"Democratic leaders are standing up to Bush; Make sure you stand up for them!" ---- "Republicans will stop at nothing to gain a political advantage from this military conflict," said an e-mail yesterday.
Do you remember how Clinton would give a speech for any positive American achievement as if to attach himself to it? The funniest one was the speech he gave when Scientists were mapping the human genome. His attitude was that he was some sort of Godfather of the whole project. These same people that say Bush is going to get political gain from the war are the ones who were critical of him all the way to Iraq. If they wanted to share the credit, they should have joined the cause. Now that Bush has worked his way through the U.N. process and has two congressional authorizations, and is prosecuting the war, they cry that he will get credit. He deserves the credit for standing up to a shortsighted world and opposition party. If the Democrats wanted the credit, they could have taken care of this mess in the 1990s when our embassies and military ships were bombed. You have to risk your popularity and do tough things to be a great President. Watching poll numbers and reacting to attacks with a measured response may get you good press in the New York Times, but it won't resonate with the American people or with history.
"Now is one of those times when we are all standing shoulder to shoulder," said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. "President Bush is a Republican. I'm a Democrat. But at this moment there's not an inch of distance between us."
Lieberman is another matter. His unwavering support for the war makes him ample competition for Bush in 2004. He's either shown great character (which isn't rare) or shrewd political savvy (which hasn't been rare since the 2000 election). He is the only Democratic candidate that I think is more interested in National Security than being President. But can Lieberman please enough high-octane liberals to win the nomination? That's the question.
No comments:
Post a Comment