The fact is that when Kerry speaks about the war he sounds like he is talking from both sides of his mouth. That's why Republican charges that he is a "flip-flopper" have resonated with so much of the electorate. I suspect that his poll numbers would be much better than they are if he took a forthright antiwar stance but to do so would cost him much of his backing from big business and their supporters within the Democratic Party like the DLC. The fact is, he doesn't seem to be offering a clearcut alternative to Bush on the war (Kerry, most recently has been talking about the US withdrawing from there within "five years") which is why despite the fact that Iraq is obviously becoming a quagmire, it's not doing serious damage to Bush. At this point, Kerry might succeed in outdoing Al Gore in blowing an election that he should otherwise win.
Jim F.
On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 09:44:26 -0400 Jon Johanning <jjohanning at igc.org>
writes:
> On Sep 10, 2004, at 7:08 AM, Nathan Newman wrote:
>
> > Many people on this list seem to want everything on their agenda
> or
> > they'll
> > reject it all.
>
> That may be true of some, but I'm willing to compromise. I just
> think
> that Kerry ought to frankly say that he was wrong to vote for the
> authorization of force, and is now admitting his mistake.
>
> After all, he did say the other day that it is "the wrong war at the
>
> wrong time in the wrong place." Isn't that tantamount to an
> admission
> that he had made a mistake? So why not just say so? Or is he talking
>
> out of both sides of his face?
>
> His stated position on the war may be technically non-contradictory,
>
> but it's so complex that it confuses the heck out of even his
> supporters and spokespersons. I think he should simplify it to a
> forthright anti-war position and let the chips fall where they may.
> The
> problem, I guess, is that he is by now so beholden to so many
> people,
> including big-business interests in the military-industrial complex,
>
> that he can no longer be the anti-war leader he was in his youth.
>
>
> Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org
> __________________________________
> A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You
> should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting
> incest
> and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax
>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
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