Kerry Doesn't Share Dean's View on Spain

[Guaranteed]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040317/ap_on_el_pr/dean_spain_1

WASHINGTON - Presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) said Wednesday he does not share fellow Democrat Howard Dean (news - web sites)'s position that President Bush (news - web sites)'s decision to send troops to Iraq (news - web sites) appears to have been a factor in the Spanish train bombing.



The chairman of Bush's re-election campaign called on Kerry to repudiate the comment that Dean made during a conference call arranged by the Kerry campaign.


"The president was the one who dragged our troops to Iraq, which apparently has been a factor in the death of 200 Spaniards over the weekend," Dean said as he defended Kerry from a Bush television ad that accused Kerry of turning his back on U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq.


Asked about the comment on his campaign plane Wednesday, Kerry said, "It's not our position."

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Kerry should have backed Dean up, which he could have done if he'd made the distinction between the war on terror and the Iraq war.

[WI_DEM]

1. Iraq took precious resources away from the real terrorists

who were responsible for 9/11. It was a personal vindetta with Bush against Saddam. I would say Dean is right.

[wryter2000]

4. Dean's obviously right

I wonder what Kerry hopes to gain from this.

[Chicago Democrat]

28. Its hard to say the words "Bush lied"

But we all so want to hear it. Let Kerry do it his own way, Dr Dean. Its called a nuanced approach. Problem with Dean (And why I rejected him) is that he doesnt know when its politic to keep his mouth shut.

Dean better get on board or else.

[BiggJawn]

2. Why is it Kerry's job to "repudiate" Dean's words?

Are Karl, Ed, and Scotty too ball-less to confront Howard directly?

Kerry should have said "They need to talk to Gov. Dean, not me."

"Surrogates"? Has Raciot been sharing pills with Gush Pfleghmball?

How many times have we wondered "Hey, what's with this 'Iraq' bullshit? Aren't we still after Osama?"

And the BFEE says "Osama who?"

[madfloridian]

5. In the article, Racicot, Bush's chairman, told Kerry to hush Dean.

Basically that is the gist of it.

[BiggJawn]

6. Racicot should do his own dirty work.

But if he went after Dean directly, he would have lost the opportunity to take a swipe at Kerry....

Yeah.....OK, I see it now....Never Mind!

[MercutioATC]

3. What a weak ass...

Show me how you can responsibly refute Dean's claim. He's trying to help Kerry and Kerry's to weak to take the baton. What's going on here? Kerry has a BETTER explanation????

[pacifictiger]

22. Dean is known

for being blunt and to the point, and his statement affirms his position during the contest with Kerry for the nomination. I like his bluntness but most people cannot handle it.
On the other hand Kerry has no option at this point but to say what he said in a nuanced diplomatic manner - he voted for the resolution to give the president the option of waging war in iraq - if he said anything else now it would only give the pubbies more ammo for "flip-flop" issues.

[rman]

7. Bush > Iraq war w/ Spain as ally > more terrorism > Madrid attack

What does Kerry think caused the Madrid attack?
Maybe terrorists hate Spaniards because of their freedoms?

[soleft]

8. If you read the whole article, Dean doesn't agree with Dean

I mean the Dean being protrayed by the media and the GOP. His remarks seem to be taken out of context.

[Malva Zebrina]

9. why is this going on?

WASHINGTON - Presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) said Wednesday he does not share fellow Democrat Howard Dean (news - web sites)'s position that President Bush (news - web sites)'s decision to send troops to Iraq (news - web sites) appears to have been a factor in the Spanish train bombing.


I don't think I agree with Kerry either. No way do I sanction any illegal war of conquest. No way and this is annoying.
What the hell is wrong here?--afraid of being labeled "caving in to terrorism"? Dean sure isn't afraid and never was afraid of calling a spade a spade.

Tch, this is annoying and disconcerting. I am forced to support Kerry but he is looking more and more like Lieberman.

[0007]

10. The GOP is spining so fast they all have twisted dicks -

C'mon guys, get the fuck on the same page.

[davhill]

11. The message I get

Kerry is not against the Iraq war. He just thinks he could have done it better. I wish he would stand up against it the way he did Vietnam.

[ozone_man]

20. That Kerry is no more I'm afraid.

He is a status quo politician now. It will be a kinder, gentler PNAC, Kerry style (progressive internationalism).

[Ravy]

26. I think you got the wrong message.

I don't think John Kerry would have entered the war in Iraq had he been president, nor would he have had an administration so fervently pushing for such a war.

Granted, with the evidence presented to the Senate prior to the war vote, and the assurances of the administration that they would seek UN approval and a coalition, he did vote for the war, as did many Democrats.

Now, that we have a mess IN Iraq, he, and most of the Democrats (Howard Dean, General Clark included)don't believe we can just fold up our tents and walk away. We made a mess, and we need to clean it up by internationalization.

Bush doesn't want internationalization because he will lose control over how much money and spoils his cronies will get. By having all of the American population pay for the war and reconstruction, and by mostly lower and middle-income families supply the blood that is being spilled, and his wealthy friends getting all the benefits... it is just an extension of the BWRH (Bizarro-world Robin Hood) policies he has had since his selection.


The issue is that simple.

[Uzybone]

12. Lets play these fool Democrats like a fiddle

GOPers talk and DUers start to scramble. Why is it Kerrys job to answer for Dean? Dean himself already backed away from the remarks.

[madfloridian]

13. No, Dean did not back away.

What did you say that?
Could you prove he backed away? He added extra words, but he did not change his position one bit.

[Uzybone]

17. my apologies

he didnt back away.

[NashVegas]

18. The 2nd Statement

Dean clarified his comment by insisting there is no justification for terrorism and calling last week's bombing "a despicable act."

Man. I know 19 year old online-war gamers who understand exactly what's going on, better than Peter Jennings will ever explain to you.

When you're facing an alliance war, you want to pick off your main opponent's allies and get them out of the fight anyway possible - diplomacy is one way, more nefarious means (have some of your other buddies distract them, for example) tend to work better. This will leave you clear to concentrate on the main enemy, and if said enemy is in fact, chickenshit w/out their friends behind them, war's over before you know it.

[tobius]

29. don't know why it's kerry's job, but he did it. nt

[tlcandie]

14. If they want to play by those rules then Kerry needs to start calling on

* to shut up the assholes surrounding him...his surrogates! Every time they say something stupid and wrong!

Call on * to muzzle his circus FIRST!

[demdave]

15. Let's hope Dean doesn't offer too much "help" to the Kerry campaign.

This is exactly what happen when Dean made the LIHOP statement. The subject suddenly shifts to the statement and not the claim. In both cases the story is now not what was said but the fact that it was said. Then your time is spent dealing with the spin and aftermath. That is not productive.

As it stands, this race is Kerry's to lose. He doesn't need any help in that job. Dean has shown himself to be a pro at losing poll positions in a race.

[ewagner]

21. Good call...

strategically correct.

[Democat]

31. Sadly, I am starting to agree

The last thing we need is Dean out there undermining Kerry.

Whether it's fair or not, the media will tie whatever Dean says to Kerry.

Dean needs to use extreme caution, because there is hopefully a strategy from the Kerry camp, and we know there is one from the Bush camp.

If Bush can run against Dean, he will.

[peterh]

16. It was Dean that got the passion going again…

Don’t blow it Kerry…..if the truth is gagged, we all lose…

[Fire_Wire]

19. Yep .. Dean never had a chance with claims like that

[Ravy]

23. Kerry has urged Spain to keep their troops in.. reasoning..

that yes, it was a mistake to go in, is a bigger mistake to leave Iraq in such bad shape as we have currently made it/allowed it to get.

[Atlant]

24. Kerry should have done lots of things. But he didn't.

> Kerry should have backed Dean up, which he could have done if he'd made
> the distinction between the war on terror and the Iraq war.

Kerry should have done lots of things. But he didn't.
But at least he's "Electable(TM)!" :(

http://www.peopleforchange.net/forums/

Atlant

[CityDem]

25. John Kerry is a whimp

This kind of response by Kerry makes me sick. He is trying to straddle too many issues. Eventually, he will have to stand for something other that ABB. I am sure we can expect more of this type of BS in the future from the Kerry camp. I miss Dean's forthright approach so much.

[goforit]

27. Is kerry planning on purposely loosing this election???

Two skull n boners hand in hand?

[Sterling]

34. Yes.

If Kerry LIHOPs the election don't forget I told you so.

[trapper914]

30. I Agree With Dean

...but I can see why Kerry didn't back him up.

201 dead from a bombing less than a week ago. Use that politically, and you will be called out on it...and it just might resonate today...after the investigation of what happened last Thursday is completed, and all the dead are buried, Kerry might be able to say something similar.

[Nancy Waterman]

32. The statement was too inflammatory

Kerry couldn't back it even if it is true. It would alienate too many people. The GOPigs have been very effective with a unified message. Perhaps we should stick to that. A president has to be the Chief Diplomat. Dean is good at telling it like it is, but he can be way too inflammatory and not at all diplomatic. I think this is why he lost support. Truth isn't everything. Timing and finesse are important too. Truth won't work if it can't be heard. One can say Bush is responsible for stirring up terrorism, for putting a stick in a hornet's nest. It says the same thing without causing a counter-reaction.

[looking glass]

33. Kerry can't back Dean on this

Because if Dean is right, and the Madrid bombing is because Al Qaeda thinks Iraq is important, then Iraq forever becomes a legitimate (indeed, a strategic) battlefield in the mind of the American electorate.

I'm not saying that the linkage is true, or fair. I'm saying that this will be the perception, and Kerry is smart not to play into it.

[Gloria]

35. Where does this leave Clark, who for months has been saying that

the Iraq war has taken resources away from going after Al-Qaeda...and has also intimated about PNAC and the plans to go into other countries....almost questioning the resolve of chasing down Osama...

[NNN0LHI]

36. Even Governor Dean knows that the truth has to be massaged when...

...running for for president. Here is an example:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4515556

MR. RUSSERT: Let me ask you the same question I asked Dr. Rice. Five hundred and sixty-six Americans dead, 3,219 injured or wounded--Was it worth that human toll for war in Iraq?

DR. DEAN: Well, first let me say that you never say that--to somebody's family who's lost their child in Iraq that it wasn't worth it, that your son or daughter died in vain. I would have made a very different choice. And I think that the debate that Dr. Rice and the Bush administration are setting up is exactly what the Bush administration has been doing all along. It's misstating the case and diverting attention. The truth is this is a straw debate. Everybody's going to fight terrorism hard. The question is: Has the Bush administration done a good job? And the answer is absolutely not because Iraq was a diversion.

Now you know it. I know it. And Governor Dean knows it that these soldiers have died in vain. But you just can't go around saying that. Hell, I hate to even write it. Know what I mean?

Don