Kerry's New Call to Arms|Newsweek

[BootinUp]

I am very happy to hear about this strategy folks, a clearer attack on Bush's Iraq mess. And they are listening to Wes! :)
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Kerry's New Call to Arms

Battle Plan: Kerry was to spend the fall on the economy. Then came a new team of advisers—and a fresh focus for the homestretch.

NewsweekSept. 27 issue - Sitting in his black-leather swivel chair, with his trusty world atlas beside him, John Kerry huddled with his aides in the executive-style cabin at the front of his campaign jet. Kerry was preparing to accuse the president of failing to tell the truth about "the mess in Iraq"—part of an aggressive fall strategy to challenge George W. Bush on the war. But before he spoke to the National Guard convention in Las Vegas, Kerry sought the advice of yet another sounding board on his plane: former four-star general Wes Clark. Kerry knew from Vietnam what it felt like to face the bullets without the support of the folks back home. So how, one of his senior staff wanted to know, would Kerry's attacks go down now with the troops in Iraq? "Look, the soldiers are debating it themselves on the ground," Clark reassured Kerry's inner circle. "They're coming back and they're incredibly critical. You have to call it like it is."

After the summer's phony war over Vietnam medals and memos, the 2004 election has landed in the real-world battleground of Iraq. For Camp Kerry, it's a liberating feeling to engage in straight talk about Iraq, shaking off debate about the candidate's Senate votes. "I'm thrilled," said one of Kerry's longtime loyalists, "because it's the John Kerry I know and love." Kerry's gambit: to revive his campaign—trailing by anywhere between one and 13 points in new polls—by questioning Bush's credibility on the conflict, his management of postwar Iraq and the no-bid contracts won by his veep's old firm, Halliburton. Kerry is betting that the hard truths of Iraq will undercut Bush's soft-focus picture of a liberated nation, and ultimately the president's image as a war leader.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6039833/site/newsweek/

[Cocoa]

1. this line says it all

"The flip-flop tag has already been priced into the market," one senior staffer said. "Bush's failure in Iraq hasn't."


It sounds so incredibly weak when the Bush campaign responds to Kerry's attacks by calling him a flip-flopper. Even the dull-wittedest of freepers can see that the reality in Iraq has absolutely nothing to do with Kerry's positions, whatever they are.

[Mizmoon]

2. I still like Wes

I'm glad to see him right there, helping Kerry along.

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. I hope with the message

that he drives home the point about taking resources away from Afghanistan where we had support, and putting a huge chunk into Iraq where we don't. The job's not done in Afghanistan either...not by a long shot...and the diversion only put us at greater risk as well as dramatically increased our costs in both blood and treasure.

Bush claims he's taking the fight to where the terrorists live. Had he stuck with Afghanistan, at least we'd also be sharing the bullseye with allies.

[BootinUp]

4. I think you can count on that

I agree it is an important part of discrediting Bush on the WOT. And its the message that was working prior to the convention both in Kerry's campaign and during the primaries with candidates like Clark and others as well.

[roseBudd]

5. A printable flyer that exposes Bush's failure in the WOT

It quotes the Army War College report.

Go to http://somnamblst.tripod.com to download high resolution TIF or PDF file to print.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Bit of a mistake there:

What should be the defense.pdf is the draftalert.pdf. Mistake on the download link, methinks.

[roseBudd]

8. thanks will fix now :)

[Richardson08]

7. Stop referring to Iraq as the war on terror

Make the distinction between the WOT and Iraq.Call it the Battle or Fight for Iraq

Hope Wes Clark will be a major part of a Kerry administration,Secretary of Defense or State but it appears Richard Holbrooke and Jamie Rubin are in line for the Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State positions