Gotta love it… View it now (Windows Media)
Republicans produce video capturing Kerry’s evolution on Iraq in his words
BOSTON (AP) — Republicans think they’ve found the ideal person to explain in detail the Democratic presidential candidate’s evolving position on the war in Iraq – John Kerry himself.
Republican National Committee members look at the 11-minute video of John Kerry at the RNC’s Boston headquarters.
Using video clips of Kerry discussing Iraq on various talk shows, the Republican National Committee has put together an 11-minute video that traces how Kerry struggled with the issue of Iraq through 2003 and early 2004 as he competed for – and finally won – the Democratic presidential nomination. …
GOP officials also were pondering how to make the video, produced by Laura Crawford of the Texas firm Crawford Creative, available to the general public. [Heck I’ll mirror it here at Wizbang! -ed]
In the video clips, Kerry gradually shifts from harsh anti-Saddam Hussein rhetoric in 2001 and 2002 to more cautious comments about Iraq in late 2003 and then to anti-war comments by early 2004.
“We’ve all reached a judgment the United States has to protect its interests,” Kerry says on one talk show in early 2002. Saddam “may even slide these weapons off to terrorist groups, it’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat,” he says on a September 2002 talk show.
The video reminds that Kerry voted in October 2002 to authorize President Bush to use force.
Through 2003 and early 2004, Kerry became more cautious and talked against the war, as problems grew in Iraq and his primary campaign against anti-war candidate Howard Dean became more intense.
The video notes that Kerry voted against $87 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan in October 2003.
…
In early January 2004 with the critical Iowa caucuses looming, “Hardball” host Chris Matthews demands to know if Kerry is an anti-war candidate.
Kerry hesitates, then says, “I am … yes.”
At that point, the theme song about the lovable TV porpoise “Flipper” chimes in.
“They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning. No one at sea, is smarter than he.”
You mean now we have to call him “Senator Flipper?” Look for a 60 second version on a cable news station near you.
I thought the edit where Kerry says he is the anti-war candidate was edited a bit sharply…doesn’t matter THAT much–but it didn’t quite look right–like he was saying something right after
as in… “yeah, but no”
A minor point…
Unfortunatly on my dail-up account, yeah there still a few of us around, I cannot watch the video. Of course I’ve ordered it, but what are the chances I’ll see it before 2006?
Is there any way to be able to download the video in it’s entirity on another site? I haven’t found one.
Why is it wrong to modify one’s position in light of poliitcal realities? I, um…I honestly don’t get it. Even if it seems to be for the callous reason of gaining more support from the electorate, that merely reflects the workings of the representative nature of our country. Political expediency in our nation works for, not against the interests of our citizens.
Give me a squishy reasonable man over a stubborn idologue anyday.
Why is it wrong to modify one’s position in light of poliitcal realities?
Mark you summed it up… He changed his position on whether we go to war for POLITICAL reasons.
His beliefs on foreign policy revolve around what will get him elected. If you don’t see the problem with that, then I’m afraid I just can’t help you.
Do you think that perhaps -just perhaps- the safety and security of the nation is more important than what’s best for John Kerry?
Thank you for damning Kerry far better than I did.
How is John Kerry reasonable? Have you heard his pre-election year rhetoric not only with the Iraq War, but issues such as taxation, education, etc.
Kerry has two stances on almost every single issue effection this election period; one before he entered the race and one after. If he gets elected, will he continue what he is preaching now or will he revert back to his original far-Left ideology? I believe the later.
The most damning case of being a hypocrit is when Democrats, like Kerry, claim they want to increase the lives of all Americans. They plan on doing this by raising our taxes and giving to the poor. Sure this helps out the poor, but it doesn’t help out any of the middle and upper class. In fact it hurts them. This is class warfare, an issue Democrats argue against. Pretty hypocritical to me Mark.
Give me a squishy reasonable man over a stubborn idologue anyday.
Better still, though, a man who knows what he believes in and won’t change his position with every change of the political winds.
Mark, I think you’re simply afraid of people who have become confident, owing to experience, in their ability to make important decisions. If so, you should probably be afraid of about 90 percent of the people with whom you share this planet.
This video is a hoax. We’ve thoroughly debunked it over at http://www.kerryoniraqwar.com/video/index.html It uses a very simple editing trick. Kerry’s position was always that we needed to take Saddam seriously, but that we needed to deal with him skillfully — by putting pressure on him to renew inspections and encouraging opposition forces within Iraq. The video first shows you lots of clips of just the first half of Kerry’s position: Saddam is a serious problem. You’re supposed to assume this makes him a gung-ho hawk. They edited out all the lines where he warned against rushing to war. Then they switch to showing only his criticism of the war, and say that was a new position, when it was the same thing he’d been saying all along. The trick is tissue-thin, but they’re counting on people not to look up the original statements. You can see all the original statements on our site, though. It’s pretty pathetic, how desperate the GOP is to fool people about what Kerry said.