All too often, I've been in situations where I had to defend Kerry or the party against "hostile fire" and do so quickly. Even though "that's a complicated question without a simple answer" is true 99.9% of the time, it's not a satisfying response. Neither is "there's a position paper on that."
We need to have our ducks in a row, our thoughts ordered, and some fast reponses ready. Here are some issues, and the responses I tend to hand out.
Feel free to add to the list or suggest better answers. Shorter is always better.
Kerry flip-flopped on the war. First he voted for it, and now he says he's against it.
John Kerry has been absolutely steady on his positions. He believes that the president needs to have the authority to use the military when its needed. So he voted to give that authority. He never agreed with how Bush chose to use it.
But Kerry voted against the troops when he didn't agree to the $87 billion.
John Kerry didn't vote against the troops, he voted against robbing the public. When the bill first came up, it was going to be funded by repealing Bush's tax cut on the top 2%. Kerry voted for that, but Bush threatened a veto. The bill came up again with all the money adding straight to the deficit, Kerry voted against it. If anyone voted against the troops, it was Bush, who delayed the bill so he could cut taxes for millionairs.
Kerry has the most liberal voting record in the senate.
Says who? John Kerry is a moderate who voted for a balanced budget and welfare reform. Cheney keeps calling John kerry the most liberal senator, but Cheney isn't telling the truth. The magazine he cites did not name Kerry the most liberal senator over his career. It's just a lie.
Kerry is even more liberal than Ted Kennedy.
Again, says who? Every organization that has looked at their records has rated Kennedy more liberal than Kerry.
But Kerry did vote against a bunch of weapon systems like the B-1 bomber and the F-15.
John Kerry never voted against those systems. Twice, in all his years in the senate, he voted against the first draft of the defense appropriations bill, which covers a lot of programs, because of problems with the way it was written. Sixteen other times, he voted for it. John Kerry has a great record of supporting the military -- including a record of protecting the veterans that Bush is trying to rob.
Kerry hurt the intelligence services.
Never. Several years ago, Kerry did try to pass a $300 million decrease in intelligence spending as part of a balanced budget bill, but it didn't pass. Then the Republicans passed a $1 billion decrease in intelligence -- more than three times what was in Kerry's bill. So who hurt the intelligence system?
Kerry only passed (1, 2, 3) bills in the senate.
John Kerry passed a lot more bills than you think, and done a lot more than pass bills. He worked hard for a balanced budget and legislation that put 100,000 more cops on the street. And he led investigations into MIAs in Vietnam and into Iran-Contra. He has a record to be proud of -- especially if you compare it to the 2 bills that are all Cheney managed in the house.
Kerry has the poorest voting record in congress.
John Kerry is running for president. It's unfortunate that it's difficult to be present for votes and on the road campaigning, but that's the way the system works. On the other hand, Bush has taken more vacation than any other president, and more time campaigning than any other president.
What is Kerry going to do differently in Iraq?
Truthfully, not much. He'll probably have more success in getting international help, but we shouldn't kid ourselves. Bush made this mistake, and we're going to have to live with it for years.
Kerry's an idiot and all Democrats are pansies who will turn our nation over to the terrorists faster than you can say French fry.
Cheney you.