Well, that’s his excuse today…
John Kerry believes he lost to President Bush because of the video from Usama bin Laden (search) that surfaced just days before the Nov. 2 presidential election.
The Massachusetts senator told FOX News’ senior correspondent Geraldo Rivera that he believes he lost because the tape may have scared the American electorate.
…
“Tough luck, senator,” Rivera said to Kerry, referring to the Democrat’s election loss.Trying to recount Kerry’s words verbatim, Rivera said Kerry responded by saying:
“It was that Usama tape — it scared them [the American people].”
Amazing isn’t it? There’s always an excuse, a reason, or some explanation for his loss that distances himself from responsibility for his defeat. The most interesting thing this reveals is that in order to make this excuse Kerry has to concede that on issues of national security, he was the weaker candidate.
Did the Kerry camp fail to respond to the tape effectively? They certainly did try to take advantage of it. No one can forget that the Kerry campaign took a poll on the tape, and it certainly gave Kerry the opportunity to rehash the debunked accusation that Bush “let bin Laden get away” in Tora Bora.
For Kerry to suggest that Americans were scared into voting for Bush is essentially saying that Bush not only got lucky, but that people weren’t thinking straight when they voted for him.
It is time for Kerry to be honest… not just with himself, but with everyone. The American people trust Bush more to handle issues like national security and terrorism because he is a proven leader and has decisive leadership.
John Kerry is just an embarrassment.
UPDATE: David Limbaugh also notes the story…
-->
Matt,
The American people trust Bush only very slightly more than Kerry. 51 to 49, or thereabouts. 51 is pretty much a failing grade for a self-described war president. He gets to stay in power, of course, and that’s too bad, since his intellectual and moral laziness allows the yes-men to run the place for their own profit.
Whether Kerry is honest or not is no longer the issue. The question of Bush’s honesty will be more to the point over the next 2 years.
You can’t be suggesting that this is the definitive Kerry statement on why he lost the election.
You noted that Rivera is “trying to recount Kerry’s words verbatim” but failed to note that this “interview” was conducted “as the senator and a slew of other notable names . . . were in a holding room prior to the processional leading up to the formal opening of the Clinton Presidential Library.” A little intellectual honesty on your part would be in order.
Yes, 51% of the American people voted for Bush because they were afraid. This is exactly what Bush planned and why he conducted his campaign the way he did. He wanted the people to be so afraid they would vote for him and that is why Cheney repeated over andover again that the American people needed to be careful who they voted for in order for them to be safer over the next four years. YOur president played on your fears and you fell for it.
Message to Bush Bashers: Crawl back under the rocks from which you came. Bush won bigtime. Get over it!!!
A victory based on fear reveals Americans for what they are – cowards. Bush voters are the ones who have crawled back under their rocks. If you have no fear, face an American Future, one where we cooperate with the world to destroy terrorists and leave our arrogance behind.
When you say “The American people trust Bush more…” you mean the roughly 50% that voted for him right? Because I’m sure you know that America has over 270 million Americans so your 51% man-date isn’t “the American people” that you try to imply.
This is a divided country to pretend you have a pulse on the will of the people is not only dishonest, it’s delusional. You have a pulse on the pulse of conservative America but NOT “the American people.”
Just a quick reality check there Matt.
Hey Lt. Col Smith, Fuck you ya ungracious moronic fuck.
The American people trust Bush more to handle issues like national security and terrorism because he is a proven leader and has decisive leadership.
Proven leadership that allowed 9/11 to happen on his watch, that went on vacation after recieving a memo that said Bin Laden was determined to attack, that allowed an attorney general that was more concerned with pornography than terrorism, that allowed record deficits and expansion of government, that allowed the wealthiest Americans to get even more wealth that future generations will have to pay for, that allowed the miliary to invade a country without a plan to “win the peace”, that hides the truth from Congress and the American people.
You guys are stooges being manipulated to benefit the richest and most powerful members of our society. That is the embarassment.
Liberal Agitator’s comments to Col. Smith say more about liberals lack of civility and intelligence than they should want us to know.
And “Concerned Conservative”, like all conservatives, gravitates to attacking the one lowbrow poster instead of addressing any of the other very solid criticisms of Bush.
Bush is the worst president this century and conservatives can’t defend his record because it’s miserable. The’yre all hypocrites. Can you imagine how they’d be howling if it was a Democrat in the White House who oversaw the 911 attack, was the only president in history with a criminal record, spent away the surplus with kickbacks to his silver spoon buddies, and created the largest deficit in history among all sorts of other sins? They’d be rabid.
Oh, right, I forgot. He’s “the kind of guy you can have a beer with.” News alert to you working class conservatives–he would never have had a beer with any of you losers. His is a monied upbringing and you’d be holding his beer at best. More likely you’d be his piss-boy.
Hey Dolce Vita – Bush is the second president this century.
Big statement you made. And FYI – his IQ tests were higher than Kerry – don’t mistake accent for intelligence. Though that is a common mistake people from the Northeast make.
Dear Kahn,
I am a unversity professor down here in the good ol’ University of Texas. I originally served as an officer in the Marine’s during the Gulf War under Bush Senior. I’ve read your past “blog” comments. And I wanted to let you know something- I.Q. testing only measures a persons potential. Whether or not they achieve that potential or attempt to achieve that potential is up to the individual and his or her circumstances. Please do not embarrass us Marines by spilling out facts or repeating sound bites to which you are ill-informed. You are a shame. Please try using spell-check or a dictionary. Or take “mike again” up on his offer to get you typing lessons.For all our sakes.
Sherry – Since your post was so general and demeaning, well – fuck you. I can’t type – I admit it. I don’t repeat “sound bites”. I come to my own conclusions after careful consideration. Now since I have not seen you post here before and I have seen many outrageous things said – forgive me if I doubt your veracity.
Yes – I.Q. only tests potential, as do many tests. But looking at the record, you must admit that G. W. Bush has done well? Yes? I mean he graduated Yale. Got an MBA from Harvard. Flew fighters. Was your governor twice. And IS president. All in all that’s not bad if you look at it objectively. The two most intelligent presidents last century were both Republicans (Hoover and Nixon). Basically, I’m sick of fighting this fight over and over. George Bush won. Most of the country wanted him to be president.
I know people that know the president. And, I met John Kerry myself when he was active in VVAW. I know why I voted the way I did. John Kerry is one of the most liberal members of congress. Instead of embracing his past – he ran from it. Instead, he chose to run on…what? Viet Nam? Criticizing every decision and statement made by the president? It was weak. Do I like everything that the Republicans ran on? No. I think that the idea of amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage is stupid. In fact, I don’t like seeing ANY restrictions added to the Constitution. Do I think that we should have sent more troops to Iraq at the beginning? Yes. I think that the military establishment was caught up in the ideas espoused in Network Centric Warfare (Alberts, Garstka, & Stein) and in Effects Based Operations (Smith) where the concepts of shock and awe were first described. I think it was a mistake to think that we were at war with Sadaam Husein and not the nation of Iraq. I think that the “surgical” type attack we launched left us open to the crap they are facing over there now. And, that we should have smashed them. Do I think that the Democrats would have done that? No.
Now here is something you will not see in a sound bite. I think that the country is terribly divided. I think that the gridlock and hatred started when the Democrats lost control of the House and it has gotten worse ever since. I think that the Democratic Party does not know how to be the loyal minority. I would use your own congress in Texas as a perfect example of this. And, I think that it is time to have a Constitutional Convention. Look at the Red/Blue map and think about that. Each state gets ONE vote. Should we have two houses of congress? Should we have a president? How much power should a supreme court have? Do we still need to have the Electoral College? Lets really step up and change things!
Oh and Sherry – Marine’s – a point off for puntuation. We were Marines. Not Marine’s. Of course, I doubt you were. But I could be wrong. Maybe you should buy that dictionary you mentioned.
Well Sherry – was I right to assume you were not in the Marines – because you couldn’t spell Marines? ( And you did that in a post where you told me to get a dictionary.)
Of course, maybe the Corps changed a lot after my time. My time was M16A1’s and 1911A1’s. But I guess your time was just watching war movies on TV?
Dear Kahn,
Got you again! The “Sherry” from texas-you wrote back to was me-Mike again. Just reminding you, you can’t believe everything you read. My favorite part was your dribble of you own investigative prowness, I quote Kahn”I come to my own conclusions after careful consideration. ” AGain perhaps you should consider not to believe everything you read on the net or from Matt and the gang. I love that you are so easy to rile up and easy to fool. Thanks for the laughs here in New York others have enjoyed it as well.