>much to the consternation of a large part of the Democratic base.
Precisely because of the dismay of rank-and-file Democrats do we have openings for frank discussion of the John Kerry campaign's positions on Iraq and Palestine in particular and foreign and domestic policies in general.
>When Yoshie and others to the left of the party complain about the
>"ABB crowd", they do not seem to appreciate that they are referrring
>to half of the US electorate, for which "ABB" translates as a No
>vote to the question: "Do you approve of the Bush administration's
>decision to unilaterally invade Iraq after having misled the
>American people?"
It will be at most about 25% of the US electorate who will actually vote for John Kerry.
>The intensity of the ABB mood within all strata of the population is
>such that those who try to draw attention to the shortcomings of
>Kerry (or F911) are seen as irrelevant and risk getting trampled in
>the process.
You nicely sum up what really motivates the majority of liberal intellectuals and a sizable contingent of leftists in the US in this election year: fear of being unpopular. As it happens, though, fear is unfounded. Ordinary Americans, including rank-and-file Democrats, are far more open-minded than you would suppose had you only looked at what the ABB intellectuals have to say. Only for the latter does Anybody But Bush mean Shut Up and Vote for Kerry. Leftists should not let fear -- especially unfounded fear -- dictate our thoughts and actions.
>Of course, for those who think that a Kerry administration would
>likewise have broken with the UN and its European allies and sent
>ground forces into Iraq
Kerry voted for the invasion of Iraq, so the real question is not what he would have done but what he actually did, has done, and will do. Even if you think it a great idea to vote for John Kerry, there still is no reason not to challenge him to answer the question now: when will you bring the troops home? -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>