CNN: Kerry Admits world leaders are pleading: You Gotta Beat Bush!

[Raya]

The danger Bush poses to the global welfare is a totally under noticed
issue.

But now Kerry will be attacked for, in the words of Bill Snider,
"being a tool of foreign governments."

We need to come to Kerry's defence before the Repugs have a field-day
with this supposed gaffe.

[trumad]

1. I disagree...

Americans are stung at the outrage shown by our allies, etc...

[trotsky]

2. Yikes.

I agree, this was not a good thing to bring up. Joe Sixpack will say, "If'n the furriners don't like Bush, then he must be doin' something right."

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Joe Sixpack ain't so conservative any more

Old Joe done lost his savings, his pension, and sits around the house watching the young'uns while the little woman works the late shift at Wal-Mart. He know's he's been sold a bill of goods by a pack of lying ratbastards who got him so mad at Jane Fonda that he didn't notice them picking his pocket.

Old Joe's been doin' some serious thinking lately, and he's gonna break for the Kerry ticket this time.

But Bush is going to win, even if he has to fix every voting machine that comes out of Diebold's factory.

--bkl

[trotsky]

17. Gosh I hope so

but I just don't know. Rush et al have done such a good job making Joe think his problems are all due to the liberals, gays, and minorities, and not due to economic policies from Republicans.

[The Spirit of JFK]

14. Joe Sixpack ain't votin' for Kerry anyway

But many of the voters who are in the middle.....and there are a lot of them...ARE pretty concerned about foreign affairs. Most of this is in the..."we shouldn't send troops everywhere....we shouldn't send so much aid to place X" vein. It's all about spending money.

If Kerry can get the message across that we wouldn't need to overstretch our resources if we didn't piss off our allies.....and that THEY could shoulder much of the burden so we could turn our attention and money to importatnt issues WITHIN our country. More money for education, small businesses, and yeah, for homeland defense since Bush ain't funding that either.

[ewagner]

3. The best way for Kerry to counter this:

Don't run away from the statement; that's a flip-flop in Repub eyes. Enbrace it and tie it to Dubya's claim that America is safer. The story line would be something like this:

How can the President say that he's made America safer when he has alienated America's strongest allies, both the traditional allies and important allies in the war against terror? A strong America depends on strong relationships with our allies.

Just my 2 cents worth........

[grannylib]

Yes exactly...no running from it; make it a plus for his campaign...Bush

has squandered the goodwill of the entire planet but for Tony Blair...

[papau]

6. I agree - embrace the statement - we need allies, not folks worried about

our next pre-emptive war.

The police action against Terrorists must be worldwide - their is no country to conquer in a "war against terrorists", but there is a lot of co-ordinated world wide police action that needs to get done.

[diplomats]

7. Excellent response

I'm pretty sure Kerry won't back down. He has no reason to.

[coloradodem2005]

10. Agreed.

THis would be a good counter argument for Kerry. Everytime the Republicans fire, Kerry needs to fire back by turning their results on them.

[chookie]

12. For expressing what the American people believe?

Maybe His Chimperial Highness's inner circle of flying monkeys believes that the whole world is against us for no reason except that we are FreeTM -- but the vast majority of Americans are in fact deeply disturbed by the way this misministration has isolated us from the world, shattered our traditional alliances, destroyed our incipient partnerships, and work against major international projects like slowing down global warming, and now creating a new aggressive militancy on the planet.

Kerry has got to make this stand for us.

[rockymountaindem]

22. I think he's already said that.

I recall hearing him use almost those exact words in a speech I saw on TV, I can't remember where I saw it though. Check the Kerry website.

[VOX]

26. Exactly. Even a strong America needs allies across the globe...

And we have made enemies or near-enemies of our former friends. This is not the way to defeat *international* terrorism.

[info being]

32. If he apologizes for his statement, he will have lost my support.

[Sensitivity]

39. We need to dig up polls around world of Attitudes to America before/after

Bush.

[Auntie Bush]

40. Agreed! I've been saying the same thing for almost a year.

I've asked every foreigner I know what they and their fellow countryman think of Bush.
They all Hate him.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. He has promised to bribe them with a cut of America's crusade loot

I have no reason to doubt his assertion that they are eager for him to win.

[sistersofmercy]

21. DF

Must you be so cynical, perhaps they want bush* out for the same reason as the rest of us; he and his pack of thugs have made an absolute mess of US policy, domestic and foreign, and are actively destabilizing the globe.

[DuctapeFatwa]

23. It will seem less destabilized to them if they have a little incentive

Politicians, whether in the US or elsewhere are not the occupational group most likely to share your idealism, pure motives, or trust.

Old Europe was more outraged at bush's petulant announcement that he would not share America's war spoils than they were about the invasion itself.

[WilliamPitt]

24. Do you have a scintilla of evidence

to support your accusation that Kerry is, in effect, preparing to bribe the world for their support of his campaign?

[sangh0]

27. That's a rhetorical question, right?

Or do you expect an answer?

[DuctapeFatwa]

28. Here's a paste from his website

"Kerry will reach out to the European nations to build a coalition in support of operations in Iraq. He will eliminate Bush’s discriminatory contracting procedures and offer a genuine partnership of responsibility in return for a genuine partnership of burden sharing – troops and money."

http://johnkerry.com/issues/iraq/

[sangh0]

29. So Kerry's gonna bribe them with a burden?

Kerrry's going t share the "burden" and DF calls that "loot"?

[DuctapeFatwa]

30. Don't worry. It is a burden that Europe bore long before there was a US

They are intimately acquainted with this particular burden, is Europe.

[sangh0]

31. So "burden" = "loot"?

Why do you keep refusing to answer simple questions?

[plurality]

33. I think by loot, DF means contracts

Currently only American companies are eligible for contracts, or loot if you will. Kerry intends to "end Bush's discriminatory contract procedures" and share the loot.

Not too hard to figure out. After all we're pissed about this being a war for Halliburton profits, would you be less pissed if it was a war for Dutch Royal Shell or BP profits?

[TinaTyson]

8. This is something that will hurt Kerry?

I thought it was just reality and one of the reasons Bush has to go. No matter what, the world hates him and America cannot thrive internationally until he is gone. Even if American's like him enough to reelect him, the world doesn't and American's should be reminded of this.
He certainly shouldn't run from this. He should make it a primary issue in his campaign.

[Raya]

9. Wolf and Snider seems to think so. Wolf called it a "Bombshell"

[ewagner]

11. That's my concern

The media is looking for a way to discredit Kerry "early and often". The spin those two a-holes put on the statement was disgusting and Kerry had better answer it fast and forcfully!

edit for typos.........

[Raya]

13. How do you think he should answer it. Himself? Via surrogates?

What more should he say if anything?

[ewagner]

16. Incorporate it into a stump speech

or News "gaggle"

[diplomats]

18. If telling the unpleasant truth is a "bombshell" so be it

People like Schneider and Blitzer are used to panty-waist Dems. Kerry's a fighter.

[flpoljunkie]

19. Sounds like the RNC fax machine is humming; plying media whores with lies

And they always seem to fall for it. This particular "bombshell" is appearing nowhere on the AP wires that I can find--looks another GOP score with the hapless media whores.

They are indeed a pathetic bunch. Their job as journlists is to monitor the sources of power--they utterly failed in 2000 with Bush, and they have continued through his entire mis-administration.

Bush has not led--Kerry will!

[ewagner]

20. That's interesting!

Not on AP wires?

[flpoljunkie]

25. Not yet. But did find this report on Reuters article from Ft. Lauderdale

http://nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-campaign-kerry.htm...

CITES ENCOURAGEMENT FROM UNNAMED LEADERS

Without naming anybody, Kerry said he had received words of encouragement from leaders abroad who were eager to see him defeat Bush on Nov. 2.

``I've met foreign leaders who can't go out and say this publicly, but boy they look at you and say, 'You've got to win this, you've got to beat this guy, we need a new policy,' things like that,'' he said.

Kerry has challenged Bush on almost all aspects of foreign policy, from Iraq, where he accuses the administration of going to war as a first resort not a last, to Haiti, where he said he would have sent an international force to support ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

On a Southern swing through four states-- Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Louisiana -- that hold nominating contests on Tuesday, Kerry blamed Bush for America's ``torn and tattered'' international ties over Iraq and broken promises on jobs, health care, education and the environment.

___________________

Seems like much ado about nothing--the entire world can see what a miserable failure Bush has been as President and as the leader of the free world--just like we can! But you can rest assured that the GOP will push it and the feckless cable news whores will comply.

[Bread and Circus]

15. Kerry will win because he has a strong masculinity to the way he says...

these sorts of things.

I applaud Kerry.

This is not a gaffe.

This is the damn truth.

Kerry is going to kick Bush's ass.

[dawn]

34. Yeah!

I totally agree with Kerry. Bush* is endangering us because he pisses off the other world leaders so much.

Hahaha, a "tool of foreign governments."

[mmonk]

35. Actually this could play out in Kerry's favor

The lack of respect of a president internationally. The more people think about it (if they think anymore) the more they will have concerns about bush.

[Sensitivity]

36. Wow! Holbrook on Paula: John Kerry made big MISTAKE. He told the TRUTH!

[IndianaGreen]

37. Bill Schneider said that Kerry spoke French. Oh the horror!

The real horror is that we still have 8 more months of this bullshit to put up with.

[Sensitivity]

38. I suspect Kerry's "gaffe" was a deliberate strategic move against Bush

foreign policy credibility.

JK may be calculating this whole thing!