Dick Polman on John Kerry:
The problem for Democrats is obvious: On a day when the news out of Iraq is that Bush’s own military hierarchy is saying that his freedom agenda is more imperiled by chaos and potential civil war than ever before – news that the Democrats might wish to emphasize, as part of their ongoing bid to make the ’06 elections a referendum on the president – John Kerry is out in front, dominating the discourse, seeking once again to explain himself, this time by chasing after the elusive word us.
Some Democrats have already felt the need to distance themselves from Kerry (Nebraska Democratic candidate Scott Kleeb calls his remarks “disgraceful and insulting�), and Kerry himself has staged a retreat from the battle by canceling a scheduled appearance tonight in Philadelphia, apparently deciding that he didn’t want to put Democratic senatorial candidate Bob Casey Jr. on the spot. But, at this point, what most Democrats nationwide would probably like to hear Kerry say is this:
“Despite all my careful planning, I have decided not to seek the 2008 presidential nomination. I was for it, before I was against it.�
Read his whole post.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.