The Instapundit seems to think that Andrew’s statement that he will not endorse Bush means that he will not support him at all. The IP notes:
There are plenty of things that I disagree with Bush on — stem cell research (and pretty much all other biotech/bioethics issues), abortion, gay marriage, the Drug War, etc. If it weren’t for the war, I’d probably be on the fence. But I can’t take Kerry seriously on the war, and for me it’s the number one issue. For Sullivan, I guess, it’s not. I had thought that it was.
Yeppers. At any rate, I continue to find it fascinating that Democrats are crowing about polls that show the war is losng support. While I understand their immediate glee at anything that can be perceived to be negative for Bush, I think they are forgetting something.
Kerry opposed almost everything Reagan did during the Cold War, and Kerry was against the first Gulf War. That makes him 0-2, from my perspective. Now the Democrats want to spin this as a failed war, but they fail to remember that their candidate SUPPORTED this war. From their own perspective, their candidate is 0-3 on the three major national security issues of the last three decades.
And yes, I know- Kerry supported the operation in Afghanistan. So did everyone else on the planet, except Ralph Nader (he wanted to send in a multinational police force to arrest Osama- really- stop giggling). I think we can effectively call Afghanistan a no-brainer.
S.W. Anderson
Kerry voted for the Iraq war. Like most in Congress, and yours truly, he gave Bush the benefit of the doubt. That makes sense because a president gets intelligence first, best and has the best overview of the country’s security situation at any given moment.
Later, to make a long story short, we learned that Bush and his merry band of neocon Crusaders, did not deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Kerry, far more than I, continues to support the Iraq war.
So, Kerry supported the Afghanistan invasion, the Iraq invasion. And didn’t he support operations in the former Yugoslavia?
It appears your scorekeeping needs work.
willyb
“Later, to make a long story short, we learned that Bush and his merry band of neocon Crusaders, did not deserve the benefit of the doubt.”
Please explain what you mean by the statement.
John Cole
SW-
A.) I don’t think the war in Iraq has been afailure. But then again, I dont try to predict the world Series winner before the All-Star break.
B.) I am aware that he voted for the war in Iraq- which liberals are quick to claim is a failure. That make kerry 0-1. He was 0-2 in the other two areas. I would suggest that your reading comprehension needs work. Again, I would give him the score of 1-3, because he was right to vote for the war in Iraq.
Kimmitt
Democrats (correctly) believe that the American public is too poorly informed to look beyond Kerry’s successful Vietnam service. That’s why we nominated him (over my objections) instead of a genuinely competent and contrarian figure, such as Dean.
shark
Dean, competent?
YEARRRRRRRRRRGH!
Kimmitt
Good point; Republicans wouldn’t consider a man who balanced a budget and made sure every kid in his state got health care to be competent.
SDN
Kimmitt: And how much extra taxes did that take, assuming it’s true (cite, please)? If you have the California situation, where the taxes are so high every business is headed for the border, this isn’t exactly sustainable.
Dean
SDN:
Case in point: the town of Burlington, VT, which is petitioning to secede from VT and join neighboring NH, due to the tax differentials.
Kimmitt
That’s “Killington,” Dean. “Burlington” is where the Dean Campaign’s HQ was.
And SDN — Dean lowered the marginal tax rate on top earners and raised some other taxes; Vermont’s pretty much in the middle of the states when it comes to both taxes and expenditures.
Rachel
I don’t believe that GWB had more information about Iraq than the Dems in 2002. I remember Iraq being a major item as early as March 2002 and the Dems fighting him over that. Most represenatives had to deal with Iraq during Clinton’s time in office, so I was never convinced that the Bush knew more than Congress.
Kimmitt
“I don’t believe that GWB had more information about Iraq than the Dems in 2002.”
I think you may be right, but only because of willful ignorance, not because the information was not there.
1st Lt. Mark V. Shaney USMC
First off, I