Republican Chuck Hagel: Kerry not weak on defense

[Gulf Coast J]

Did anybody catch This Week this morning? Senator Hagel was asked if he thought Kerry was weak on defense and he basically said, "No, you can take specific votes from anybody's Senate career and manufacture it so that they look weak on defense." It was a pretty good discussion with Sens. Hagel and Biden, who both acted like true statesmen.

[wryter2000]

1. Cool

Thank heaven for a little sanity.

[rockymountaindem]

2. McCain has been saying the same thing.

Perhaps that's because all Senators know that they make so many votes that if you take them out of context the opposition can make anybody in the Senate look bad. The sword cuts both ways.

[ant]

8. did you see this?

http://innersanctumsantorum.blogspot.com/

McCain Praises Kerry on Defense
Republican 'Sandmen' ordered to bring McCain in
Senator from Arizona now considered to be a fugitive runner

Arizona Senator John McCain praised John Kerry's stand on national defense earlier this morning on NBC's popular 'Today Show', triggering the activation of Republican Sandmen who will now hunt McCain down and bring him in for re-education or liberation. McCain has been a problem Republican since the contentious elections of 2000 where sharp words were exchanged between him and George W. Bush, the eventual winner. However McCain had not attempted to flee the party before, which is why the sandmen were not triggered until now. If you see McCain you are to report him to the nearest authories under orders of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

[Leilani]

9. Hagel is a close friend of McCain's

& doesn't like Bush either.

He was very critical of Bush's Iraq War & strategy.

He said the people pushing the war had never fought in a war.

He was an elisted man in Nam & saw a lot of action; I know he respects John Kerry.

[JI7]

15. Hagel is a good friend of John Kerry's also

the vietnam vets in senate have are all great buddies and defend one another especially when they are attacked on things like their service or defense issues.

[katieforeman]

18. I bet Hagel will actually vote for John Kerry.

Hagel just seems too smart and decent to vote for Bush. I bet he would have switched parties over Bush if NE weren't such a Republican state.

[Dookus]

3. Interesting...

The second prominent Republican senator to refute the charge.

I actually have a fair amount of respect for Hagel. He seems to actually think, and not just parrot RNC talking points.

[Nashyra]

4. I saw it

and my job dropped. My husband and I both thought to ourselves that "this guy will not be voting for *"

[KittyWampus]

13. Note: 2nd Prominent Republican Who Also Served In Viet Nam

They're not chickenhawks.

[zulchzulu]

5. Hagel was pretty cool on the show

I know he's linked with the Diebold machines (was CEO or something for them but has since resigned), but Chuck wasn't too shabby on the show. He did stick up for JK on a couple occasions.

[k in IA]

6. It seems like the Vietnam vets identify more with

each other and stick up more for each other than they will for their party - Yeah.

[DaveSZ]

7. Yes

The Senate vets all have a special bond with each other.

I think it's great.

Maybe it makes sense to put another vet on the ticket.

[Thrill]

10. One thing about Kerry

is he is going to have Repugs who are his war buddies who are going to defend him on being weak on defense

[Leilani]

11. Hagel's defense of Kerry

does it make up for Joe Lieberman's stake through the heart?

[I Lean Left]

12. There are a small bloc of Nam vets in the Senate

They stick together and come to each other's defense whenever one is attacked. McCain, Kerry, Hagel. Used to include Cleland and Kerrey. That includes crossing party-lines.

You won't hear Hagel defend Kerry if Bush tries to paint him as too liberal, but he will if Bush says that Kerry is not patriotic enough or doesn't love his country enough.

[no name no slogan]

14. It's good, but I still gotta wonder why

...Dems feel that they need to be defined by Republicans?!?

Contrary to what you read and hear in the media, the Democrats are STILL the majority party in this country. 90% of Democrats could really care less about their candidate being "strong on defense" (which is just Rethug NewSpeak for being in favor of more welfare for the defense industry) as they are about their candidate being FOR solid Democratic principles: jobs, fair trade, good infrastructure, health care, etc.

When we run Democratic candidates who aren't afraid to be Democrats, we win. If we define the issues ourselves, without letting the repubs do it for us, we also win.

The latest polls even show that Americans are more worried about the economy than the "war on terror". So why are we so damned concerned about getting good press from Republicans?

Unless, of course, the party really WANTS to be Republicans...

:shrug:

[Leilani]

16. It's not that Dems want to be defined by Republicans

It's to smack down the vicious attacks from a bunch of chickenhawks.

Repubs always try to make Dems look weak on defense. But there is a small group of Repubs & Dems, who have served, & love & respect each other.

If Hagel or McCain says Kerry is OK on defense, it signals to the Thugs, stop it, it won't work. It';s a smackdown, & it signals to Indies & reasonable Repubs, that this is all a pile of crap!

[Gulf Coast J]

17. Then count me in the 10% that cares about Kerry being strong on defense

The fact is that we were attacked. Spain has been attacked, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan and Morocco have all been attacked. Then isn't some made up threat to boost the profits of Northrop Grumman and Boeing. There are plenty of people out there that want to blow me up because of where I live, and I damn sure want somebody in the White House that is going to be able to effectively use the full strength of our diplomacy, our trade agreements, our foreign aid, our police services, and yes; even the United States Armed Forces to protect me and the people I care about.