A Speech as Sunny as the Day (Edwards first day solo)

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-edwards15jul15.story

A Speech as Sunny as the Day

Edwards goes solo with a mostly upbeat message. He also suggests Bush lacks leadership skills.
By James Rainey Times Staff Writer July 15, 2004

DES MOINES — Sen. John Edwards on Wednesday launched his first solo tour as the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate, delivering an upbeat message about America's future and suggesting that President Bush did not have the courage or leadership to accept responsibility for flawed intelligence about Iraq.

In a 13-minute speech on the steps of the Iowa Capitol, Edwards praised British Prime Minister Tony Blair and, indirectly, criticized Bush for their divergent reactions in recent days to reports that intelligence agencies in both nations had overstated the evidence that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction.

Blair on Wednesday responded to a British report on the intelligence failures by saying that he accepted "full personal responsibility" for reports that overstated the threat from Iraqi chemical and biological weapons — a prelude to the war that Britain and the U.S. took the lead in prosecuting.

Bush has called the failures unfortunate but has maintained that going to war was the right thing to do. He has not acknowledged any personal culpability for the faulty weapons reports.

"What Tony Blair did is he said, 'I take full responsibility for the mistakes,' because he understands what leadership is," Edwards told a crowd of about 1,000 in Des Moines. He noted that President Kennedy took a similar course after the botched Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba.

Without mentioning Bush, Edwards added: "The truth is this: What we need in the White House is somebody who has the strength, courage and leadership to take responsibility and be accountable not only for what's good, but for what's bad. That's what John Kerry will be."<snip>