As one of Vodkapundit’s commenters, Frank Martin (whose eloquence deserves a blog of its own) reminds us, Senator John Kerry is the beneficiary of Governor Howard Dean’s flameout immediately preceding the Iowa Caucus; not the Democrat’s first choice.
So, the Democrat’s are stuck with him.
Yes, his attributes look good on the surface, good enough to hold up against those of the Republican incumbent: decorated Vietnam War veteran versus a National Guard member who never left the states. And, with all of the mud flung at the president’s National Guard service, the senator’s service should shine like gold to tin in comparison. So why doesn’t it?
It’s not just because of the senator’s actions subsequent to his honorable discharge: claiming before a senate committee hearing that he and his comrades-in-arms committed war crimes.
It's not just because the majority of those who served with then Lt. (j.g.) Kerry are actively working against his candidacy for president.
It’s not just because of the brouhaha in the blogosphere regarding the senator’s inconsistent account of an alleged trip to Cambodia during his four-month sojourn to Vietnam.
It’s not just because of the senator’s inconsistent words and actions regarding the present war.
It’s not even because none of the senator’s supporters are willing to promote any features of his twenty year senate career.
It’s because there’s a big fat glaring contradiction in his very candidacy itself. The Democrats have picked and promoted a war hero as president while at the same time deploring the present war and, sometimes, the very necessity of war under any circumstances.
Howard Dean was the pick for the Democrat nomination for president simply because his platform fit neatly (for the most part) with that of the DNC: war is wrong, we were duped into fighting it, tax cuts only benefit the rich, etc. Governor Dean may have been the stuff of nightmares, laughs and many a Photoshop, but you couldn’t say that he was inconsistent.
Now the Democrats have as their standard bearer a war hero, who embodies the very contradiction of their choice.
• Denounced his military service
• Is running now on that same military service
• Voted for the Iraq War
• Is against the Iraq War, as it is prosecuted by President Bush
• Says that if he knew then what he knows now, he would have still voted to go into Iraq (registration required)
• But voted against giving $87 billion dollars for the prosecution of said war
And many of his supporters believe—notice that I don’t say think—that it’s an illegitimate war anyway. But he's their man!
My neck hurts. And I’m betting that many Democrats wish they could go back in time to prevent Governor Dean’s howl-heard-round the world. So does the god of Photoshop, Allahpundit.
(Thanks to Prometheus 6)
