John Kerry hits the nail on the head again: "Iraq is not a prize. It's a country."
From the Interview with Paula Zahn before the debate last night:
ZAHN: And we turn now to the presidential race and Senator John Kerry. We spoke with him from Baltimore as he got ready for tonight's debate with eight other Democrats, among them, Howard Dean, who, according to "The Boston Globe," now enjoys a 12-point lead over Kerry in the key primary state of New Hampshire. And last night on this program, Dean said he would withdraw half the U.S. troops in Iraq right now if he were commander in chief and replace them with international forces.
Well, we asked Senator Kerry whether Mr. Dean's numbers are at all realistic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think that either President Bush or Howard Dean have proven that they approached this correctly or have the experience, frankly, to be able to protect America as well as we can be.
I think that what we need to do is bring the United Nations in, in a much more significant way and not make promises we can't keep. We need to internationalize this effort and reduce the numbers of American troops as rapidly as possible. But you have to first begin the process of building a real coalition, Paula. You have to go to the United Nations and not just demand that they -- or ask them to ante up troops and treat Iraq as if it was a prize.
Iraq is not a prize. It's a country. And we need to work with the community of nations in order to transition from an American occupation into a United Nations global effort to share the burden of fighting terror. Real leadership knows how to do that. And I know precisely what we need to do to do it. And I am not going to make phony promises to the American people.
ZAHN: You will not support, then, the president's request for an additional $87 billion?
KERRY: Paula, I will do what's necessary to support our troops. And I will particularly do what is necessary to achieve our goals in Iraq.
But I'm not going to just give a blank check to $87 billion without assurances from the president that he will do the things diplomatically that best protect our troops and best strengthen our country, and also without assurances that he's going to be fiscally responsible at home and roll back some of the tax cut or do some things, rather than just run up the debt of our nation.
I think we have an irresponsible tax cut today that is saddling our children with debt. We need to do a better job of being fiscally responsible. And the president needs to show us how he's going to do that, as we do the things necessary to be successful in Iraq.
ZAHN: What kind of strategy are you using going into tonight's debate? How do you plan to cut into Howard Dean's lead?
KERRY: Well, I already am.
I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. You tell the truth. You have better policy. I'm going to provide protection to the middle class of America. He wants to get rid of the entire tax cut that President Bush put in, which means taking away the child credit, tax credit. It means taking away the tax break to people at the low end of the income scale, teachers and construction -- folks that are struggling, waiters, waitresses.
I don't want to do that. I want to protect the middle class. And I think, as people begin to focus, I'm going to continue to grow. I feel very confident about it.
ZAHN: You certainly can't be comfortable with the leads he enjoys at this moment, not only in his fund-raising efforts, but in a whole variety of polls that have been done in the last couple of weeks.
KERRY: Paula, actually, I'm very comfortable.
I have only just gone on TV. I've only just announced. In one week, I cut his lead in half. I'm ahead in one national poll. But the polls aren't what's important. What's important right now is, who is ready to be president of the United States? Who is ready to lead America? And who can make our country stronger and safer and more secure?
I'm going to provide health care to every American. I'm going to make sure we fund our education system. And I can guarantee you that, if I'm president of the United States, we will go to the United Nations before, not after, and we will protect the interests of America and the world the way a president ought to.
ZAHN: Senator Kerry, you say you are heartened by some of your ability to cut into Howard Dean's lead. Why is it that you think that he enjoys the level of support he does today?
KERRY: Well, Paula, I think you and other reporters need to catch up to the story, actually.
The fact is that we're doing very well. I have very strong organization on the ground in Iowa, very strong in New Hampshire. I haven't spent the money on television he has. Television is a very powerful instrument, as you know. We're beginning to do what I want to do and what we need to do. And I'm very, very confident about my campaign.
Just a note here to Paula Zahn: John Kerry hit the nail on the head again, "you and other reporters need to catch up to the story"!
From the Interview with Paula Zahn before the debate last night:
ZAHN: And we turn now to the presidential race and Senator John Kerry. We spoke with him from Baltimore as he got ready for tonight's debate with eight other Democrats, among them, Howard Dean, who, according to "The Boston Globe," now enjoys a 12-point lead over Kerry in the key primary state of New Hampshire. And last night on this program, Dean said he would withdraw half the U.S. troops in Iraq right now if he were commander in chief and replace them with international forces.
Well, we asked Senator Kerry whether Mr. Dean's numbers are at all realistic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think that either President Bush or Howard Dean have proven that they approached this correctly or have the experience, frankly, to be able to protect America as well as we can be.
I think that what we need to do is bring the United Nations in, in a much more significant way and not make promises we can't keep. We need to internationalize this effort and reduce the numbers of American troops as rapidly as possible. But you have to first begin the process of building a real coalition, Paula. You have to go to the United Nations and not just demand that they -- or ask them to ante up troops and treat Iraq as if it was a prize.
Iraq is not a prize. It's a country. And we need to work with the community of nations in order to transition from an American occupation into a United Nations global effort to share the burden of fighting terror. Real leadership knows how to do that. And I know precisely what we need to do to do it. And I am not going to make phony promises to the American people.
ZAHN: You will not support, then, the president's request for an additional $87 billion?
KERRY: Paula, I will do what's necessary to support our troops. And I will particularly do what is necessary to achieve our goals in Iraq.
But I'm not going to just give a blank check to $87 billion without assurances from the president that he will do the things diplomatically that best protect our troops and best strengthen our country, and also without assurances that he's going to be fiscally responsible at home and roll back some of the tax cut or do some things, rather than just run up the debt of our nation.
I think we have an irresponsible tax cut today that is saddling our children with debt. We need to do a better job of being fiscally responsible. And the president needs to show us how he's going to do that, as we do the things necessary to be successful in Iraq.
ZAHN: What kind of strategy are you using going into tonight's debate? How do you plan to cut into Howard Dean's lead?
KERRY: Well, I already am.
I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. You tell the truth. You have better policy. I'm going to provide protection to the middle class of America. He wants to get rid of the entire tax cut that President Bush put in, which means taking away the child credit, tax credit. It means taking away the tax break to people at the low end of the income scale, teachers and construction -- folks that are struggling, waiters, waitresses.
I don't want to do that. I want to protect the middle class. And I think, as people begin to focus, I'm going to continue to grow. I feel very confident about it.
ZAHN: You certainly can't be comfortable with the leads he enjoys at this moment, not only in his fund-raising efforts, but in a whole variety of polls that have been done in the last couple of weeks.
KERRY: Paula, actually, I'm very comfortable.
I have only just gone on TV. I've only just announced. In one week, I cut his lead in half. I'm ahead in one national poll. But the polls aren't what's important. What's important right now is, who is ready to be president of the United States? Who is ready to lead America? And who can make our country stronger and safer and more secure?
I'm going to provide health care to every American. I'm going to make sure we fund our education system. And I can guarantee you that, if I'm president of the United States, we will go to the United Nations before, not after, and we will protect the interests of America and the world the way a president ought to.
ZAHN: Senator Kerry, you say you are heartened by some of your ability to cut into Howard Dean's lead. Why is it that you think that he enjoys the level of support he does today?
KERRY: Well, Paula, I think you and other reporters need to catch up to the story, actually.
The fact is that we're doing very well. I have very strong organization on the ground in Iowa, very strong in New Hampshire. I haven't spent the money on television he has. Television is a very powerful instrument, as you know. We're beginning to do what I want to do and what we need to do. And I'm very, very confident about my campaign.
Just a note here to Paula Zahn: John Kerry hit the nail on the head again, "you and other reporters need to catch up to the story"!
posted by Pamela J. Leavey at 7:40 PM
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