Check THIS out -

[whometense]

and from a place that usually trashes Kerry!

http://www.americanpolitics.com/punditpap.html

It did seem that the cutting favored Allen, to the extent that he was given more opportunities to undercut what Webb had just said, but no amount of tinkering could have disguised the fact that Allen is a fool, a dunderhead, a guy for whom a slogan is always better than an idea, and that Webb, in high contrast, is a highly intelligent, learned man, cool, confidant, who comes fully equipped with a wealth of experience – in combat, in education, in government – a man comfortable enough in his own boots to be full of laughter, even during a serious discussion, and best of all, even at himself.

I think Allen’s people ought to be worried, based on those crosscuts; Allen came off as a Bush clone, minus the presidential thingee.

Webb was impressive on every score. While it’s true he was threading a separate path on Iraq between Kerry’s resolution and the Levin-Reid one, he picked up on one of the greatest vulnerabilities of the administration: those permanent bases we’ve been building in Iraq. What do they mean? How do they fit in with that constant administration dirge on Iraq: as they stand up, we’ll stand down? He would have said more, but Steph wouldn’t let him, if you can believe it. Didn’t fit the narrative: Democrats unworthy of Webb, who is an iconoclast.

Don’t you long for the day when a network pundit will pay attention to such a moment, explore it, and even remind us and someone like Webb that it was John Kerry who said, as the presidential candidate in 2004, that he would stop all work on permanent bases in Iraq as a way of expressing in the most compelling fashion that we don’t intend to stay? Interesting “what if” to consider.

Allen, of course, took every opportunity to recast anything Webb said as cut and run, turn tail and run…slogans, slogan, slogans.

Most impressive aspect of Webb, his total comfort presenting himself as a Democrat, and his total commitment to being a Democrat. Case in point, asked by Steph what would happen if in 2008 it was Hillary Clinton versus Webb’s old pal, John McCain, Webb, after laughing at the question, in a good way, said, without hesitation, that he would support the Democratic candidate in 2008...

...The best moment in the whole show came when Webb explained that after September 11, 2001, he lost all his anger at those he’d been angry with for thirty years. I believed him. Which probably means Webb is as angry as most of us at the way that post-9/11 period was undermined by the political calculations of the Republican party...

[sandnsea]

1. Yeah, like Andrew Sullivan and Libya

Wouldn't have hurt him a bit to add to his apology that John Kerry was ridiculed when he tried to tell the truth about Libya ending their nuclear weapon program.

Nice observation, but I kind of think the teevee pundits don't do it because it doesn't fit the Hillary narrative, as I've noted before.

[wisteria]

2. Kerry has been correct so much of the time. I hear suggestions

now from other politicians and even pundits and I think-Kerry has already said this, or suggested that. It is, for me, frustrating and sad, that someone like Senator Kerry, with so much knowledge, strength, vision and smarts, is always ignored or pushed aside for the popular, attention grabbing spinners, all wanting to be President for the wrong reasons.
Of everyone I have heard of who is possibly running in 08, Kerry in my estimation is, the one person I see who is willing to tackle the real issues, straighten this country out and move us forward.
For all the talk of Senator Clinton, I can not envision her doing more than watching polls, handling one tough issue and play acting the Presidential role.

[politicasista]

3. It's all about ratings and ego feeding n/t