Kerry made a clear pledge during the debate that he will not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $200,000/year. But on the draft, he got wishy-washy. Why can't he get this right?
Bush made a clear pledge there will be no draft as long as he's president, even clearer than the pledge he madelast time. But Kerry couldn't bring himself to say anything more than, "I don't support a draft," before quickly changing the subject -- that's not a promise, that's just a mood.
Sure, Bush is a liar, but having made the pledge as clearly as he did this time on national television, he will be very reluctant to break it. Bush doesn't like admitting mistakes. He's built his whole re-election campaign around being the strong candidate who stays the course and doesn't flip-flop and means what he says and blah blah blah. It would be a great humiliation for Bush to now bring back the draft. He may continue to destroy our country in other ways, but he won't draft people.
Kerry refuses to close off his option of drafting people. Why? He knows how important this issue is. It can't be a fear of unexpected problems that might force him to break such a promise, because that same fear would keep him from making the no-new-taxes pledge he made tonight. The only conclusion I can see is that Kerry is already planning to bring back the draft.
He said in the debate he plans to add new soldiers (two whole divisions!) because our current army is stretched too thin. Where are these troops going to come from? Are thousands of Americans right now saying to themselves, Boy, I'd love to join the army and go to Iraq if only there were a different president in charge? Are people going to flock to join the army voluntarily because Kerry is so charming and charismatic? Is Kerry going to use his sex-appeal? What's he going to do that Bush hasn't?
Kerry will have only one more opportunity to stand before the whole nation and join Bush in pledging not to use a draft, or better yet, convince America that he is even stronger on opposing the draft than Bush is. He needs to do it.
I, for one, will not vote for a man who will drag away people I love and send them to a war I never supported.
I know it's unpopular to say this. But there's more at stake in this election than two politicians. There's more at stake than political parties. There are lives in the balance.
Yes, Bush deserves to lose his job. But more importantly, thousands of Americans who never agreed to be in the military deserve to be free and to stay alive.
If Kerry is planning to bring back the draft, electing him could be a greater injustice than re-electing Bush. If Kerry is not planning to bring back the draft, he needs to make that clear. Not just a position he can later weasel out of by saying, "Things have gotten worse, so I now support a draft." He needs to make a firm commitment on this. If Bush can do that, why can't Kerry? If Kerry can make a firm commitment not to raise taxes on 98% of the public, why can't he make a firm commitment on an issue as important as life and death?