All Hat, No Cattle

Kerry says Bush 'unfit to lead this nation'

Finally! I stayed up late last night to watch John Kerry finally punch back against the lies and smears we've been hearing all week, and he didn't disappoint me. He and John Edwards threw in some great lines, too. From Edwards: "Now, here's the truth, they led us from the edge of greatness to the edge of a cliff, and it's time to lead them out of town; that's the truth." And from Kerry, opening with a derisive bit of humor: "I want you to know that tonight in America something very important in the fabric of our life took place--very, very important: the Red Sox pulled to two and a half games out of the Yankees. Now, I think that that's important."

Then he got down to business. Responding to the words of Dick Cheney on Wednesday night, Kerry had this to say:

You all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican Convention. For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as Commander-in-chief. We'll, here's my answer. I will not have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.

The Vice President called me unfit for office last night. Well, I'll leave it up to the voters to decide whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty.

Let me tell you what I think makes someone unfit for duty. Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead this nation. Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting 45 million Americans go without healthcare makes you unfit to lead this nation. Letting the Saudi Royal Family control our energy costs makes you unfit. Handing out billions of government contracts to Halliburton while you're still on their payroll makes you unfit. That's the record of George Bush and Dick Cheney. And that only scratches the surface. I believe it's time to move America in a new direction; I believe it's time to set a new course for America. And together, you, John Edwards and I will do that on November 2nd. For four years, George Bush has stubbornly misled America and taken us in the wrong direction.

I think, when John Kerry starts talking about draft deferments and using the words "unfit for duty," we can feel pretty confident that there's been a change in philosophy in the campaign. Perhaps, instead of feeble punching back, from now on we'll see Kerry the fighter, taking this campaign to Bush and Cheney from now until November and forcing them to try to defend their miserable record of the past four years. If Kerry can keep this election firmly focused on Bush's failures and make the case that any new promises he makes should be taken for what they are--new lies on top of old ones--he should win in a walk, and let the polls that will come out over the weekend showing Bush in the lead be damned. He tried running a positive campaign of hope and optimism. He's tried it for six months. It doesn't work, John--not against this down and dirty family. Thank goodness you're finally willing to mix it up.