John Kerry made his first big campaign "Faux-Pas"..

And if the Republicans take advantage of it, it could turn out to be a real doozy. Yesterday, Mr Kerry announced that he would withdraw American GI's from areas of Iraq in four years...Many people's first impression was that four years seemed a little long...

Now, all that Mr Bush has to do is call and raise. If Bush says that he has plans to get our troops out in two years, Mr Kerry is locked in a box. And the people will look at their two plans, not realistically perhaps, and will surmise that two years is better than four years and Mr Kerry will look like a flip-flopper if he tries to change his position.

But, Bush will be lying and it will only be saying that for political reasons? So? That's the way the game is played. I would be surprised if Rove and Co do not take advantage of this opening. And it appears that the Kerry campaign is aware of this opening, judging from their comments this morning about expecting Bush to come forward with their own "exit" plan.

the need for Kerry to take a position on the Iraq War, he shoulda waited until BushRove took one, then he coulda undercut it.

Oh well, next issue please.

with the news that the U.S. is building 14 new bases in Iraq, he has set Bush up to commit to those 14 bases.

Let's see who's boxed in.

What the hell is he thinking.

People don't wanna hear that shit. We are already going to be there too long for most people by being there through this year.

...and turn Iraq over to the governing council by the June 30th deadline.

Bush can "say" two years, get re-elected (God help us all) and "unforeseen circumstances" (pre-ordained at the Crawford Ranch in 2004) could extend the two to four.

I'm not suggesting that Senator Kerry run out today and purchase a tinfoil hat...I just wonder if he truly understands who he's dealing with. I hope that he does, and that he's just not the kind of man who is prone to telegraphing his punches.

Bush could say he has a plan for creating jobs
Bush could say he has a plan for reducing the deficit
Bush could say he has a plan for education
Bush could say he has a plan for healthcare


Oh yeah... he said all that 4 years ago.

the folks who feel obligated to stay and make things better will find that number reassuring. Long enough to make a positive difference, but not forever. (Mind you, that's what I think THEY think, not my thoughts. I am all for an Arab League/UN force, myself. We've done so much harm to the Iraqi people physically and psychologically, the only way they'll heal is if we get out. I mean, really. If I got raped and then the rapist offered to stick by me til I was feeling better, I'd pass..ya know?)

that Saddam had WMD...that he was a threat to the US...that the whole thing would be over in a matter of weeks...that the Iraqi oil will pay for all the reconstruction...

It doesn't really matter what he promises. As soon as he opens his mouth we all know that he lies.

we'd be out or at least a small part of a coalition.
This could be as soon as next year or the year after or.....?

Kerry's done a pretty good job of making Junior look unrealistic on various fronts. If Bush* says his strategy will take two years, Kerry can claim that Bush* is being hasty, and therefore incompetent.

But it seems to me to be such an obvious opening...

which could mean in four years, or it could mean the day he takes office.

It's 4 years at the longest. Meaning anywhere from 1 day to 4 years.

He did NOT say we will be there for 4 more years. That's Fox spin if I ever heard it.

"Before the end of my first term in office."
Which would mean, "up to but less than four years."

In the past Bush has said we will be there for as long as it takes. Is he now deciding to actually tell us exactly how long it will take?
First of all Bush has not been specific on what he would define as "winning" his war. I think "winning" may have been redefined a few times since the war started. His reasons for going in were vague and his mission is vague. Something was said about democracy, but not if the wrong person is elected. If you don't know what your mission is, you don't know when it is accomplished.

Right now Bush is playing a game of Tug-of-war with the people of Iraq. The harder he pulls for what he wants, the harder the resistance. IMHO, the game will change when Kerry is elected and maybe the rules of that game will be "I win, you win" instead of "I win, you lose."

open the "strategic oil reserves" either. The oil reserves comment gave Bush a sound byte where he could say that "he wouldn't sacrifice the safety of the US in the event of an emergency for partisan political purposes." I don't know why Kerry urged that. It got Gore into trouble when he urged opening the oil reserves in the Summer of 2000.

I didn't see anything on DU about that being a mistake that Bush got good mileage out of. I don't know why he said that, or why he gave a timetable for Iraq withdrawal. I hope someone can explain why that's good strategy. :-(

I'd say you have a point, except that last week Bush and his corrupt cronies were saying that they'd withdraw completely from Iraq right after June 30 if the replacement government they install asks them to (presumably "pretty please with sugar on top").

Attacking Kerry's credibility would seem to be a Hail Mary strategery at best for this administration; they have a few deficits in that area.

Do you have a link to exactly what Kerry said?

4 years is nothing, and it's realistic.

This is too funny - first, people bitch about politicians lying all of the time and demand that Kerry, et al, tell the truth.

Then, when they tell the truth, they shouldn't have.

for him. We will have established fourteen military bases, filled with our soldiers, there will have been an election where the people will have elected whatever puppet candidates the US chooses, the people will have been suitable stripped of a lot of their culture, we will have erected the largest embassy ever in the middle of it all. All the US oil companies will have been established, according the consitution of the interim government, they cannot be ouster or divested of their holdings--and all has been accomplished for the empire and the businesses which will outsource our jobs out to Iraqi people. What else is there to do? American has conquored a country, brutally, barbarically and George Bush is the evil culprit who did it. Nevermind, he will be ousted in the next election, and it will be just fine to travel to Iraq and eat McDonald's, or Burger King, although a visit to the museum might not have all the artifacts that tell the people they have a heritage that goes back thousands and thousands of years--they were the cradle of civilisation. All that is gone. Kerry will see to it that the people enjoy their freedom, but you can bet he is not going to give any of it , the things that were stolen via the evil Bush, back to them.

I believe that. It is shameful what Bush has done--but hey--as long as it is done we might as well take advantage of it.

(It was lie, of course, Nixon being a Repuke and all.)

...about Kerry and his campaign and just post it all at once. How does that sound, kentuck?

Better yet, why don't you contact the Kerry Campaign and share with them your thoughts about what YOU believe they should be doing and how YOU think they should be doint it. Let us know how that turns out, okay?

Just curious, but do you ever re-read your own posts? You really ought to, IMHO.

It is very infrequent that I have criticized Kerry. But thanks for your thoughts.

I see a least one post from you nearly every single day complaining about the following:

-Kerry's campaign activities which you see as nonresponsive;

-Kerry's lack of action on topics you personally believe are important;

-Kerry's voting record which you believe is too conservative;

-Kerry's alleged "flip-flopping" on certain issues when it is not readily apparent that Kerry has changed his mind about anything;

-Kerry's move to the middle to attempt to capture more of the undecided/swing voters, when you believe he ought to stay as "left" as possible;

That's just a very small sample of the anti-Kerry postings that you have provided to this forum.

And then we have your post initiating this thread. Did you provide a link? No. Have you responded to another poster that requested a link? No. Have you provided any source at all on this topic? No.

Thanks for your thoughts, too.

But you have exposed yourself as not very honest, haven't you? Other than the above post, give us some samples of where I have said bad things about Kerry and I will show you two good things for each bad. I dare you.