NYT: Bush's Mocking Drowns Out Kerry's Explanation of Iraq Vote

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 - For five days now, as the long-distance arguments between President Bush and Senator John Kerry have focused on the wisdom of invading Iraq, Mr. Kerry has struggled to convince his audiences that his vote to authorize the president to use military force was a far, far cry from voting for a declaration of war.

So far, his aides and advisers concede, he has failed to get his message across, as Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have mocked his efforts as "a new nuance" that amount to more examples of the senator's waffling.

Mr. Kerry's problems began last week when President Bush challenged him for a yes-or-no answer on a critical campaign issue: If Mr. Kerry knew more than a year ago what he knows today about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would he still have voted to authorize the use of military force to oust Saddam Hussein?

As Mr. Bush surely knew, it is a question that can upset the difficult balance Mr. Kerry must strike. He has to portray himself as tough and competent enough to be commander in chief, yet appeal to the faction of Democrats that hates the war and eggs him on to call Mr. Bush a liar.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/12/politics/campaign/12memo.html?hp

[MichiganVote]

1. Better a nuance over a nutcase

[Born Free]

16. This is what you get when you are not aggressive

Kerry needs to campaign more like Clinton, not Al Gore. Kerry needs to be more aggressive, he knows better he should had been more careful. An obvious reply to the orginal mocking would have been "obviously bush never read the resolution, or he would not be sdaying what he is today"

[MichiganVote]

18. I can imagine both camps urging alternately aggression vs. non aggression

[physioex]

2. Bring it on Shrub and Dick....

We know you guys screwed up your plans in Iraq big time. And what do you do, attack the opponent...... pathetic..

[dennis4868]

4. not only screw up the plans....

but Bush and Cheney both lied to get us into this horrible war!

[scottxyz]

3. Very clever the way Rove turned it around

Bush is asking KERRY what HE would do if he knew there were no WMDs in Iraq. As if it's Kerry's fault that Bush lied.

Kerry needs to turn this around to remind people that Bush very likely knew THEN that there were no WMDs in Iraq.

[zmdem]

5. Problem is he can't

turn the question around, to frame the WMD as a lie on Bush's part. Sen. Kerry had access to the intelligence info. Besides, it's not a very good argument to say "Bush played me like a fiddle, I'll be a a better CIC than him".

Seems to me that Kerry's best argument is the one he makes, "I voted for presidential authorization to wage war. Ultimately, getting rid of Saddam benefits America. Bush screwed up by rushing the diplomacy. If we had applied a bit more subtlety in our diplomcay, we could have gotten the UN onboard, not to mention France and Germany. Bush's hamhanded diplomacy has damaged our ability to be seen as a trustworthy ally with the very allies we really need".

ON EDIT: Quotes in my second paragraph are mine, I am not quoting Sen. Kerry. I am summarizing my interpretation of the senator's view.

[scottxyz]

8. Yeah, I agree

Kerry really can't turn it around. The best argument he could make is the one you give here. I took Bush at his word and authorized him to use force - but I didn't tell him to rush the inspections and alienate our allies, that was HIS idea.

[stickdog]

13. Once again, that's why we needed Dean. He was strongest where Bush

was weakest:

1) Iraq War
2) Health Care
3) Fiscal Responsibility
4) Jobs

[Cocoa]

21. it's easy to do with the press on your side

this article should never have been written.

The dominant story, which nearly every article on Iraq should focus on, is the magnitude of Bush's failure.

Of course Rove would want stories to put the focus on Kerry, but the press shouldn't do it.

[unfrigginreal]

6. I wish I knew who made this statement

"I wish he had simply said no president in his right mind would ask the Senate to go to war against a country that didn't have weapons that pose an imminent threat," said one of Mr. Kerry's Congressional colleagues and occasional advisers.

Whoever it is, I hope they get a bigger role in the campaign. That's a much better answer than "I'd do it again."

[kodi]

7. Kerry's reponse: had bush not lied to me would I have supported him?

.

[Democat]

9. The media's coverage of Bush drowns out their coverage of Kerry

That's what the headline should say.

[progressivebydesign]

10. Ain't that the truth! Hello MEDIA???

It's for you.. it's a fucking CLUE calling!!!! THEY'RE the ones that choose what to cover. They're totally imbalanced.

My husband sometimes complains that the Democrats (which he is one of, naturally) aren't successful getting their message out there. I keep explaining that, when you can't count on more than one hand media outlets that give Dems at LEAST 50% of the coverage, how can you expect America to hear their message. I had totally wished Clinton would have addressed that on the Daily Show the other day, since Clinton is against media consolidaton. He needed to acknowledge that this is a HUGE part of the problem we've had with these vicious attacks and misinformation against Kerry.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

20. Clinton against media consolodation?

TelCom Act and the appointment of Powell tells you where he really stands. Maybe he's changed his mind? :shrug:



ed:sp

[GainesT1958]

11. Exactly...

Kerry explained it very perfunctorily on Monday but, true to their nature, the media whores only covered what the ORIGINAL liar--Dub--said in getting on Kerry for absolutely nothing. Plus, Dub lied yet again--though that in itself isn't news :eyes:--when he claimed Kerry "agrees with me" when, in fact, in no way does Kerry "agree" with him!x(

B-)

[Cocoa]

24. there are very good responses on the Kerry website

tons of info defending Kerry against Bush's attack, and destroying Bush's boasts about his record, and almost none of it gets out, the media either internalizes Bush's side, or else clouds the issue.

I still haven't gotten a retraction from the NYT on their lie that Iraq has calmed down since the "handover."

[The Zanti Regent]

12. The liars at the SCREW YORK TIMES will do ANYTHING for Bush

WHy waste your time with that piece o crap?

[Democat]

14. They hated Clinton, love Bush

That says everything you need to know about them. :)

[schultzee]

15. Someone tell Kerry that his campaign stinks. he needs a rapid response

team or they are going to lose the damn election. Its not a gentlemans game with the republicans, its a street fight. Wake up you dumb DLC democrats.

[IndianaGreen]

17. Kerry should have done what Lieberman did

Come out truthfully and say that he voted for IWR because he wanted the war that Ariel Sharon and his American lackeys wanted so badly. We would have hated him for saying so, but like in the case of Lieberman, we would have respected his intellectual integrity.

This is a self-inflicted wound on the part of Kerry, but it is not a fatal wound when compared to the pile of lies we were sold about WMDs.

[The Magistrate]

19. An Odd Complaint From The New York Times

It is not as if they are by-standers staring bemused at the coverage of the campaign. Simplistic posturing by the Republicans is hardly news, after all, being of the dog bites man category, and this juvenile exercise in "I know what I am but what are you?" from the jackanapes could be easily ignored, or even honestly described as an attempt at distraction and shifting of blame from an untenable record....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[skypilot]

22. If I knew then what I know now....

Kerry should have responded that if he'd known then that Bush would botch things so badly, then NO, he would not have voted to give him the authority to use military force.

[Bo]

23. Most Americans are against the war now.

Why didn't he just say NO he would not have voted for it. That was his mistake. Kerry sometimes just has no spine.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

25. Here's a simple answer: "If John Kerry were CiC, our troops

would not be in the FUBAR they are in now.
John Kerry has stood in their boots and knows the consequences of poor war planning.
John Kerry will be a superior leader."