If Bush asks, in a debate with Kerry (assuming nomination):

[joshcryer]

"Senator, you have voted for my No Child Left Behind program, you have voted for my resolution for the Iraq war, what makes you a better candidate to carry out my agenda than me?"

What will Kerry's response be?

[jpgray]

1. You betrayed the American people and I in each instance

You used NCLB to kill public schools by denying the program any funds, and you lied to all of us on Iraq--you lied about Saddam being a "grave threat", and you flouted your own promises to exhaust diplomatic means.

Easy one. Give me a tough one. :D

edit: hopefully Kerry is a better speller, and has a more thorough knowledge of grammar than I.

[joshcryer]

2. Ouch.

Nice one.

edit, just responding to the additions in your edit; I think that calling Bush a liar outright is extremely risky, no candidate has done that.

[Jim Sagle]

15. I think that's why he's still in office.

They should've started calling him a liar long ago.

[janx]

3. That's not going to be good enough, I'm afraid.

And Chimpy's handlers intend to use this--he's made allusions to it already.

[jpgray]

4. The great thing about the answer is it mirrors the majority's path

They too feel betrayed by Bush--he hyped up Iraq as a threat and they bought it. Check out his approval ratings during the war. Now they feel betrayed, and they can see an echo in that in Kerry. He's crazy if he doesn't use this defense.

[mitchum]

11. Absolutely

You are very astute, jpgray. That will be a very effective strategy.

[janx]

20. It was Kerry's job to deal with this kind of thing.

We've been over and over this. Millions of Americans knew that the Iraq war was a scam.

Why didn't Kerry?

It always boils down to that. Every time.

[kiahzero]

27. Perhaps

Kerry was listening to the actual intelligence, as a Senator should, and ignoring the hunch (it turned out to be a good hunch, but a hunch nonetheless) that the intelligence was sketchy.

[janx]

34. Yet that doesn't make any sense either. If he was operating

while using actual intelligence, that should have pushed him even farther away from his IWR vote.

And I can't agree that it was just a hunch. For instance, the presentation Powell made at the U.N. was logically flawed. People like me saw that and used logic--not hunch.

[Old and In the Way]

31. Perhaps that vote was a set-up to get Democrats to vote anti-war?

If you are a Democratic Senator and you think that there's case for LIHOP/MIHOP and you know that the anthrax perp was from inside this government (but not found), maybe you wonder if a straight anti-war vote is a another set-up.

The evidence was obviously weak on WMD, the Democrats were out in the streets against this action. Seems like it would have been political easy for the Democrats to be solidly against this resolution. But they didn't....why?

Because if you believe that this administration LIHOP'd/MIHOP'd 9/11, why wouldn't they engineer another event if the Democrats lined up on a straight party "no war" vote?

* Bush would get his war, anyway....evidence would implicate an AQ/Itaq connection.
* Democrats are immediately painted, by the corporate media, as the "Party of Terrorist Appeasers"
* Martial law instituted.
* Democrats are DOA in the midterms and 2004 elections.

So Democrats did the next best thing, they supported a resolution to allow the President to make war IF Iraq refused to allow UN inspections to continue. Bush disregarded the qualifications and attacked anyway. Now we know that the administration fabricated and/or distorted the intel making the IWR a bogus vote.

Bush lied, Bush disregarded the IWR and attacked. He is criminally impeachable and if the Republican's were not such a Party of enabling cowards, we'd be sentencing the junta to very long jail terms now.

[joshcryer]

5. It's a good burn, but maybe not a smart move.

The media could spin it any way they wanted, and I suspect that it wouldn't be positive.

[jpgray]

8. Probably. The tough thing is, the media will eviscerate whoever we have

The only one who has been relatively unscathed is Edwards, and if he starts building steam he will get sciced and diced as well.

[sallyseven]

10. The media knows that bush's lies

are well known. I think Kerry will use the language as above and the media cannot do much about it. Bush cuts budgets and then says that he is including money in the budget for vocational ed. What a crock he cut that money last year. Putting back a fraction.

[joshcryer]

16. Bush's 'lies' are mere 'blunders.'

The media doesn't call him out for lying.

[HFishbine]

21. The Media Will Spin It

As they will with any nominee. Today is a great example. My local paper (online edition) writes a headline for Kerry's reponse to Bush's "stories" on MTP today that says: "Kerry Critisizes Bush Over Guard Service."

Of course this headline plays right into Bush's "warning" for people not to critisize the National Guard, and deflects the real issue.

[MurikanDemocrat]

14. That's wishful thinking on your part

These are losing issues for Bush

[janx]

24. I don't wish it to happen. I dread what will happen when Bush

asks these questions--because there's absolutely no way that Kerry can answer it logically.

Bush is already planning to use stuff like this. He even made a joke about it at some Republican gathering recently.

[pezcore64]

9. lol

Ill buy that the american people were lied to, but how they pulled the sheet over every politicians head is beyond me.

So it should be ended with
"Sorry I believed the lies like the american people did, even tho i was in a position to seak out the truth and expose it before I VOTED YES TO BOTH"

I hate that its okay they can just vote YES on something and then turn around and go "ohh im sorry, i didnt mean it, honestly!"
bullcrap!

thats like Alice Forgys plea to Kentuckians "I was opposed to my and others pays increases!"
when she freakin' voted for it TWICE during her short term!!!

Does anybody actually think or do any research before they go push their yea/nay buttons???!?!?!?

[homelandpunk]

26. Yeah, easy for you. But Kerry is not you. He'll choke.

I mean I know that it sounds easy to hit out of the park, but Kerry will not say those words. The disappointment you will feel after he is done answering those questions will leave a real bad taste. Kerry cannot answer the questions. He is compromised.

[eileen_d]

29. If you are so sure of this, you must know exactly what Kerry will say.

Please share with the rest of the class.

[homelandpunk]

36. Kerry will choke....he'll use ambiguous words

The fact that Bush suckered him (or did he?) over the filthy unconstitutional abomination called the Patriot Act, along with unconstitutionally handing powers of war to that mental midget, will keep Kerry from laying it down...because it would point out the obvious: HIS clear lack of judgment, HIS preferential regard for a moron with high poll numbers than for the sacred constitution, disregard for civil liberties, etc, etc. Kerry is compromised. He cannot say what could be said by a candidate who has not been fatally compromised like he has.
End of lecture, class.

[UrbScotty]

6. That's why I kinda fear Kerry bering the nominee.

That's just me.

[joshcryer]

19. Same here...

...

[eileen_d]

7. As far as NCLB goes, here's a preview:

(just imagine that JK talks about himself in 3rd person)

"When it comes to education, George W. Bush has been the photo-op President. He stands with children and teachers for a picture, but he doesn’t stand with them when it comes to improving our public schools. In fact, by signing the No Child Left Behind Act and then breaking his promise by not providing the resources to help meet new standards, George Bush has undermined public education for the nation’s 53.7 million students. President Bush walked away from his commitment to fund public education, shortchanging public schools by $6 billion this year and he is on track to fall $8 billion short for next year. That means less money for after-school, teacher training, and our highest poverty schools.

...

John Kerry believes that the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act -- ensuring that all students learn to high standards and closing the achievement gap -- are the right ones for America’s children. However, to date we have fallen short of these goals due to insufficient funding and problems with the law. Kerry will make important changes to the No Child Left Behind Act to help students reach high standards.

Judge Schools On More Than Just Test Scores. Kerry believes that we need to consider indicators of school performance other than simply test scores. Kerry will revise the accountability standards in No Child Left Behind to include ways of assessing student performance in addition to testing. Under Kerry’s proposal, states will construct a set of leading indicators, subject to review and approval by the U.S. Department of Education, which will comprise part of the school's assessment in the NCLB accountability framework. Possible indicators include graduation rates, teacher attendance, parental satisfaction, and student attendance.

Reward States That Implement High Standards. Kerry is also concerned that No Child Left Behind unintentionally rewards states and districts with low standards and penalizes those with high standards. Since schools, districts, and states are punished if they fail to make adequate progress, the incentive is to set expectations lower rather than higher. Kerry will work to include incentives in the law to reward states, districts, and schools that implement higher standards.

Ensure the Law Works for States, Schools, and Teachers. John Kerry will also support reforms that give states and school districts greater freedom to target assistance to schools with the most extensive academic difficulties; ensure that the federal government provides funding for professional development requirements in the law; require that every single group or program that receives funding from No Child Left Behind fully complies with federal civil rights laws; and close loopholes in the law’s definition of “highly qualified” teachers.

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/100days/education.html

[sallyseven]

13. Don';t worry about John Kerry

He is a very smart person and I am sure he will do extremely well. IMHO there is no one else that do the job of getting bush out.

[MurikanDemocrat]

12. Bush wouldn't ask that because he is responsible for his own failed

initiatives. It would be stupid for him to call attention to them. Easy for Kerry to wipe his ass with them.

Really this is a stupid question.

[joshcryer]

18. Not really, it really can be used against him.

If Kerry claims stuff like "NCLB is underfunded" bush can counter "how are you going to fund it more than it already is without raising taxes?"

Count on it, the Rove machine will use Kerry's 'Bush votes' against him. It's too much of a gold mind not to.

[Uzybone]

23. Um

Kerry has already said he is going to raise taxes....on the rich. People need to keep up.

[joshcryer]

25. Either way, it's a trap.

Taxes are a hot button issue. Bush can claim that he lowered taxes just like he promised. Kerry has been all over the board about taxes.

[burned]

17. Kerry cant defend his vote on Iraq

There were enough people in the know screaming not to go to war and that there wasn't any imminent danger... for Kerry to have heard.
We heard it, we knew it. There is no defense for any Dem that voted for it. Even if it wasn't an outright declaration of war from the congress, it gave an obviously misinformed Bush way too much power. We also knew that.
This is a mistake he won't be able to explain away in my mind, and a lot of people died because of it.

[still_one]

22. Why not

If Bush can double talk his way through WMD, so could Kerry.

The problem I see is that Congress gave up their responsiblity to declare war to the executive branch, and this is quite bad...

I will still vote any body but bush...

[grisvador]

30. Congress FAILED US even more than the President did

Only Congress can declare War - giving up that power completly betrayed our Constitution.

[teach1st]

28. RE Voting for Iraq, Kerry could say:

"I was wrong, Mr. Bush. I was flat out wrong. I can admit my mistakes, President Bush. Can you?"

[quaker bill]

32. How about if he asks the question better?

Say more like this:

Senator Kerry, you read the same intelligence reports I did and from your vote it seems that you also concluded that Saddam was a threat to our national security. Your comments on the record from well before I took office also state your belief that Saddam was a serious threat to our nation. Why is it that you now seem to feel that I needed to wait for approval from France to defend the American people?


Senator Kerry, you voted for my No Child Left Behind program, I still think it is a good program. It seems we both agreed that this was a good approach to reforming public education. Tell me, why did you then vote for a budget that did not fully fund it?

[mbee]

33. Kerry should respond that Bush is all rhetoric which is different than

actually caring about the American People and actually putting the money where the mouth is and funding the programs. Also, with regard to the War he should say that had Bush told the truth about WMD he would have voted otherwise.

[DrFunkenstein]

35. Kerry Had Harder Time Pointing Out Differences With Dean

Kerry will slam Bush.

1) NCLB was a great bi-partisan effort - Bush even had Kennedy stand up at the 2002 SOTU - and Bush refused to fund it in favor of huge tax cuts. Same with Americorp, Superfunds, etc.

2) Bush went back on his word. That strikes right at where Bush people live. Bush's word cannot be trusted. We think "No sh*t, Sherlock," but for alot Americans that is news, shocking news at that.

3) On the tax cuts (I'm adding one), Kerry can say that he supports all the positive ways Bush sold the cuts to the middle-class. All the crap Bush said this morning on MTP, there was nothing that Kerry couldn't knock out of the park. That is why the GOP is panicked into turning to gay marriage and that sort of crap.