2. On the President's Waffling

This president has been the master of the waffle and sleight-of-hand. Here's one example: the environment. In the 2000 election, Candidate Bush told us he was going to take action on climate change. But then President Bush pulled out of our international treaties, and has done nothing at all except cater to big oil and other powerful special interests. Well, which is it, Mr. President? It's fine to disagree: if you don't think global warming is real, then level with the American people. But don't waffle. Here's a second example. At the Republican convention this year, almost every speaker was moderate, pro-choice, and, basically, not so different from the Democrats. One of them even was a Democrat. Yet the people actually making policy in the Republican party are far-right wing ideologues like John Ashcroft, Tom DeLay, and, until recently, Trent Lott. Which is it, Mr. President? It's fine to disagree - but tell the truth. Be honest that the justices you nominate to the Supreme Court will overturn Roe versus Wade, and roll back our civil liberties. Explain your positions - don't waffle. Or take a third example. The President now says he supports the work of the 9/11 commission and will follow some of its advice. But, in 2002, he opposed creating the 9/11 commission in the first place. And in 2003, he refused to testify before them, unless Vice President Cheney was there in the room with him. Well, which is it, Mr. President? Do you support the 9/11 commission, or not? Or do you just take whatever position you think will get you re-elected? There are countless other examples of this president waffling on important issues and changing his position back and forth. Healthcare, tax policy, corporate crime, Enron - the President says one thing, and then does something else. These are serious times, ladies and gentlemen. We need a serious president - not someone who says one thing and does something else. We need someone with the experience, the intelligence, and the seriousness to lead our country through this difficult time to a stronger, more secure future. That's not just a bunch of campaign talk - check the facts. This is serious business, and we need to get serious about our future.

Notes: Bush has continued to claim (most recently in the first debate) that Kerry is a waffler/flip-flopper. Kerry can turn this around easily, and with forceful substantive as well as character points. In addition, while Kerry cannot directly impugn the low cognitive abilities of the president, he can summon adjectives that invoke them.

3. On Kerry's Service in the Vietnam War

I've been waiting for the opportunity to set the record straight on this question, and now it's my turn to say my piece. Mr. President, you used your family connections to dodge the draft. You signed up for the Texas Air National Guard because you knew you'd have less of a chance of being called to serve in Vietnam. Now I don't demean your service in the National Guard, by any means. But you didn't even serve there. You went AWOL for four months, you deliberately missed a physical so you wouldn't be fit to fly - you cheated, Mr. President, and then you covered up the truth. But I did not make this an issue in this campaign. We all make choices about how to serve our country, and what we need to do now is talk about how best to move our country forward. But now your surrogates, people intimately involved with your campaign and your party, have the gall to question my record. On no evidence at all, they claim that I did not deserve the medals I earned in Vietnam. Some even claim, outrageously, that I inflicted wounds on myself to gain a Purple Heart! Mr. President, where is your voice condemning these outrageous slanders? Will you not say, categorically, that the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - actually a front for a few wealthy Republican donors, whom you know very well - will you not come out and say that they are misrepresenting the facts? Not another Bush waffle - not another equivocation or hedge. Don't tell me that all of these groups are bad - tell the American people what you think of these specific accusations. And tell the so-called Swift Boat Veterans to stop these malicious ads. How low will you stoop, Mr. President, to win this election? I honor all those who served their country, in all of our armed services. And I will not condemn those who used their wealth and connections, as you did, to avoid the more dangerous service, or who avoided any service at all, as Vice President Cheney did and Secretary Rumsfeld did and many other members of your cabinet did. But I will not stand for my own record to be dragged through the mud by a shadowy group of millionaires pretending to be Veterans. They do me a dishonor, but more importantly, Mr. President, they dishonor the thousands of Americans who have worn the uniform, who have been in combat, who have faced enemy fire, and who are doing so under your orders today. I will not stand for it. It's wrong, and you should condemn it unequivocally, and now.

Notes: Kerry's credibility has been greatly damaged by the 'Swift Boat' ads. Credit Karl Rove: Certainly no Democrat would've imagined that Kerry's war record would be used against him by a president who dodged his own military service. Bush has not condemned the ads. If Kerry can successfully paint the ads as slanders, and as anti-patriotic, then without having to go on the offensive - calling a war president a draft-dodger - he can re-invigorate his own war record as relevant. Notice there is no policy argument here - no claim that "I've been under fire, and so I know what to do." There is simply an American whose character has been attacked, indignant as a result. This is as down-home as Miller's dear family.

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