www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E29003%257E2026871,00.html
Kerry: In the interests of your campaign and your partys desire to unseat George W. During the primary campaign, your Democratic opponents accused you of flip-flopping on several important issues, such as your vote in favor of the Iraq War resolution. Certainly your sensitivity to nuance, your ability to see shades of gray where George Bush sees only black and white, explains some of your difficulty. Shades of gray dont do well in political campaigns, where primary colors are the rule. And your long and distinguished service in the Senate has no doubt led to genuine changes in some positions. But the denial that you are a liberal is almost impossible to reconcile. When the National Journal said your Senate record makes you one of the most liberal members of the Senate, you called that a laughable characterization and the most ridiculous thing Ive ever seen in my life. Liberals, who make up a substantial portion of the Democratic Party and a significant portion of the independent vote, are entitled to ask, What gives? It isnt just the National Journal that has branded you as a liberal. So has the liberal lobbying group Americans for Democratic Action. It says you are for rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, for tax credits to both save and create jobs, for real investment in our schools. Youve voted, in the words of your own campaign, for every major piece of civil rights legislation to come before Congress since 1985, as well as the Equal Rights Amendment. You count yourself and are considered by others a leader on environmental protection issues. You are committed to saving Medicare and Social Security, and you are an internationalist in foreign policy.
Are you afflicted with the Dukakis syndrome - that loss of nerve that has allowed conservatives both to define and to demonize liberalism for the past decade and more? You remember, of course, that it was during the 1988 presidential campaign that George Bush I attacked Democrat Michael Dukakis both for opposing the Vietnam War and for stating he was a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union. We do not have to agree on all the positions that the ACLU may take on this issue or that, but we should applaud its effort to protect the rights of Americans, even those charged with heinous crimes. Dukakis might have defended liberalism as the legacy of FDR and Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy - none of whom were anything like 100 percent liberals but all of whom advanced the cause of a truly liberal democracy. But by ducking the issue, Dukakis opened the way for the far right to make L for liberal a scarlet letter with which to brand all who oppose them. In the course of that 1988 exchange, Bush offered a telling observation, saying, in effect, that liberals dont like being called liberal. If 1988 taught us anything, it is that a candidate who lacks the courage of his convictions cannot hope to convince the nation that he should be given its leadership. So, senator, some detailed explanations are in order if you hope to have any chance of defeating even a wounded George II in November. Walter Cronkite has been a journalist for more than 60 years, including 19 as anchor of the CBS Evening News.
|
http://csua.com/feed/