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saavedra77We keep hearing that this November’s presidential election will be the most important of our lifetimes, in terms of foreign, fiscal, & environmental policy, & of constitutional law. I don't think that I'll find much disagreement with this among my friends, here: For most of us, the consequences of four more years of unilateral foreign policy, borrow-&-spend economics, environmental neglect, & eroding civil rights are profoundly depressing to contemplate.
Unfortunately, John Kerry’s recent actions make me wonder whether he understands that there's more on the line here than his career. Today’s Washington Post analysis really encapsulates my current frustrations with the Kerry campaign: too defensive, too focused on the past, too convoluted--on Iraq in particular.
I wish I could say that I disagreed: Too often, when I hear Kerry speak, I can see exactly where he's stepping in it, exactly how the Republicans will skewer him. The most egregious example came when Kerry affirmed that he would have given the president authority to invade Iraq even if he knew that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Anyone with half an ounce of political sense could have told Kerry that he was walking into a trap. In essence, Kerry was providing Bush with cover for the administration’s biggest foreign policy embarrassment & bolstering Bush’s case that Iraq needed to be invaded ... well, just ‘cuz. Incredibly, though, Kerry didn’t seem to get it.
As John Stewart shouted out over the airwaves that night: “You’re trying to lose!”
I’ve volunteered to do door-to-door & phone bank work for the Kerry campaign, but I have to say that defeating Bush would be a lot easier if the guy at the top of the ticket would act like this is the most important presidential election of our lifetimes!
Unfortunately, John Kerry’s recent actions make me wonder whether he understands that there's more on the line here than his career. Today’s Washington Post analysis really encapsulates my current frustrations with the Kerry campaign: too defensive, too focused on the past, too convoluted--on Iraq in particular.
I wish I could say that I disagreed: Too often, when I hear Kerry speak, I can see exactly where he's stepping in it, exactly how the Republicans will skewer him. The most egregious example came when Kerry affirmed that he would have given the president authority to invade Iraq even if he knew that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Anyone with half an ounce of political sense could have told Kerry that he was walking into a trap. In essence, Kerry was providing Bush with cover for the administration’s biggest foreign policy embarrassment & bolstering Bush’s case that Iraq needed to be invaded ... well, just ‘cuz. Incredibly, though, Kerry didn’t seem to get it.
As John Stewart shouted out over the airwaves that night: “You’re trying to lose!”
I’ve volunteered to do door-to-door & phone bank work for the Kerry campaign, but I have to say that defeating Bush would be a lot easier if the guy at the top of the ticket would act like this is the most important presidential election of our lifetimes!
