NOT a vote to go to war, but a vote to show that America stands together. He claimed he would seek a diplomatic solution before going to war.

Sure, Bush was lying, but that doesn't change the fact that the vote was a trap.

We saw how they spun it (unfortunately with the help of many Democrats) when they ran against a candidate who voted yes. They "forgot" all of Bush's comments that it was not a vote to go to war and claimed that Kerry and other Democrats supported them.

If someone who voted no was the nominee, they would have replayed Bush's comments that it was not a vote to go to war. The claim would have been that those who voted No would not support the use of force even if we were proven to be threatened by WMD. Try to run against that post 9/11.

Granted some Democrats voted yes out of support for the war, and I have little sympathy for them. Others, such as John Kerry, made their opposition to the war clear. Kerry realized the political trap, and said that the real choices were yes, but or no, but. I wish he had voted no, but, however I can respect his views in how he voted "no, but."

Kerry made his opposition to going to war clear in his Senate floor statement. He also had articles against going to war published at the time in the New York Times and in Foreign Affairs. He spoke out many times prior to the war against going to war, such as in his speech at Georgetown. When Bush ultimately went to war, Kerry protested by calling for regime change in the United States. When the Downing Street Memos came out proving that Bush was lying about not planning to go to war, Kerry stated his regrets for his vote and was the first member of the Senate to speak out about the Downing Street Memos.

The problem was Bush's dishonesty and decision to go to war, not simply the vote on the IWR. To attack all Democrats who voted yes, even those who opposed going to war, only plays into Bush's hands and divides the anti-war cause.