On Face the Nation yesterday, Senators John Kerry and Lindsay Graham made an appearance, as surrogates for the Obama and McCain campaigns, respectively. And I have to say, the debate wasn't even close. Read the transcript and see what I mean. Graham was reduced to sputtering out tired talking points (yeah, for the umpteenth time we know Obama hasn't attended a dog and pony show in Iraq for two years) while Kerry gave a lesson on the long and complex histories of the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, and ... John McCain. Although the media is working over time carrying water for their favorite "maverick", Kerry's clear spoken language on what is going on with the Republicans is exactly the right message not only for Barack Obama, but for our Congressional candidates as well.
As you all know from last week, the media decided that Obama had changed his position on Iraq, even though nothing had changed. After only a few minutes of research, it was easy to prove there was no shift in his Iraq policy at all. Nevertheless, the traditional media has no interest in Obama not changing his position, and keep pushing the McCain campaign's talking points. Bob Schieffer opened up the questioning on exactly this topic. Kerry in a matter of sentences blew any such notion of this media driven lie out of the water:
Senator KERRY: Well, the Republicans and John McCain specifically are trying desperately to get away from the reality of John McCain's position, which is that he has a plan for staying in Iraq and Barack Obama has a plan for getting out of Iraq. Barack Obama has a plan for ending the war, John McCain has a plan for continuing the war. And he has said so very clearly dozens and dozens of times. What the McCain campaign is trying to do is take the normal statement of anybody smart enough to be president of the United States and ready to be president, who says he'll refine--may refine tactically what you might decide to do over the course of that withdrawal, and how you protect American troops, and how you in fact get the Iraqi army to stand up faster. But it is no change whatsoever in his fundamental determination to end the war. John McCain, on the other hand, has proven that he's been wrong about every judgment he's made about the war. Wrong about the Iraqis paying for the reconstruction, wrong about whether or not the oil would pay for it, wrong about Sunni and Shia violence through the years, wrong about the willingness of the Iraqis to stand up for themselves, wrong even about his own judgment about timelines, etc. Which he's now changed.
SCHIEFFER: All right, so--let's let...
Sen. KERRY: So they're just--they're--Bob, the bottom line is, they're trying very hard to make an issue where there really isn't one and where the contrast could not be more forceful.
That was easy. And it's an easy thing for all of us to say going forward: Obama has a plan for ending the war while McCain has a plan for continuing the war. Oh -- and by the way, Obama is a grown up and will end the war responsibly, unlike the Republicans who are well known as being irresponsible. Lindsay Graham could not respond to Kerry's characterization of what really is going on, so instead continued to go on and on about how the surge was working, and therefore Obama is "in a box" in Iraq. Later on, when Iran came up, Kerry had had it with the BS on "the surge is working", especially when Graham said something so proposterous one had to laugh -- that Iran had been weakened as a result of our being in Iraq.
Sen. KERRY: Iran, that's not what you hear from everybody over there, including our friends, the Israelis. They are deeply, deeply concerned about Iran. They believe Iran has expanded its influence throughout the region. Iran is now more powerfully integrated with Hamas, more powerfully integrated and influential in Syria and with Hezbollah. Iran is proceeding now in ways that were unimaginable until we invaded Iraq and basically did what they said, which is provide the Shia with the ability to do what they haven't been able to do in 1200 years, gain a position of dominance over the Sunni. All of their Sunni neighbors are deeply upset by that, and deeply concerned about Iran's intentions. And the fact is, Lindsey doesn't want to admit this, the Republicans don't want to admit this. They hide behind the surge.
The fact is that none of us doubted the ability of American troops in increased numbers to provide increased levels of security here and there. But that's not what has changed the fundamental dynamic with respect to al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda has been pushed back because the Sunni in the Sunni Triangle made a political decision, a political decision before our troops even got there, to work with the United States and turn against al-Qaeda, and they decided not to harbor them in their villages anymore, because they were tired of their violence. The principal reason today for that transition is, number one, the Sunni awakening, the willing of the Sunnis, and our smart --General Petraeus has been smart. We trained them, we've armed them, but the Shia are very nervous about that. The fact is, the fundamental political reconciliation necessary in Iraq is not happening. But secondly, look where the army was successful. When Prime Minister Maliki sent them in to Basra, he sent them there because the British had pulled back to the air base, and it was necessary for the Iraqis to stand up. That's a success. Barack Obama has never, ever talked about pulling the rug out from under them or just pulling out. He has said, `We will leave people sufficient to continue to prosecute al-Qaeda, we will leave people to finish the training, and we will leave people to protect American facilities and forces, but we're not going to have American combat troops on the front lines, six years later, fighting a civil war in the middle of a political cauldron that their leadership is unwilling to resolve.'
...
Sen. KERRY: And the surge--the surge was set up to resolve that......and it hasn't resolved it.
I may add to what Kerry said that Sen. Webb's son, Jimmy Webb, was in Iraq pre-surge, and that was when the Sunni Awakening happened. It happened prior to the surge and was unrelated to the surge. These are the kinds of points that we need to get out there. That nobody is going to dispute that if you fill a street with cops that the crime will go down for a time. But the question is the fundamentals of a neighborhood having crime in the first place -- is the surge merely hiding what are fundamental political problems in Iraq, with the long time historical tensions between Sunni and Shi'ia? Nobody in the GOP wants to answer that question.
The other main point where Kerry excelled at was really a confrontational question, which Kerry took the opportunity to turn around and decimate the "McCain is a maverick" meme. The question focussed on Kerry's past friendship with McCain and all the gossip from '04 about McCain being a VP (for which we know now that McCain's people approached Kerry first, something the media never mention, strangely enough). Here is Kerry re-branding McCain:
Sen. KERRY: John McCain has changed in profound and fundamental ways that I find, personally, really surprising and, frankly, upsetting. He is not the John McCain as the senator who defined himself, quote, "as a maverick," though questionable. This is a different John McCain. This is, you know, not the Senator John McCain, this is "nomination John McCain." This is "wannabe president" John McCain. And the result is that John McCain has flip-flopped on more issues than, you know, I was even ever accused possibly of thinking about. I mean, this is extraordinary, what he's done. He's changed on taxes. He's now in favor of the Bush tax cut. If you like the Bush economy, if you like the Bush tax cut and what it's done to our economy, making wealthier people wealthier and the average middle class struggle harder, then John McCain's going to give you a third term of George Bush and Karl Rove. If you like what has happened to oil prices, John McCain is going to continue that policy. If you like what you've seen about health care, John McCain has no health care plan. I would've at least expected the John McCain that I knew back then to realize......what almost every person in the Pentagon has admitted. I mean, Bob, you're smart, you've talked to these people in Washington. There are very few people who walk around and say, `Going into Iraq was the right thing to do and we should've done it. I'd do it again if I had the chance.' John McCain does. John McCain believes this was the right decision.
You know, the media can push back all it wants, but the truth remains that John Kerry and John McCain used to be friends, and did quite a bit of work together in the Senate. For Kerry to lay out as an old friend what has happened to McCain is quite compelling. This isn't just "well, we disagree"; this is "who ARE you, John?". This problem will continue to plague McCain, especially the more absurd his talking points get, in an effort to shore up the as yet unenthusiastic Republican base.
Given the danger this all poses to McCain, it comes as no surprise to me that the media badly mangled John Kerry's appearance on Face the Nation. And I haven't even told you what made John Cole throw his remote. I mean, sheesh, Bob, let's not be that obvious how in the tank for McCain you are:
SCHIEFFER: Before we--before--because we are going to talk about--are you now challenging Senator McCain's integrity?
Sen. KERRY: I'm challenging Senator McCain's judgment, his judgment that says there's no violence history between Sunni and Shia. That's wrong. His judgment that says this is going to increase the stability of the Middle East. It hasn't. It's made it less stable. The judgment that says this will, quote "This will be the best thing for America and the world in a long time."
SCHIEFFER: All right.
(Bob thinking: alright, my attempt to create another firestorm like I did last week to Wesley Clark has sadly failed. Sigh.)
The Carpetbagger captured it all best:
Kerry questions McCain’s judgment, media screws up another story
Posted July 7th, 2008 at 8:30 am
John Kerry appeared on CBS’s "Face the Nation" yesterday, and did a fine job as an Obama campaign surrogate. In fact, I’d go so far as to say he was pretty darn good — he dominated the discussion, hit all the high notes, and generally did exactly what the Obama campaign hoped he’d do. But then, there was, once again, the media’s reaction.
You can watch the video here which is in two parts. But don't bother with the media reports which completely misinformed readers on what precisely was said on the show. Luckily, since Al Gore "invented the internet" (hey, the media told me he said that), we can read the transcript ourselves. No link for you, AP.