Posted by Jeff Zeleny at 10:13 a.m. CDT
The challenges facing Democrats – and how they talk about the Iraq war – were on vivid display today during back-to-back speeches at a gathering of progressive activists.
The three-day convention, "Campaign for America's Future: Take back America," featured a united upbraiding of the Bush administration. But when the topic turned to Iraq, at least judging by the applause and the heckling, sentiments were far from unified.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), whose support for the Iraq war has put her at odds with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, conceded: "This is a difficult conversation." She said, though, that she did not agree with other Democrats who believe a timetable should be set to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.
"I do not think it is a smart strategy either for the president to continue with his open ended commitment," Clinton said. "Nor do I think it is a smart strategy to set the date certain. I do not believe that is in the best interest of our troops or the country."
As she left the stage, signing a few autographs on her way out, a chorus of shouting began to grow: "Bring the troops home! Bring the troops home! Bring the troops home!"
Two Democrats, whose views seem closer to those remarks from the audience than to Clinton's, took the stage next.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for an urgent new direction in the Iraq war. She drew sustained applause when he renewed her call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.
"He is the architect behind a failed policy in Iraq. Rumsfeld must go," Pelosi said. "In calling for his resignation, we should say that this is Geroge Bush's war."
But it was Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) who drew the most praise – and presented the biggest distinction to Clinton – in his address to hundreds of progressives sitting inside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel.
"It is essential to acknowledge that the war itself was a mistake, to say in simple words that contain more truth than pride: We were mislead," Kerry said. "I was wrong to vote for that Iraqi resolution."
Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, delivered an impassioned speech that hinged nearly entirely on the Iraq war. Clinton, by contrast, only devoted a small portion of her speech to Iraq or foreign policy.
"One of the great lessons of life is that you cannot change the future if you are not honest about the past," Kerry said. "And you cannot have it both ways on the war in Iraq."
With that, a man in the crowd shouted: "Tell Hillary."
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Comments
There's the shocker of the year. Dems don't know what they want (other than higher taxes & socialized healthcare of course), so how can they agree with eachother? Dems will once again find themselves in the difficult position of trying to appease their psychopathic base while simultaneosly moving toward the "center." My guess is that, once again, they find it too tempting to center their platform around everything the party in charge does, rather than an original idea of their own, further isolating the center and bringing another victory home to the Conservatives. This should work until they manage to get enough illegals the right to vote.
Posted by: Jay | June 13, 2006 12:17 PM
Oh Ye of Piddle Faith... Do not be naive.
When Hillary says "X..Y..Z!!!", everyone knows she means "A..B..C..". When Kerry says "A..B..C.." everyone knows he's not bright enough to say "X..Y..Z.." and mean "A..B..C..". It doesn't matter. The audience "reaction" is just for show and played out for middle-of-the-road "Independent" voters who are thought to be swayable and dumb enough to buy the lie. You know, the same gullable people that put Bush in twice. The same fools that thought he was really going to uphold his oath to see that the "laws be faithfully executed" and that 50 million Mexicans, and "others', were going to be kept out of this country with the laws that were already on the books, etc., etc. Dems' and GOPer's don't "diverge", they all tell the same kind of lies, for the same reason: to get fools to vote for them. Who do you think got more votes based on these speeches, Hillary or Kerry? I'll give you 3 tries and it wasn't Kerry.
Posted by: M. Murray | June 13, 2006 6:35 PM
I grew up believing that the Democratic Party stood for the working man’s ideals, and the Republican Party stood for corporate interests. Going through the 80’s, Reaganomics cemented my beliefs. Corporate cash being thrown at the Republican Party these days is obvious by the control they have over the media and the carefully constructed language used to keep us fearful of just about everything accept the “Republican Party that’s keeping us safe” (What a laugh). Some of the language being used here by a few is just unbelievable, (as in comparing Democrats with socialists). I’m not sure where that came from, but I’m sure it was some Republican conservative mouthpiece that’s lining his pockets with corporate cash by trying to keep the Republicans in power. It is somewhat disheartening that the Democratic Party is allowing the media to portray them as a party without a plan, when in fact I’ve heard many good plans from both Sen. Kerry, and Sen. Biden on the subjects of Iraq, healthcare, and the economy. Yet without the support of an unbiased media those messages will never get the coverage that “swift boat” or a “BJ in the White House” got. The unfortunate thing is too many people are being brainwashed by the diversion tactics of the Republicans (gay marriage, immigration) that get more media coverage than the problems with healthcare, the economy, and many other issues that are much more important to the American people. As for the people that perpetuate the biased ramblings of the right-winged mouthpieces, I have a quote, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”
Posted by: Rory M | June 14, 2006 10:53 AM
"psychopathic base"
Jay,
You're messed up as a football bat.
Posted by: Doug Zook | June 14, 2006 10:56 AM