Missed Opportunity
In the first presidential debate last night, Jim Lehrer asked Kerry to give examples of George Bush misleading the American people about Iraq. Kerry then very clearly laid out some of Bush's failures in the decision to go to war - telling us there were nuclear materials when there was no credible evidence there were; telling us he would build a strong coalition and he didn't; telling us he would exhaust diplomancy and go to war as a last resort and then cutting short all diplomatic efforts. (Interestingly, Kerry shied away from the truly egregious examples of Bush's misleading the public about the condition of Iraq after the war.) Bush responded with a rambling answer in which he tried to imply Kerry would allow Bin Laden to dictate American policy and then went into a string of statements Kerry had made in the past that Bush apparently agrees with in order to intimate that by criticizing Bush now, Kerry has changed his positions. Bush said, "I think what is misleading is to say you can lead and succeed in Iraq if you keep changing your positions on this war. And he has. As the politics change, his positions change. And that's not how a commander in chief acts."
Very shortly after this Kerry had an opportunity to respond for 30 seconds. That's not much time, but Bush gave him the perfect opportunity to end once and for all the charges of flip-flopping and at the same time nail down Bush as a liar. I think Kerry missed a great opportunity with his answer. Kerry started his comments by saying he tried not to use the word "liar" when referring to Bush, and here was an opportunity to take the response even further. The question was about Bush misleading America on Iraq, and now, because of Bush's attack on Kerry's consistency, Kerry had an opportunity to broaden the criticism to include Bush misleading America about Kerry's record.
Here's how Kerry responded to Bush's charge that he changes his positions: "I wasn't misleading when I said he [Hussein] was a threat. Nor was I misleading on the day that the president decided to go to war when I said that he had made a mistake in not building strong alliances and that I would have preferred that he did more diplomacy. I've had one position, one consistent position, that Saddam Hussein was a threat. There was a right way to disarm him and a wrong way. And the president chose the wrong way."
That's a pretty good answer, but he had made those points already, and was able to make those points again. Here's how I think he response should have gone:
"Jim, you asked me to explain how Bush misled the American people, but in his response, he has done it for me. He knows my position on Iraq has been consistent from day one. He knows I have been consistent in saying Hussien was a threat and that the President has made the wrong choice at every turn in the way he has chosen to deal with that threat. He knows I have been consistent in supporting our troops by voting to provide them with all the funding they would need and at the same time voting to make sure we didn't pass the cost of that support on to our children through massive deficits. The president knows I have been consistent, but he still makes these baseless accusations. I want to put a stop to that kind of nonsense right now. My conviction is firm. The president knows it. And it's time he stops misleading the public about it."
I know I harp about how the media should cover the issues and not strategy. But in this instance, strategy and the issues intersect. Kerry has two goals he needs to achieve strategically. He needs to find a way to deal with the flip-flopper accusations simply and quickly, and he needs to inform the American people about Bush's lies. My answer is do both at once. Kerry needs to say that the charge of being a flip-flopper is just another of Bush's lies. Bush is afraid to give the American people a choice. He is afraid that if the American people see the truth about where the candidates stand on the issues, they will choose Kerry. So Bush's only strategy is to hide the truth behind lies. This election campaign has been about a Bush lie - whether Kerry is a flip-flopper. It is time to give light to the lie and call it what it is.
Very shortly after this Kerry had an opportunity to respond for 30 seconds. That's not much time, but Bush gave him the perfect opportunity to end once and for all the charges of flip-flopping and at the same time nail down Bush as a liar. I think Kerry missed a great opportunity with his answer. Kerry started his comments by saying he tried not to use the word "liar" when referring to Bush, and here was an opportunity to take the response even further. The question was about Bush misleading America on Iraq, and now, because of Bush's attack on Kerry's consistency, Kerry had an opportunity to broaden the criticism to include Bush misleading America about Kerry's record.
Here's how Kerry responded to Bush's charge that he changes his positions: "I wasn't misleading when I said he [Hussein] was a threat. Nor was I misleading on the day that the president decided to go to war when I said that he had made a mistake in not building strong alliances and that I would have preferred that he did more diplomacy. I've had one position, one consistent position, that Saddam Hussein was a threat. There was a right way to disarm him and a wrong way. And the president chose the wrong way."
That's a pretty good answer, but he had made those points already, and was able to make those points again. Here's how I think he response should have gone:
"Jim, you asked me to explain how Bush misled the American people, but in his response, he has done it for me. He knows my position on Iraq has been consistent from day one. He knows I have been consistent in saying Hussien was a threat and that the President has made the wrong choice at every turn in the way he has chosen to deal with that threat. He knows I have been consistent in supporting our troops by voting to provide them with all the funding they would need and at the same time voting to make sure we didn't pass the cost of that support on to our children through massive deficits. The president knows I have been consistent, but he still makes these baseless accusations. I want to put a stop to that kind of nonsense right now. My conviction is firm. The president knows it. And it's time he stops misleading the public about it."
I know I harp about how the media should cover the issues and not strategy. But in this instance, strategy and the issues intersect. Kerry has two goals he needs to achieve strategically. He needs to find a way to deal with the flip-flopper accusations simply and quickly, and he needs to inform the American people about Bush's lies. My answer is do both at once. Kerry needs to say that the charge of being a flip-flopper is just another of Bush's lies. Bush is afraid to give the American people a choice. He is afraid that if the American people see the truth about where the candidates stand on the issues, they will choose Kerry. So Bush's only strategy is to hide the truth behind lies. This election campaign has been about a Bush lie - whether Kerry is a flip-flopper. It is time to give light to the lie and call it what it is.
posted by Charles S. Russell at 10:02 AM
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