Politics Kerry vs. Bush, the Rematch
posted by on October 31 at 12:50 PM
If there was still any question about whether this mid-term election has been “nationalized,” it was answered today, with President Bush’s spokesman going on the attack against Senator John Kerry (warning: the rest of this sentence may cause flashbacks) over Kerry’s position on the Iraq War and the troops fighting it.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republicans unleashed a firestorm of criticism Tuesday against Sen. John Kerry after the Vietnam veteran told college students they’d “get stuck in Iraq” if they didn’t work hard in school.Kerry later said the remark was a “botched joke” meant to target the president, not U.S. troops.
Before the clarification, White House press secretary Tony Snow, House Majority Leader John Boehner and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, lambasted the four-term senator and demanded he apologize.
Even more than they’d like to be sparring with New York liberal Charles Rangel in the run-up to the Nov. 7 Congressional elections, Republicans would love to be sparring with Kerry, the Massachusetts liberal whom Bush tarred, feathered, and then defeated in 2004. (And who, by the way, is not up for re-election this year.)
But if you liked what Rangel had to say yesterday when he pushed back against attacks from Dick Cheney (as many Slog commenters clearly did) you’ll love Kerry’s response to today’s Republican attacks on him a response Kerry delivered, in part, from Seattle.
If anyone should apologize, Mr. Kerry said, it is President Bush and his administration officials who started the ill-conceived war. He said his remarks had been distorted and called the criticism directed at him the work of “assorted right-wing nut jobs and right-wing talk show hosts.”“If anyone thinks a veteran would criticize the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq and not the president who got us stuck there, they’re crazy,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement. “I’m sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did.”
“I’m not going to be lectured by a stuffed-suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq,” Mr. Kerry went on. “It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.”
Kerry: 1
Ham-fisted paunchy Republicans attempting to find a fighting point for a losing battle: 0.
Face it, they're just desperate. They know the Wave will wipe them clean.
So, where does a 60-year-old man find a pair of balls these days? If he'd had them in '04, and gone after the Swift Boaters this way, he might be prez now.
No kidding. This is excellent, but too damn late.
Kerry'd have more credibility if he had voted against the ill-conceived war.
Kerry really needs to keep his damn mouth shut for the next week. This is not helping. Nobody likes him, he is not popular, and he has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. All the Rs need right now is an opening, and he's just the man to give it to them.
What he said was stupid, whether it was intended as a joke or not, and he should have immediately apologized to diffuse the situation. Instead, he got combative and defensive. He's going to blow this for us, and he's not even running.
Shut up, John. Shut up, shut up, shut up.
Why couldn't he just appologize instead of looking like he is avoiding and deflecting. Read his full rebuttal in Seattle today - he really never says he's sorry. WHY did he have to open his mouth a week before the election? This will cost votes, I am sure.
Jeez, man. Just actually say you are sorry if your words were taken wrong.
WHY can't we just shut up the week before the election and ride the wave?
Fuck that. This is what democrats need to do. I don't think he should take up any more airtime about this, but what he said was perfectly in line and instead of bending over and taking it like he did in 2004, he fought back. Bravo for once, John Kerry.
And another thing: This brings the focus back to Iraq, which is exactly where we want it to be in this final week.
I agree. Talking about Iraq is critical. It may just be one in a long line of corrupt incompetent things, but it's the dealbreaker for a lot of people.
No, David - no, no, no. This does not bring the focus back to Iraq. This brings the focus back to the belief some voters have that Democrats don't understand the military, don't support the military, disdain the military, and don't value the military. I don't care if he misspoke, if his remarks were taken out of context, or even whether he was right. The thing John Kerry needs to do for the next week is apologize and become INVISIBLE.
I disagree. Talking about Iraq is certainly critical, but he's not talking about Iraq, he's talking about the troops. Obviously he doesn't actually disrespect the troops, but his comments were stupid and will be taken that way by many, many people. This sounds to those people like a dig at the troops, basically calling them stupid. It's not about the administration's Iraq policy.
His response is a misplaced attempt to be tough. What the Democrats need to show is not a knee-jerk tough guy attitude (that's what the Rs do), but tough when it counts and an ability to admit mistakes. His original comments were a mistake and he should apologize, not act like Bush does when he's criticized.
Unfortunately, from what I've seen, our so-called "liberal media" has given short shrift to Kerry's response and has exclusively focused on Kerry's botched joke and the republican spin of his joke into dishonoring the troops.
Too bad for Kerry, he gets himself tied up in pretzels whenever he opens his mouth. He's done a decent job so far in this incident, so he should quit while he's ahead. Apologizing now will just affirm what the GOP is asserting, and that he said something incorrect, which isn't the case. Then they can just say "See? We told you he hates the troops."
And no, I don't think he should run in '08. And if he knows what's best for him, he'll shut up and go away now.
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