Many progressives urge Kerry to get tougher with respect to Iraq — “cut and run,” deadline for troop withdrawal — echoing Kucinich. McGovern tied that in ‘72 with Vietnam and where did it get him? Only in ‘68 would it have been possible with the charisma of Robert Kennedy. Kerry is no RFK. Besides, there is no comparison — no aerial bombing killing millions, no 30,000 US troops [at RFK time] killed — even though the same knuckle headed policy exists. What the progressives fail to take into account is the vast change in the electorate from predominantly quasi Liberal [until the “southern strategy” came into play] to border line Conservative. Militarism plays an important rôle that cannot be undone by suggesting a semblance of “they died in vain”; only victory with honor prevails.
Obviously Kerry subliminally thinks his rhetoric some thirty years ago — “How do you ask the last man to die in Vietnam for a mistake?” — is the right course. Again that was different times; today it is unthinkable. He should have fallen back on that rhetoric when he was casting his ballot for the Iraqi war — and listened to the Democratic congressmen in opposition to the war — but instead hedged his vote on the weak stipulation that Bush would go to war only after all avenues of diplomacy were shut down.
He is now boxed in, and left with the strategy that as a leader of the free world, he would be tough but not stubborn about consulting with other nations, which is exactly what Bush is now doing, though the electorate can’t see it as me-tooism. The only other ace in the hole is the message that he can do better militarily and diplomatically without forgetting the dire needs at home in terms of social needs and homeland security.
Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: June 14, 2004.