http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/11/02/do0202 .xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/11/02/ixopinion.html
Kerry is not as smart as he thinks By Toby Harnden Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 02/11/2006 Daily Telegraph The first time I met Senator John Forbes Kerry was shortly before 9/11, when I was sitting in the office of a Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee talking to a young staffer about European defence. Suddenly, the Massachusetts senator strode into the room and plonked himself, hands on hips, between us. Then he just stood there, clearly expecting us to jump up because he had graced us with his hallowed presence. He turned his back on me and I studied his perfectly arranged thatch - this was a man who has spent some time on coiffing his hair that morning (or maybe he had someone to do it for him) - as he barked questions and demands at the astonished aide. Many people in Washington have similar DYKWIA - Don't You Know Who I Am? - anecdotes about Kerry that reveal his narcissistic conceit that it is all about him, all the time. This trait is the key to the kerfuffle over Kerry's comment at a California rally that: "Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." The words were clumsy and, yes, an insult to American troops. I have no doubt that he didn't mean to say that US soldiers in Iraq are dumb cannon fodder but that's what came out. He was trying to say that Bush was stupid (though the Texan's grade-point average at Yale was higher than that of Kerry) - a jibe that plays well in Europe but not in much of Middle America. It would have been a minor blip in the final week of the campaign if he had apologised immediately and unequivocally and got the hell off the airwaves. Instead, he wriggled and huffed and hit back and compounded his mistake with intemperate bad-mouthings of Republicans as "assorted Right-wing nut jobs" and "hacks who've never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did". Having been, in his view, misrepresented by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in the 2004 presidential race and berated by his own party for not hitting back hard enough, Kerry went for the jugular. But his desire not to be "Swift Boated" (the attacks were so successful they coined a verb) and lack of political judgment meant that this time he overreacted. To the delight of Republican strategists, as dawn broke across America yesterday, there he was on the Don Imus radio talk show quibbling about his "botched joke". This time, it wasn't so much what the meaning of "is is", as Bill Clinton famously ventured during the Lewinsky scandal as what the meaning of "us is". According to Kerry, "I left out the word 'us'. 'They got us stuck.' Instead of that, I said, 'They got stuck', and they're taking advantage of it." They are indeed taking advantage of it. With a week to go before the mid-term elections and Democrats poised to win the 15 seats they need to win back the House of Representatives - and perhaps even the six to bag the Senate - Republicans were praying for an "October surprise". Kerry left it late, until Halloween, but the Grand Old Party was not about to look this gift horse in the mouth. On the 2000 campaign trail, Bush told me that politics was "like judo - you use your opponent's energy to your advantage". A gaffe by a politician only has real legs when it reinforces an existing perception. And so it has been in this case. Kerry has long had a reputation as a haughty Boston Brahmin, a privileged, elitist, condescending careerist who cannot relate to ordinary Americans. In contrast, on the stump this week Bush has shown that whatever his faults - and there are many - that he still has that indispensable political gift of speaking simply to ordinary people rather than talking down to them. Kerry served with some distinction in Vietnam. It is a question mark over the character of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney that they chose to circumvent the draft rather than serve their country in combat. But Kerry's persistent attempts to capitalise on this have become unseemly. US servicemen are revered in a way that the British squaddie can only dream of. Soldiers travel in uniform and are routinely ushered to the front of queues and given upgrades to business class with no questions asked. On an American Airlines jet from Dallas last Sunday, a flight attendant made a spontaneous announcement about "the sacrifice our young men and women are making to keep us safe". The whole plane applauded her. This is not just rah-rah jingoism. The aching reality of war is also apparent. At Houston airport on Wednesday night I pulled up behind a white hearse with two soldiers in dress uniform inside it. "That's one of our boys coming home from Iraq," said a sombre Avis representative, waving me past. As Kerry has found out, you try to exploit this sentiment for political gain at your peril. The military is the most integrated sector of American society. Poor youths with a bit of get up and go about them use it to get funding for college to pull themselves up a rung on the economic ladder. I have sat in Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles with black sergeants from Alabama, marines from Mexico and good ol' boy snipers from Kentucky in places like Fallujah and Ramadi as they described their hopes with an affecting optimism that belied the mortal danger they were in. In many ways, they embody what is great about America. Yesterday, Democratic candidates from Montana to Iowa and Minnesota to Tennessee were cancelling campaign rallies with Kerry and demanding he apologise. Preposterously, the senator was claiming that he was returning to Washington "so that I'm not a distraction". Those ruing his intervention the most were the candidates he'd appeared with, such as Patrick Murphy, an impressive 33-year-old Iraq veteran poised to pick up a House seat outside Philadelphia. Kerry went there recently to attack Republicans who "think they've served because they played with GI dolls". In tight seats like that, Kerry could tip victory into defeat. Even if his party overcomes this late setback and prevails on Tuesday, Kerry's hopes for the White House in 2008 are disappearing faster than Democrats can run away from him. Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?view=COPYRIGHT&grid=P9> Copyright Comments You do an injustice to John Kerry. His comments have put Iraq even more firmly in the eyes of everyone. Also, even if the comment was directed at the average US soldier, it was correct. However, it seems the US electorate is high tailing it from both Kerry and Bush. It's difficult now to find anyone willing to have either of them appear at their election rallies Posted by Robert Carey on November 2, 2006 4:11 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Robert%20Carey%20-%20November%202,%202006%204:11%2 0AM> Report this comment Mr. Harnden, I will probably never meet you, but I would like to shake your hand. Posted by <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/exit.jhtml?exit=http://www.ewelamb.com> George Brown on November 2, 2006 3:31 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20George%20Brown%20-%20November%202,%202006%203:31%2 0AM> Report this comment Spot on, as you Brits would say! My husband served in the first Gulf War, is white, and holds an MBA. Kerry really just showed his true colors and while it may not have been what he meant to say, he did say it. And then in true Kerry form issues a statement that was not a sincere apology. Say what you will about Bush, but he will never be accused of being insincere. Posted by Kristine on November 2, 2006 3:20 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Kristine%20-%20November%202,%202006%203:20%20AM> Report this comment "Kerry served with some distinction in Vietnam. It is a question mark over the character of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney that they chose to circumvent the draft rather than serve their country in combat. But Kerry's persistent attempts to capitalise on this have become unseemly." The only thing of "distinction" about Kerry's military service is the three Purple Hearts he received. What makes these distinctive is that Band-Aids seemed to be the dressing of choice for the wounds! You appear to consider President Bush's Air National Guard service as circumvention of duty. Best you keep that opinion to yourself should you have the occasion to go to Iraq. A large percentage of our troops over there are guardsmen. They might take exception to your values. Posted by James J. Hinton on November 2, 2006 3:05 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20James%20J.%20Hinton%20-%20November%202,%202006%203 :05%20AM> Report this comment Spot on. Kerry has a history of bad-mouthing troops, and it isn't much of a stretch to believe he did it again. But if he had diffused the situation immediately by apologizing unconditionally, this would be over already. "Me thinks thou doth protest too much" comes to mind, as well as pompous arrogance. How can a former Presidential candidate STILL not get it? At this point any straight-forward and honest apology will at best sound hollow, and at worst sound forced. Posted by Deron Reynolds on November 2, 2006 2:55 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Deron%20Reynolds%20-%20November%202,%202006%202:55 %20AM> Report this comment It is extremely gratifying to read these words written as if from my own heart but rather coming from our mother country across the sea. Toby Harnden's understanding of selfLESS pride comes from the fact that some in the UK know first hand of what it means not to cower to adversity. The John Kerrys of the current world are well protected to carry on their personal crusades which in another generation will be nothing more than a footnote in a few scholarly journals. The gift of true courage is what history will remember because it courses through the veins of the common man and woman who are the only ones who can appreciate such things. Posted by Mike Frandson on November 2, 2006 2:41 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Mike%20Frandson%20-%20November%202,%202006%202:41% 20AM> Report this comment Well put. Posted by Greg Larson on November 2, 2006 1:57 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Greg%20Larson%20-%20November%202,%202006%201:57%20 AM> Report this comment Bingo. I was born in Warrington, Eng. in 1954. The son of an American GI from Alabama and British Mom raised in Manchester. Mr. Harnden hit the nail on the head. We take pride in our service to the nation. Hell, it's the greatest place on Earth to live. Posted by Thomas D. Howard on November 2, 2006 1:54 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Thomas%20D.%20Howard%20-%20November%202,%202006%20 1:54%20AM> Report this comment Great article. It is great to see our friends on the other side of the pond can see through Kerry. Posted by Mark Spence on November 2, 2006 1:44 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Mark%20Spence%20-%20November%202,%202006%201:44%20 AM> Report this comment Re: "Kerry has long had a reputation as a haughty Boston Brahmin, a privileged, elitist, condescending careerist who cannot relate to ordinary Americans." There are not a few heads of state who, although not savory characters themselves, are quite adept at viciously exploiting the personality traits that Kerry wears on his sleeve and that Kerry has imprinted on his genes. Thank our lucky stars that he is not and never will be President of the United States. Perpetual arrogance, elitism, and condescending behavior ruins the career of any politician regardless of party affiliation. Kerry-the-Fool, however, takes bad personality and bad behavior beyond the outer limits. Nevertheless, praise and support to all our service women and men; so deeply honored to have been one of them. Posted by <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/exit.jhtml?exit=http://msnbc.com> Benjamin Cure, M.D. on November 2, 2006 1:40 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Benjamin%20Cure,%20M.D.%20-%20November%202,%202006 %201:40%20AM> Report this comment Iraq is an unqualified tragedy, unworthy of jest...Kerry's apology is nearly as insulting as his original comment. Fool! Posted by Charles Stack on November 2, 2006 1:27 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Charles%20Stack%20-%20November%202,%202006%201:27% 20AM> Report this comment Well said. Posted by Bob Burrows on November 2, 2006 1:20 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Bob%20Burrows%20-%20November%202,%202006%201:20%20 AM> Report this comment You're right, we need a President that can deliver a solid punch line without the "holier than thou" attitude. We're much better off with someone like President Bush. That's sarcasm by the way. Stick to the facts, there's enough gossip and dramatic who-said-what antics on MTV for me. Posted by GH, real American on November 2, 2006 1:16 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20GH,%20real%20American%20-%20November%202,%202006%2 01:16%20AM> Report this comment Looks like Kerry still doesn't understand what Bob Dole meant when he advised him to "just shut up". Posted by jon livesey on November 2, 2006 1:04 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20jon%20livesey%20-%20November%202,%202006%201:04%20 AM> Report this comment When the Republicans in the US keep, and even add, to their majorities on the 7th of Nov, remember this article. It contains a part of the reason explaining why it happened. Posted by Warren Bonesteel on November 2, 2006 1:02 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Warren%20Bonesteel%20-%20November%202,%202006%201: 02%20AM> Report this comment In 2004, I found out that Kerry's Purple Hearts for his time in Vietnam were given for very minor scratches. From what I understand, and maybe I am wrong, even drawing blood warrants a purple heart. But, he quickly left his post to rail against the war, denigrating the soldiers then. His arrogant attitude has pushed him down again and your article is correct in saying he will have a tough time running in 2008 for the Presidential election. Posted by Claudia Apicella (expat) on November 2, 2006 12:37 AM <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:%20xml=/opinio n/2006/11/02/do0202.xml%20Claudia%20Apicella%20(expat)%20-%20November%202,%2 02006%2012:37%20AM> Report this comment [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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