Pressing Moderate Republicans on W

Coming out of this convention that will be dominated by more moderate Republicans the likes of McCain, Giuliani, and Schwarzenegger, it would be nice to see them be asked specific questions on just how much they support Dubya. At the convention, they will hail Bush on security but they will be doing so in extremely vague terms.

Here are a couple of pre-released speech excerpts:

McCain:

"He has not flinched from the hard choices. He will not yield. And neither will we," McCain said in excerpts of his Monday address released by the campaign the night before.

Giuliani:

"George W. Bush saw and described terrorism for the evil that it is and he will remain consistent to the purpose of defeating it while working to make us ever safer at home," Giuliani said in excerpts of his speech text.

My point here is that it's time to go after them on the specifics of Bush's "security agenda":

• Do you agree with the president that capturing Osama bin Laden is no longer a priority?

• Are you supportive of the presidents security agenda despite its lax stance on protecting sensitive facilities and shipping ports.

• Do you agree with the Vice-President when he mocks John Kerry for expressing the need to fight, among other things, a more sensitive war on terror, or do you believe that our policies should be determined by other people's perceptions of our actions and how many civilians we slaughter?

The list should continue, suggestions are encouraged. The point is that Bush's security agenda is weak. That's a major point Kerry is trying to make. Now, instead of letting everybody's favorite POW (McCain) and the Mayor of 9/11 (Giuliani) get away with vaguely supporting the President on security, make them address specific issues and either sweat it out putting their foot in their mouth or be seen as backing off their support of the President on these issues.