The New York Times makes the same point. The conversation is about Iraq. I have noted along with the concern a certain enthusiasm for a different John Kerry who can stand and fight.

..I posted this a few topics down ...but since it is the subject here, here it is again.

When I first read his comments I thought "Why would he say that" it can only hurt. Now I think they may have actually helped. The media focus is back on Iraq instead of Bush and his campaign schedule. Kerry also brings up a couple points with those comments. They are KIDS over there and they are STUCK.

Besides .... how many parents have said a similar thing to their own kids.

You are not seeing the local coverage in Denver. Here all three local newsshows gave this story major coverage last night. I flipped from one channel to another and they were all running with it in a major way -- the kind of coveage that is normally reserved for Broncos football victories (a lot).

CBS4 ran an interview with an army master-sergeant who said Kerry "insulted" the troops and that he "was still waiting for an apology."

The newsshow ran Bush's dennunciation and demand for an apology and ran a clip of Kerry's comment. There was NO newsclip of Kerry saying that he was talking about Bush. They stated that Kerry had said he wasn't talking about the troops.

So, to pretend that this is a wash is just nonsense. The local media coverage is awful. They spent more air-time on this nonsense than on the 103 servicemen and women dead in Iraq in October.

The other local newsshows coverage of this was similarly slimey, but not as extensive from what I saw. I imagine Fox news will have a 1 hour special any day now, but I didn't see anything on their network because they broadcast the news at a different time.

Nationally, this story may be a wash, with the base of both parties revved up a bit, but locally this is playing to the advantage of Republicans who are desperate to change the story from their failures and misdeeds and the controversy over Michael J. Fox to, well anything at all is better than that.

They get to go on the offensive with their faux canned outrage.

BTW: Did anyone notice how incoherent Bush looked in his speech? More than usual I mean. He could barely managed to speak at all, as if his thoughts were wandering around his head like marbles. Normally I'm so used to Bush stumbling and smirking that I wouldn't notice, but it looks like the strain of repudiation is starting to get to him.

Let's not blame candidates for distancing themselves from this. Webb answered the question perfectly this morning on WRVA - said he hadn't heard the exact quote, mentioned it was a mangled joke, and went right to his son who is an enlisted Marine. This won't hurt him. I can't imagine it hurting McCaskill or Ford, either - and that's all that really matters in this election.

"An avalanche of these by the end of the day would not be a surprise. And it makes the story not about Iraq, but about John Kerry and Democratic candidates rebuking him. This is not good by any stretch of imagination."

Which is why Kerry should hve constructed some sort of "apology" for offending the troops yesterday.  He misspoke, why shouldn't he apologize for misspeaking?

John Kerry is an idiot.

I think Chris makes good points,  but I also don't think this whole thing is really about John Kerry's words--mangled joke or not.  It's a game of chicken:  the subject hear is the Democrat's fear of the Republican accusation that they are "weak on defense" or that they don't "support the troops."

My one beef is that Kerry got mad.  I'd like to have seen him laugh when he heard the attacks from Snow, Bush, Cheney, et al.  He could have said something like this:

"I'll apologize for being the world's worst deliverer of a punch line in a joke.  How bad I am at telling jokes is a joke in my family--and my chief of staff should resign for letting me tell jokes in a stump speech for Democrats.  But bad delivery or no bad delivery, here's how the joke should have been delivered [...].  I apologize for messing that up.  But the situation in Iraq is no joke and the people who caused it will not give up easily.  That's why we all need to vote them out of office next Tuesday..."

Something like that.  I mean...what Bush wants is to be in a fight with somebody--so he can look important.  The reality is that he is an embarassment.   The GOP is practically sending to give stump speeches at Chucky Cheese birthday parties. Nobody wants to be seen with him.  

So, I say Kerry should laugh at Bush instead of getting mad.

It's the old media myth that any news is 'good' for Bush/the White House/the GOP and 'bad' for Democrats.  That's why Kerry is getting cancelled out of so many appearances.

Yeah, he flubbed a joke.  When read 'static' it does look like a sorry comment about joining the military when it was supposed to be a comment about miserable failures becoming CinC.

But this old media perception that any GOPper making the news is good, and any Dem making the news is bad has got to go.  But until the party and candidates stop reacting to it, it's a self-fullfilling prophecy.

Come on, Jerome.  "Who cares?"  How is Harold Ford and John Tester piling on Kerry really going to help them get elected?

Any small boost they get from Kerry-bashees the right is going to be more than offset by losses on the left.  A progressive-leaning voter in Tennessee will see Harold Ford as a political opportunist attacking a member of his own party based on a Republican-led smear effort.  Isn't that exactly what Lieberman does?  Sure, Harold Ford didn't lose a primary and abandon the party, but isn't hopping on board the GOP spin cycle to score a few cheap votes in the same category?

When I heard about the comment, why haven't the Democrats been hittting this hard all along.  My second reaction was that the eunuchs of the so-called liberal establishment will cringe at the confrontation.  And sure as shit, listening to Alex Bennett this morning on Sirius, he had dutifully internalized the Rovian talking points. How many others will come out and do the same thing.  I'm sure the Wurlitzer's Rolodex's are humming while the search is on to have so-called liberals call bad on Kerry.  I'm sure we will here Holy-Joe tsk tsk Kerry for being so uncivil.

When will these pansies get it.  The criminal clique in the White House plays by street rules, not the Marquis of Queensbury.  The only way to beat these guys is to pick up a stick and beat them over the head.  Kerry has been handed that stick, he should use it now and use it often and not only on Bush but his enablers in the media. Kerry has the opportunity to declare the beginning of the 08 campaign by unleashing an onslaught of blunt truths.  He has the microphone, will he use it.
 

Only John Kerry could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, if only by interrupting the news cycle.  

What he said was true in Viet Nam.  It is true today.  Consequently, I think he meant what he said and I'm not buying the mangled joke coverup.  He should be lauded for saying it.  If only it were after, rather than just before the election.  This is just outrageously off in its timing.  Somebody shut the son-of-a-bitch up.

Sure, it was a poorly told joke, intended to nail Bush, but easily heard as insulting to the intelligence of the troops in Iraq.

And it does re-raise the specter of Kerry, a loser sorry to say, becoming a focal point of Democratic voices right before the election.

But I have to think that very, very few votes (if any) will change or be swayed by Kerry's statements. Come on, we're just coming off one of the bloodiest months of the war: 100+ Americans dead, one left behind, and now carrying out the orders of Muqtada al-Sadr via Prime Minister Allawi.

I do agree that, though unintentional, having Iraq at the top of the news helps Democrats more than it hurts.

The only thing about comments by Murtha, Pelosi or Dean is that Americans generally don't know who they are or expect them (Dean) to say something like that.

Kerry is universally known.  He's got a big microphone.  And he blew it big.  Even if he mis-spoke he blew it big.  It's the Busby "papers" quote all over againg lol

"clear echoes of Vietnam and a looming draft."

Good point.

I was recently talking with a friend who once worked in the Army personnel office in the Pentagon. They said one reason we won't see a draft is because there are still lots of people who want to join the military who the military doesn't want. The Army would be forced to accept those people first before they conscript those who don't want to go.

That's a huge hidden cost of a draft, having all sorts of otherwise unacceptable recruits--as in, those who didn't do well enough in school and/or on the ASVAB (armed services vocational aptitude battery--entering the services, too.

The issue is not dead.  In my opinion, the dems need to aggressively go out there and attack with these talking points or something close, to flip it back on the repubs.

About the joke:

John Kerry botched a joke about the President, not the troops.  George W. Bush has botched this war, endangered our troops, and allowed nearly three thousand young americans die in this invasion and occupation.

About John Kerry as ``party leader'':

John Kerry is one senator out of a hundred, and he is not running for office at this time.  If you want to get us unstuck from this war, you need to elect a new democratic majority in the house and senate, because this republican congress is rubber stamping the failed policies of this administration.

About insulting the troops:

John Kerry and his democratic colleagues have consistently stood up for the troops, voting for body armor,   veterans benefits, and oversight of this war when the republican congress rubber stamped Bush's failed policies.  You don't have to believe me--the non-partisan Iraq and Afghan Veterans of America gave consistently higher ratings to democrats than republicans on supporting troops and vets.

Closer:  

George W. Bush and his administration are using this distortion of John Kerry's remarks and record to distract from their failure to lead in this war.  Vote for a democratic majority in congress now to reverse the failed war leadership of the Bush Administration and the rubber stamp republican congress.

Instead of "EEEK!  Kerry said a BAD THING!", the coverage on FOX today has been "WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN BUSH AND KERRY!"   And that's good, because it shows Kerry as not being afraid to fight back.

I don't know if Ford or Tester did the right thing, but for heaven's sake, these guys have run strong campaigns and they have a chance to close.  It's absolutely ridiculous to demand that they choose this particular hill to die on, when presumably they have a plan for how they want the last week of the election to go, and they'd rather not spend it fighting to the death to defend John Kerry.

It reminds me of last year when Markos called Tim Kaine a coward for pulling his advertising from Steve Gilliard's site just before the election, to avoid a controversy.  These guys are working for a Democratic majority, give them a little breathing room.

The White House keeps fighting yesterday's battles. They still think this election is about Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and the war in Vietnam.

They have no plan for today's battles and all they have for tomorrow are plans borrowed from Nixon and Kissinger, which didn't work the last time and are working even worse this time.

Americans want leaders who can anticipate tomorrow's fight and create a competent plan to win that fight. 'Yesterday' worked for Paul McCartney, but as a war strategy, it's been a total disaster.It's hurting Iraq. It's hurting America. And it's hurting our troops.

Americans want that to change and will vote for that change. The White House has never listened to the majority of Americans, but this time, everyone will have to listen.

Change the course. Americans aren't fighting 2004; they're fighting for a sane foreign policy in 2006.