Nation-Building >> Kerry Waffles on War... Again! | return to front page

Glen Johnson of the Boston Globe reports that Sen. Kerry is attempting to horn in on Gov. Dean's emerging popularity by stepping up his criticism of President Bush. The problem? Kerry can't seem to decide if he's for, or against the policies of the Bush administration. An excerpt:

By echoing the ''regime change'' line popular with hundreds of thousands of antiwar protesters who have demonstrated across the nation in recent weeks, the Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential contender seemed to be reaching out to a newly invigorated constituency as rival Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont and a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, closes in on Kerry in opinion polls.

The criticism appeared to contradict statements Kerry made on March 18, just a day before Bush authorized military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

Kerry, who previously had been critical of Bush's efforts to reach out to the international community, was reluctant that day to answer when a television crew asked him whether the administration had handled its diplomatic efforts poorly.

''You know, we're beyond that now,'' the senator said after addressing the International Association of Fire Fighters. ''We have to come together as a country to get this done and heal the wounds.''

Kerry, a Navy veteran of Vietnam, said he strongly supported US troops. ''There will be plenty of time here to be critical about how we arrived here,'' he said at that time. In response to questions after his speech yesterday, Kerry reiterated his support for the troops.

He also joined the administration in blasting ''armchair generals'' who are criticizing the war plan.

Then he said: ''It is possible that the word `regime change' is too harsh. Perhaps it is.''

Once again, Sen. Kerry's biggest problem is that he's just not quite sure what his position on this war really is...

UPDATE: LeftLeaner suggests referring to Kerry as the Eggo candidate. It's all in good fun, especially because it's useful to highlight the differences between Dean and Kerry, but one thing we have to make sure of is that we don't cross the line to active Kerry bashing. In our enthusiasm, we have tor emember that Dean and Kerry are on the same side, after all... not that you'd necessarily know it by the Kerry's voting record :) --Aziz