Kerry comes out fighting
An editorial - The Capital Times - July 21, 2003

Democrats lost a lot of political ground in 2002, after they failed to effectively challenge the Bush administration's misguided approach to national security issues. When Democratic leaders in the House and Senate backed President Bush's demand for authority to wage war with Iraq, they surrendered their ability to shape the debate over those issues - and it cost them dearly.

If Democrats make the mistake of nominating a 2004 presidential candidate who dances to the Bush administration's beat, that candidate - and in all likelihood, much of the rest of the Democratic ticket - will go down in a far worse defeat than the party suffered in 2002. That's bad news for Democrats such as U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and former House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., who continue to cheerlead for Bush's wrongheaded approach to global affairs.

As the dramatic success of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's insurgent presidential campaign has proven, Democrats want a choice, not an echo, in 2004. The growing interest in the candidacies of Dean and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio - an even more vociferous critic of the Bush administration's foreign policy than Dean - indicates that Democrats know their party must present a real alternative to Bush.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who is perceived by many as a front-runner for the Democratic nod, seems to be getting the message. Kerry, who made the serious mistake of voting to give Bush the authority to attack Iraq, has been far more outspoken than Lieberman, Edwards and Gephardt in his criticism of the Bush administration's failed international and domestic policy.

Last week, Kerry let loose. With New York firefighters and police officers at his side, he declared, "Let me state it plainly: Just as we did not have a viable plan for Iraq after the capture of Baghdad, today we still do not have a real plan and enough resources for preparedness against a terrorist attack."

Speaking of "a dangerous gap in credibility (that) has developed between President Bush's tough rhetoric and timid policies," Kerry said, "It's time we told the truth about America's safety. It's time we had a president who truly made this nation more secure."

Implicit in Kerry's statement is the message that waging an unwarranted and unnecessary war on Iraq did not make America safer. That is a truth that Kerry needs to address even more forcefully.

But Kerry did a good job last week of positioning himself closer to the mainstream of the Democratic Party - and the nation.