A Low Profile For the Big Issue Kerry Treads Lightly on War in Iraq
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 5, 2004; Page A06
In the early days of the general-election campaign, Democrat John F. Kerry has mounted a strong effort to erode President Bush's advantage on national security. But on the defining issue of war in Iraq, his shots have appeared oblique at best.
The war received relatively short shrift at last week's Democratic National Convention -- Kerry devoted only six sentences to Iraq policy in his 45-minute acceptance speech -- and on the stump he seldom discusses his plans for bringing the U.S. occupation to a close and stabilizing the country.
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Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt said Kerry's inability to "talk straight about that vote on Iraq" will haunt him. "He voted for the war and voted against funding for Iraq," Holt said. "As long as you look at John Kerry through a gauzy haze of images and rhetoric, they have a chance. You have to look at his record."
In Bush's revamped stump speech Friday, he drew particular glee in focusing on the vote over the $87 billion. "He tried to explain his vote by saying: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it. End quote," Bush said to laughter. "He's got a different explanation now. One time he said he was proud he voted against the funding, then he said that the whole thing was a complicated matter." Bush then added: "There is nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat!"
There is some precedent for Kerry's approach on Iraq. In 1968, Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon took virtually the same tack as Kerry when he accepted the GOP nomination. Despite mass protests against the Vietnam War, Nixon only briefly touched on the conflict in his speech, criticizing the Democrats for incompetence in conducting the war, pledging to bring it to an "honorable end," and calling on allies to bear more of "the burden of defending peace and freedom around this world." Nixon, who had been Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice president, also said he had experience in ending wars, pointing to the conclusion of the Korean War during the Eisenhower administration.
full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40925-2004Aug4.html
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