Memorial/Independence Day

The news story reproduced later in this post, as well as the actual candidate's actual words, cut through the clutter of media bobbleheads, and remind us that this election is too important to be left to the cute and brain-impaired cynics of media punditry.

The conventional "wisdom"---in fact, the conventional vocabulary, is that there is "no daylight" between the Bush and Kerry positions on Iraq. Bullshit.

On policy there are clear differences, embracing not only Iraq but the Middle East, the war on terrorism and America's general strategy in the world. Kerry has been making a series of foreign policy speeches, and in one he outlined his basic strategy.

"It's time for a new national security policy guided by four new imperatives: First, we must launch and lead a new era of alliances for the post 9-11 world. Second, we must modernize the world's most powerful military to meet the new threats. Third, in addition to our military might, we must deploy all that is in America's arsenal -- our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas. Fourth and finally, to secure our full independence and freedom, we must free America from its dangerous dependence on Mideast oil."

Though few have made it a fundamental tenet of our foreign policy, politicians often make statements about lessening American dependence on Mideast oil that are either empty or they mean, "Drill American wilderness and coasts." But here is what Kerry said he means:

"I have proposed a plan for energy independence from Mideast oil in the next ten years. It invests in new technologies and alternative fuels. It provides tax credits to help consumers buy and manufacturers build fuel efficiency cars. It will tap America's initiative and ingenuity to strengthen our national security, grow our economy, and protect our environment."

"If we are serious about energy independence, then we can finally be serious about confronting the role of Saudi Arabia in financing and providing ideological support of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. We cannot continue this Administration's kid-glove approach to the supply and laundering of terrorist money. As President, I will impose tough financial sanctions against nations or banks that engage in money laundering or fail to act against it. I will launch a "name and shame" campaign against those that are financing terror. And if they do not respond, they will be shut out of the U.S. financial system."

On force and allies in foreign policy:

"More than a century ago, Teddy Roosevelt defined American leadership in foreign policy. He said America should walk softly and carry a big stick. Time and again, this Administration has violated the fundamental tenet of Roosevelt's approach, as he described it: "If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble."

But that is precisely what this Administration has done. They looked to force before exhausting diplomacy. They bullied when they should have persuaded. They have gone it alone when they should have assembled a team. They have hoped for the best when they should have prepared for the worst. In short, they have undermined the legacy of generations of American leadership. And that is what we must restore.
Today, there is still a powerful yearning around the world for an America that listens and leads again. An America that is respected, and not just feared. "

On Iraq specifically he said:

"Over the last year, we've heard from the President that our policy should simply be to stay the course. But one thing I learned in the Navy is that when the course you're on is headed for the shoals, you have to change course."

"If President Bush doesn't secure new support from our allies, we will, once again, feel the consequences of a foreign policy that has divided the world instead of uniting it. Our troops will be in greater peril, the mission in Iraq will be harder to accomplish, and our country will be less secure."

But beyond the broad yet telling policy differences, there are matters of attitude, passion, personal character and emotion. These are evident in Robin Toner's story below.


Kerry Redoubles His Attack Over the War

By ROBIN TONER

The New York Times


GREEN BAY, Wis., May 28 - Senator John Kerry promised an occasionally tearful gathering of soldiers, veterans and their families here on Friday that as president he would bring the troops home from Iraq "as fast as possible."

He also attacked the Bush administration as insensitive to the human toll of the war. Noting that Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, was unable to tell a recent Congressional hearing how many American soldiers had died in Iraq, Mr. Kerry declared, "You'd think that every day they'd be conscious of exactly what the cost is."


Mr. Kerry's comments came at a forum that captured his campaign's
current mix of patriotism, support for the troops in Iraq and
scalding criticism of the policies that put them there. On the
second day of a two-week drive to establish his credentials on
national security, Mr. Kerry also told an audience of veterans that
Mr. Bush had shortchanged their health and benefit programs while
carefully protecting tax cuts for the wealthy.

Citing a recent administration budget document that discussed new
reductions in spending for the veterans benefits, Mr. Kerry
declared, "I'm not going to listen to Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld
and some of these other people talk about patriotism in America when
the first definition of patriotism is keeping faith with the people
who wore the uniform of our country."

A spokesman for the Bush campaign, Steve Schmidt, called Mr. Kerry's
attacks "egregiously false.''

In a measure of how raw the debate over the war has become, several
who spoke at this gathering struggled with tears. Donna Freeman of
Green Bay rose to say that her brother was killed in Vietnam "four
months after he was sent over there." Her voice cracking with anger
and grief, Ms. Freeman said she was dismayed to hear people play
down the number of deaths in Iraq.

"When I hear we've only lost 500 or 600 kids, you tell that to a
family member who has lost that child," she said. "What I want to
know is, what do you plan to do to bring our troops home?"

Mr. Kerry said it was impossible to predict what the situation in
Iraq would be when - if elected - he took office. But he said
neither the United States nor its allies could afford a failure in
Iraq, and repeated his call for Mr. Bush to engage more countries in
the transition.

"I promise you this," he said, "I am going to get the troops home as
fast as possible, with honor and the job accomplished in the way it
needs to be, and we will bring other people into the process."
Mr. Kerry was also introduced and endorsed by a decorated Vietnam
veteran, John Nusbaum, who said he was a longtime Republican. Mr.
Kerry is increasingly reaching out to Republicans in his speeches,
arguing that what is at stake in this election transcends
partisanship and ideology. "In the end, this isn't about party," he
said. "It's about country."

Mr. Kerry also regularly urges his audiences to "do away with
partisan politics for the moment" and "just think common sense about
our country, about what it should be doing."

The senator's campaign swing this week, from Washington to Portland,
Ore., to Seattle and Green Bay, drew large, attentive crowds.
The upheaval in Iraq and the prisoner scandal have turned the
public's attention to foreign policy in a way few could have
predicted. Now Mr. Kerry is trying to seize the moment to show
himself as a credible commander in chief.

The policy speeches over the next few weeks are part of his case, as
are his 20 years in the Senate. But Mr. Kerry is also relying, once
again, on his comrades from Vietnam, some of whom were with him
again on Friday. One of them, Jim Rassman, an Army Green Beret whose
life was saved by Mr. Kerry in Vietnam, carried the same message
here on Friday that is implicit throughout the Democratic campaign
these days: that a candidate can vigorously disagree with the
government while vigorously supporting the troops.END OF NY TIMES STORY



The Hope

A few hopeful signs emerged during another doleful week. The polls that show Kerry gaining ground in the battleground states and among independents, and Bush continuing to lose support even in his areas of previous strengths: among Republicans and in the South. Then the Annenberg study that indicated Kerry's positive biographical campaign ads being shown in battleground states are having a positive effect. The Kerry campaign, recognizing this, is airing these and other positive ads in other states as well.

This is especially hopeful because, while polls showed growing disapproval of Bush on Iraq, the economy, the country's direction and overall job performance, he seemed to be retaining his electoral support among registered and likely voters. But polls also indicated that voters didn't have a strong impression of Kerry, so they were voting for not only the current Commander in Chief in "wartime" but the devil they know. It seems they are waiting for Kerry to give them the confidence to switch their vote to him. That process appears to be beginning.