Brownstein: Bush risks spotlighting rigidity by criticizing Kerry on Iraq

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT Times:

August 16, 2004
Ronald Brownstein

Washington Outlook
Pointing Out Kerry's Reluctance on Iraq May Spotlight Bush's Rigidity


There's something kamikaze about the past week's skirmishing between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry over Iraq.

By challenging Kerry to say whether he too would have invaded Iraq, Bush has targeted what may be Kerry's greatest weakness with voters: a reputation for vacillation and hairsplitting.

But Bush simultaneously may be spotlighting what many voters like least about him: a reluctance to change course even amid changing circumstances and a belief in his own decisions so unwavering that it straddles the line between confidence and arrogance....

***

"You've got a situation where the Democratic candidate for president is refusing to take a straightforward position on arguably the single most important issue in the election," said one GOP strategist familiar with White House thinking.

This line of argument has created enough problems for Kerry that both sides say they can imagine Bush reprising it during this fall's debates. If he does, Kerry will probably need a sharper answer than he offered last week.

But this offensive carries significant risks for Bush, as well. After the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, the persistence of resistance to the American presence in Iraq and a U.S. casualty count marching toward 1,000, many voters have had second thoughts about the war.

By reaffirming his decision so emphatically, Bush is poking a stick at roughly half of the public that now says in polls that they believe the war was a mistake....(If) Bush is utterly unfazed by all that has happened in Iraq, some voters might wonder if he will be too quick to try something like it again. And by refusing to acknowledge any second thoughts, the president also risks reinforcing the impression that he's too dogmatic to adjust to changing circumstances. Wouldn't the events of the last 15 months in Iraq cause any reasonable person some doubts?...


http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-outlook16aug16,1,5701831.column?coll=la-home-politics

[buycitgo]

1. what BULLSHIT!

"By challenging Kerry to say whether he too would have invaded Iraq, Bush has targeted what may be Kerry's greatest weakness with voters: a reputation for vacillation and hairsplitting."

Kerry takes a position, REITERATES it, and this AHOLE twists his words three ways from the fourth of July.


reputation for HAIRsplitting? gee, AHOLE, where'd he get THAT? from goons like YOU, who spit back your daily blastfaxes from the pug boiler room?

what garbage

he's right, of course, about the Bush stuff

too bad he had to befoul his message with the usual propaganda

Kerry's being GORED

[Julien Sorel]

2. And that's, I think, how the Kerry campaign

should deal with the "flip flop" issue.

"I have a firm set of convictions that I've never wavered on or compromised in a lifetime of public service, from Vietnam to Massachussetts to Washington. But when new information comes along, absolutely, I'm going to rethink my positions and make sure they are in line with what's best for the American people. That's what the people of the state of Massachussetts hired me to do."

"Mr. Bush, on the other hand, has a track record of stubborness that is troubling, and could lead this country into dangers we ought not to face. Strength, certainty -- those are great qualities, and when you look at my record, you see I stand firm for what I believe in. But when you start being unreasonable and approach issues with a closed mind you are putting the interests of the American people behind your personal style. And that's wrong. Dangerous and wrong"

[DeepModem Mom]

3. BB, you are GOOD! n/t

[kwolf68]

7. Any chance

Kerry's handlers already have this idea? Or maybe we need to send some friendly advise on how to deal with these issues.

I would think this comment by BB would be more than satisfactory.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Posted very early -- kicking Brownstein (not literally) --

[bigtree]

5. Good example of how the Bush attacks have thrown his campaign

off message and drawn more scrutiny to their own failings.

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Like a tree . if you're too proud to bend with the wind. . .

you break.


:kick:

[West Coast Democrat]

8. This is the same sort of thing I was telling my husband last night...

I was explaining that it's a pretty desperate thing for Bush* to attack his opponent for something most of the country believes was a huge mistake that Bush* made all by himself. It's like he's trying to drag down Kerry with him because * knows he has no good defense for the criticism he so rightly deserves.

Sure, Kerry was stuck in a lose/lose situation back in October 2002. He was planning a future run for president, and he didn't want to be called weak on defense, etc. But Kerry is NOT responsible for how horribly wrong this invasion has been going.

Bush* is only throwing out these questions hoping to be able to call Kerry a flip-flopper again, or hoping to call him weak on defense, or not in support of our troops, etc. This is an attempt to distract the public from the fact that Iraq is not Kerry's fault.

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. Constraints on Kerry

In publically addressing the issue of Iraq, I suspect that Kerry is constrained by at least two compelling considerations:

a) He would not want to make the job of the soldiers out there yet harder, by even tangentially questioning the validity of their presence out there at this time. Particularly, as a vet who had been at the sharp end in Vietnam and come to question his presence and role there, during his tour, but felt duty-bound to soldier on to the best of his ability. Didn't he once ask the rhetorical question, "Who wants to be the person to ask a soldier to be the last person to die in a war?" Or something to that effect.

b) Once he has shown his commitment, as President, to reinvigorating the economy and restoring the confidence, hope and dreams of the people, it will become a lot easier to deal with the country's looming geopolitical problems and attendant corporate imperialism. He has in fact alluded, both directly and indirectly, to the need for new technologies using other fuels.