WSJ's Al Hunt: Lots of Miles to Go in This Campaign

[question everything]

Mr. Hunt invites comments to [e-mail]1.

Lots of Miles to Go in This Campaign
September 9, 2004; Page A17

(snip)

Sen. Kerry has made several much-needed, if belated, changes, including placing a veteran political operative -- John Sasso -- in charge of the traveling candidate's plane. Understandably, this hasn't quelled Democratic angst among those who wonder if Sen. Kerry has blown it. The answer is, of course, Mr. Kerry can still win this race. But only if he learns from his miserable performance of the past month and sharpens the focus -- the raison d'être -- of his candidacy.

A starter would be to forget a quality he boasted about in his Boston acceptance speech: seeing "complexities . . . some issues just aren't all that simple." Admirable as a governing trait, perhaps, nuance is a loser in a 24-7 campaign, where a ferocious battle is waged for every news cycle. Nowhere has this more plagued the challenger than on Iraq... Yet John Kerry, still haunted by his vote for the war resolution, dances around it, at one point saying even with what he now knows -- no weapons of mass destruction, no link to al Qaeda -- he still would have voted for the war resolution in 2002, and in the next breath talking about the Bush debacle. There may be an intellectual consistency in his mind but it eludes most voters.

(snip)

And the Democratic nominee shouldn't give George Bush a pass on the war against terrorism. His administration was totally unprepared for 9/11; Elizabeth Drew has a riveting review in this week's New York Review of Books on the 9/11 Commission's report that, after the political concessions, details the failings of the administration prior to that day and how inept the White House was right after the attacks. Most experts, outside of the Bush inner circle, persuasively argue that since then the administration's policies, principally the Iraq war, have served as recruiting devices for al Qaeda and other terrorist offshoots. Mr. Kerry is not going to win the commander-in-chief issues; challengers never do. But he needs to temper some of the patently phony Bush-Cheney campaign claims before moving on to issues of his choice. Then, barring unforeseen events, it's hard to see how voters won't gravitate more to the economy and jobs' concerns by October. The Bush administration tries to obfuscate a dreadful record -- blaming it on 9/11 -- or just claims disappointing news is good news, witness the bragging about last month's mediocre unemployment record.

(snip)

Republicans believe health care is an overrated issue. The number of Americans without health insurance has risen steadily over the last four years and costs are soaring again; less than 24 hours after the president bragged about his health-care record last Thursday night, Medicare announced the sharpest increase in premiums in decades. Sen. Kerry proposes adding health insurance for 27 million more Americans, which would cost almost the same amount as repealing most of the scheduled tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Dare the president debate that very real trade-off?

(snip)

Also, if he wants to be president, he better take charge of his own campaign. Plainly there has been a significant reshuffling over the past week; given this August, what else would one expect? If the official line is to deny any changes, it's only silly; catastrophic, however, would be if it's not clear who is in charge. Only Mr. Kerry can make that plain. Oh, and one more helpful change: Along with nuance, bag the windsurfing.

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109468140821512847,00.html

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. voted for the war resolution in 2002

Ok stop right there. That was not a war resolution. After something like that, one concludes that the balance of the "piece" has no merit.

[Leilani]

2. It was called the IWR

Iraq War Resolution...Is that true?

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Not exactly

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This joint resolution may be cited as the `Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002'.
SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS. The Congress of the United States supports the efforts by the President to--
(1) strictly enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq and encourages him in those efforts; and
(2) obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay, evasion and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies with all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.
(a) AUTHORIZATION- The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to--
(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq

[Leilani]

6. I googled Senate votes & Iraq War

& Iraq War Resolution came up in all stories titles.

Technically, that may not be the title or meaning, but that is what it has been called since the vote occured.

I truly think we are splitting hairs, & I think it is the least of Kerry s problems.

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. The vote was not a declaration of WAR

It is as simple and as complicated as that. Basically is was a trap set by the the gop to snare Kerry and anybody else who spoke out later on.

[KoKo]

3. Well.....some of us thought the "windsurfing, snowboarding, bike trekking,

stuff was a little ott...and got trashed for saying it. Most Americans just look at that as "kid stuff." And the "kids who love it" don't vote and could care less about an "old guy" doing "stuff." Now, our great DU well informed, above average intelligence "kids" who do all that great stuff and are voting for him are the exception to this.

But, it's just too frivolous an image for these dark times. He should just go somewhere where the press can't see him and do what he wants. The Chimp doesn't allow any press observing his mountain biking jaunts.

He could cycle...or jog.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Kerry should ride a horse in some Western swing state near Texas

Bush is afraid of horses. Have you ever seen him on one since he was on a pony as a child?

Bush is All Hat No Cattle.

[question everything]

9. Really? What's a ranch without a horse?

And how does he want to be compared to Reagan without a horse?

[Leilani]

7. I agree with you about the extreme sports...

What bothered me the most was all the SwiftBoat accusations being shown all over, & Kerry does not respond. But he does allow photo ops of windsurfing.