55% of Americans now say the war wasn't "worth it."

[Guaranteed]

So how exactly are Kerry and Edwards making themselves more electable by saying it was (or not saying either way)?

Shouldn't they be agreeing with the majority? Maybe now is the time to show leadership.

55% of America now knows that the war was a stupid idea, but Kerry and Edwards still won't come out against it. I wonder if they EVER would. What would the magic number be?

On edit: Link- http://www.truthout.com/docs_03/090103G.shtml

Of course saying the war was a mistake isn't the greatest thing as far as our troops' morale is concerned, but Bush needs to be held accountable, and Kerry shouldn't be afraid to say that he was deliberately misled, and that the war on terror was undermined by the Bush administration's actions.

[mainer]

1. I'm getting frustrated with Kerry

When asked on 60 minutes if his vote was a mistake, he wouldn't say it was. For heaven's sake, man, just say: "I voted based on false data, based on dishonest information from the Bush Administration. I regret that vote! I will never trust them again!" You can admit the mistake, yet still blame Bush. How can that possibly hurt him?

[emulatorloo]

4. No soundbites for the right wing -they will make him look weak

they will show it out of context, etc etc.

He is being harsh on Bush

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/10/politics/campaign/11TEXT.html?pagewanted=1

snip


Q.What if the vote were today?


KERRY: Look, the vote is not today and that's it. I agree completely with Senator Edwards. It's a waste of time. It's not what this is about. We voted the way we voted based on the information in front of us, based on that moment in time. And it was the right vote at that time based on that information. Period. And this president not only abused the intelligence and the information, for which he is responsible, not just Mr. Tenet - not just the vice president, not Secretary Rumsfeld - the president. You know, Harry Truman's sign didn't say, "The buck stops at the Pentagon," or "The buck stops at the intelligence agency," and the fact is that we authorized the president to use force in a responsible way, and I have said for months, you know, I have said it to you, I have said it across the country: this president abused the authority that he was given, by abusing his own promises to the country as to how he would build a coalition and how he would go to war.

Q.Did he mislead you, did he mislead Congress, you, and the American people?

KERRY: Over a period of time, there were a number of misleading statements made by the president. He certainly misled America about nuclear involvement. And he misled America about the types of weapons that were there, and he misled America about how he would go about using the authority he was given. "Going to war as a last resort" means something to me. The president did not go to war as a last resort, period. Moreover it's the responsibility of a president, if you are going to go to war, having said we're going to do all that's necessary, to do all that's necessary. He didn't. Because he had no plan for winning the peace. It is utterly extraordinary the level of miscalculation of this administration, as to what they would find in Iraq and what was going to be necessary. They discarded their own professional military evaluations, from General Shinseki and others, they disrespected professional military careers, turned their backs on their own State Department's plans, and arrogantly believed. . . . And they were wrong. And soldiers lost their lives because they were wrong. And America's paying -billions of dollars because they were wrong, and allies are not with us because they were wrong. I think there is no greater responsibility of the president of the United States.

[emulatorloo]

2. But Kerry is saying he was misled, that it was Bush's fault, That Bush

Abused intelligence, that Bush misled the american people, that Bush is dishonest, that the War made us less safe, etc etc etc

But he is not going to don Sackcloth and Ashes for an appearance in the next Bush Hate Ad.

[Bush was AWOL]

3. This election needs to be about Bush's dishonesty

and his persistent misleading of the American people from 9/11 on. Kerry's advisors are playing this perfectly. This way during the debates he doesn't have to continuously explain and defend himself on the reason he voted for the war and can just run on THE FACT that he won't lie to the American people and is a better option for peace in Iraq. This election is all about Bush, not Kerry. Bush must be punished and he will.

[captainjack]

5. my thoughts

however the dems respond, the conservatives will claim it as
typical liberal treachery. 

tonite on 60 mins kerry and edwards responded well to the
idiotic stahl. but i didn't like that edwards was speaking for
kerry - edwards looked more presidential for a few moments. 

mrs. kerry is actually incredibly communicative. for a few
seconds after a question is asked, she gathers her thoughts,
but she looks "slow." 

btw, i am not allowed to start a thread(i was going to
tabulate the most vile conservatives) because i didn't have
enough posts. so this might be kinda outta place...anyhoo,
good to join this wonderful board. 

[emulatorloo]

7. Welcome to DU!

Hope you enjoy it here!!!!


:hi:

[Guaranteed]

8. But he still says his vote was correct.

If he was "misled," then his vote should be wrong, yes?

[emulatorloo]

10. No because the principle is: Bad Guy with Nukes should be disarmed

Kerry has always been against weapons proliferation.

Just because the evidence was phonied up in this *particular case* does not mean that the *principle* of non-proliferation is wrong.


(and if bush had fulfilled his promise to let the inspectors do there job, he would have had no justification for invasion)

[Guaranteed]

14. ??? nt

[emulatorloo]

16. Ok I'll try to clarify what I am saying.

The principal is Bad People Who Want To Hurt Us should be disarmed.

Just because the evidence in this particular case was phoneyed up does not mean that the underying principal is wrong.

Or another way, as simply as possible.

Kerry was told Saddam had WMDs and wanted to attack US.
Kerry is against people wanting to attack US.
Bush Lied, there were no WMDs.
But Kerry is still against people wanting to attack US.

It was wrong for Bush to lie.
But It is not wrong for Kerry to be against people wanting to attack US.

[Misunderestimator]

12. I've made major decisions in my life based on information given me...

that I later found out not to be true. Does that mean that I was wrong? No. It means that I was misled. I think it's enough that he admits that he was misled. That's the truth.

[Guaranteed]

13. It also means that your decision was wrong, right?

And can't you then say that?

[emulatorloo]

15. I decide to buy a car based on false information

the car is a lemon

Does it therefore follow that buying cars is wrong?

[Guaranteed]

17. No, but that particular decision was a bad one.

Or, would you then say it was a good decision...to buy a lemon?

Kerry's whole point in saying he was misled is to give a reason for his bad vote, right? So why not just say that if he could go back, knowing what he knows now, he wouldn't have voted that way?

[emulatorloo]

19. But why blame me because the car dealer lied to me?!?!?

It was the seller's responsibility to give me truthful information.

Do I now need to get all long faced and talk about the "mistake" I made, or should I instead go after the car dealer and hold him responsible for lying to me?

[Guaranteed]

20. It's not a matter of blame.

Although, I PERSONALLY in Kerry's case think that he should take responsibility for what he did, because we all knew what Bush was up to.

That's not the point though. Blame has nothing to do with it. Kerry should say that the vote was the wrong vote, given that he was misled, and that if he'd known the truth he wouldn't have voted for it. He's not saying that. He's not saying that the VOTE was wrong. He's saying that, given what he knows now, he would STILL vote the same way. WTF?

[emulatorloo]

21. He is not saying he would STILL vote the same way. . .He is saying

He is saying that the concept of working to disarm a hostile person/govt who has WMDs and is an **imminent threat to the US** is correct.

And the way you go about that is w diplomacy, with bringing pressure from the UN, with weapons inspectors, with a multinational coalition putting pressure to disarm, etc etc. With the very very very very last resort being going to war, with a true coalition of our allies at our side.

I find it very difficult to disagree with that concept, or difficult in anyway to characterize it as "wrong." Supporting the principle of non-proliferation of WMDs is not wrong.

You want him to basically say that that concept is wrong.

You want him to give a soundbite that the right wing will repeat over and over, and use to say "See, Kerry is against defending our country," "Kerry will not keep us safe"

[Misunderestimator]

18. No, because my decision wasn't wrong.

the things upon which my decision was based were wrong... but how can I admit fault for that? One can only operate with the information one has.

[ThomWV]

6. It's A Decision You Can Not Reverse - Did You Ever Think Of That?

Once a person decides that the war was not worth the price it is impossible for them to ever go back to believing we had no choice or that there was some plausable justification for the war. Add to that a daily rising death toll and ever rising reports of increased cost and every one who turns against the war is ours in the election.

[TrustingDog]

9. Kerry may be saving that until the right time....

maybe it's a bit too early to come out with it right now....

[Misunderestimator]

11. What? You think that they aren't saying just that?

Just because they HAVE to play politics in this and defend their decisions (that were the same as most others') to fall for the lies fed to them. Kerry HAS said that they were deliberately misled with the "proof" of WMDs and nuclear capability.