A more "clever" war on terror. CLEVER.

[Pobeka]

That's the word Kerry should use instead of "sensitive".

Not only is it a more accessible word to the average american, it points out the obvious -- Bush's war is not clever.

My two cents...

[UpsideDownFlag]

1. somehow, it doesn't ring right with me

how about...effective? fruitful? succesful?

[belle]

2. "Fight smarter, not harder." hm, not quite...

[wurzel]

3. Kerry's use of the word "sensitive" made total sense in context.

The Repukes, of course, took it completely out of context. Kerry was not referring to the war he was referring to our allies.

[Pobeka]

6. Clever has implicit meaning, even to the average voter.

It's a soundbite that even out of context would be positive for Kerry.

[troublemaker]

4. INTELLIGENT

[Pobeka]

8. "Intelligent" sounds elitist to the average voter.

That's why I like clever. Even a redneck can be clever. ;-)

[liberalmuse]

5. The only way to stop terrorism...

is to promote justice and fairness in the world and to stop using overwhelming power, influence and force against the powerless, who then turn around and use those even more powerless to draw attention to their cause.

We have funded those who use sophisticated tanks, automatic weapons and bombers against people who don't have a goddamned thing to fight back with, so they in turn make a bomb and strap it to themselves and take out some innocent people or take innocent people as hostages. Both groups of people are terrorists, but since one group is more like us, they are seen as 'defending' their way of life.

Terrorists are mirroring back what they feel is being done to them, and in turn, the state uses force against them, killing innocent people while doing so. The end justifies the means in both cases. It is a vicious circle. To fly planes into a large building and kill 3,000 people is horrific, but dropping cluster bombs and littering poor country sides with land mines that will kill and maim tens of thousands more innocent people is 'defending' ourselves. As long as we view the fight against terrorism as 'Us' against 'Them' and vice-versa instead of understanding 'They' are just like 'Us' and vice-versa, it will never be won.

[Pobeka]

7. Sounds like you are being clever to me!

Clever doesn't mean more guns, less guns, etc. It does mean win the war on terrorism, even if (as you say) we should get to the root cause of terrorism, and fight it there.

I think clever embodies all of those possibilities. And I think it's a word that has implicit meaning to the average voter who wants a simple soundbite to make a decision.