Past Votes May Dog The Kerry Campaign (Wash Post dump on Kerry)

[papau]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A545-2004Feb23.html

Past Votes May Dog The Kerry Campaign
Democrat's Support Of Bush Is at Issue(flip-flopper)
By Jim VandeHei Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 24, 2004; Page A10


In the stump speech he delivers virtually every day, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) stirs the Democratic faithful by railing against current trade practices and slamming President Bush's policies on education, civil liberties and Iraq.

But the Democratic front-runner does not mention how he, as senator, supported the president on all four issues, helping cement in law what he often describes as flawed government policies.

Kerry's past support for policies he now condemns is complicating his run for the White House, strategists from both parties say, and could prove problematic in a general election showdown with Bush. The president himself seized on this contrast in his opening attack on Kerry at a dinner last night of the Republican Governors Association. <snip>

To differentiate himself from Bush, Kerry faults the president on the "implementation" of the laws governing education, trade, civil liberties and the military operation in Iraq. Kerry says Bush underfunded the No Child Left Behind education law; abused the search and seizure powers of the USA Patriot Act; rushed to war once granted congressional authorization; and failed to crack down on abuses by U.S. trading partners.

"This is the biggest 'say one thing, do another' administration in the modern history of our country," Kerry said in a telephone interview yesterday. He stood by his votes but blasted Bush for the way he implemented the new laws.<SNIP>


Kerry has had the hardest time explaining to voters why he supported the congressional resolution authorizing the Iraq war but later opposed the $87 billion bill to fund the reconstruction effort in Iraq and Afghanistan. In last week's Democratic debate, Kerry offered a lengthy explanation of how he supported a "process" for winning international support for any military operation and pressuring then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to allow tougher weapons inspections. <snip>

[dennis4868]

1. Where is the Wash. Post piece on....

Bush flip flopping all over the place. First he says that he will work with the UN to dismantle Iraq's WMD, then goes to war unilaterally and against international law. Bush visits a federally funded program one day, and then the next day he cuts it from the budget. Bush supports his education bill one day, and then the next day he under funds it making the program useless. I could go on and on with this....you get my point. WHERE IS THE WASHINGTON POST AND THE OTHER MEDIA WHORES ON THIS STORY?

[bluedog]

6. link to bush hip hopping

http://www.thousandreasons.org/index.html

[unfrigginreal]

2. I bet the Pubbies are shaking in their boots

"It's all about the implementation stupid"

Lord help us all.

[CityDem]

7. Dukakis ran on competency

And he lost badly. Like it or not, JK's attempt to stradle issues is not going to sell to the electorate. If one cannot support their voting record, they should not run for president.

[mikehiggins]

3. Oh my gosh! Do you mean Kerry is not the absolutely bestest

candidate the Democratic Party ever had? I'm shocked.

And here I thought we'd finally gotten rid of those pesky Dean and Clark groupies and settled down for a cosy summer nap with Kerry or Edwards as our shoo-in nominees for spanking Bush in November and sending him home.

Now WP is telling me Kerry might be a weak sister of a candidate after all? That when you spend years carefully "nuancing" every step you take, you might not stand for anything at all? That you can't turn a vote authorising a war into one opposing a war just by waving a rhetorical wand?

Golly. Who would have thought?

Thank God we have Edwards to fall back on with his lifelong record of...uhh, just what exactly? Making big bucks as a trial lawyer?

Where's the aspirin bottle. I feel a headache coming on.

[YNGW]

5. Who'd A Thunk It?

:shrug:

:thumbsup: :hi:

[PurityOfEssence]

4. Hey, Mr. Foreign Policy, why'd you vote against the first Gulf War?

This alone will be nightmare. Regardless how one feels about war, when a country we have a strong relationship with is invaded and annexed, the aggressor should be attacked. MANY people will have the same incredulity at this vote, and it's a legitimate concern.

I admit my partisanship, but lots of my current concerns are based on electability. Edwards is much more electable; he'll get all the votes Kerry would have, plus Southerners, rural voters, those who often don't vote and crossovers.

It's far too easy to cherry pick from 20 years of votes, and even though the assaults will be distortions, there's a lot of grist there for the monarchists to use.

[salin]

11. of course

some always wondered why we okayed said initial action of Iraq... then made up stories and media images of atrocities that never happened... all while simultaneously turning a blind eye to current ethnic cleansing atrocities in the Balkans.

[spooky3]

8. Better to flip flop than to take extreme RW positions as * does

on a consistent basis.

[DrFunkenstein]

9. The Right Thing Done Wrong

Which is "bad implementation" in plain English.

Disarming Iraq - right thing done wrong.

Improving intelligence gathering - right thing done wrong.

Bush eating a pretzel - right thing done wrong.

[salin]

12. lol on that last item

on various levels...

[legin]

10. This is the way it works

bush* makes a remark about Kerry 'flip-floping'.

For the next few days at editorial meetings of newspapers around the country its:

"Shit guys, we a short one story for tommorows paper. We need to fill the space. Fuck it, someone do a Kerry flip-flop story it's in the news at the moment."

[salin]

14. best response... the Daily Show... gov bush debates president bush

for examples of real-time flip-flops.

[Cocoa]

13. Kerry will be able to make the case

It's all about credibility. People will hear the charges of Kerry being a flip-flopper, they'll listen to Kerry's explanation, and they'll decide who they believe, based on how credible they find both Kerry and Bush.

They'll look at Kerry, steady and serious, and then look at Bush, smirking and babbling. No contest.