Kerry's criticism of Allawi is beyond the pale. He has really gone lower than ever before.

Here we have an honorable man from Iraq, trying his best to rebuild the country after years of brutal dictatorship, and Kerry thinks he actually knows better than Allawi as to what the realites are in Iraq.

And keep in mind the only thing Kerry is offering the American public on Iraq is his vague promise to somehow get other countries more involved in Iraq. Well, you can't do that if you constantly preach the gloom and doom about Iraq. You aren't likely to convince other countries to become involved in Iraq after you've gone around and told everyone how lousy things are there and how you want to pull out.

The sad thing is that Kerry's rhetoric impedes our efforts today to get more assistance from other countries, and is a demoralizing influence on our troops and on the Iraqi people. The only people encouraged by Kerry's remarks are the terrorists.

Kerry is already undermining our war on terror and placing his own political ambitions before the good of our country (sound familiar for Kerry?)...this man must be defeated. Period. America literally cannot afford 4 years of this man's so-called leadership.

Kerry is reverting to type. He sold out his country to the North Vietnamese in the '70s and he's selling us and Iraq and our forces out to the terrorists and the UN today.

This must be how he plans to nuance a cooperative coalition of allies, by calling them liars!

The leadership of the Democratic Party has yet to learn the meaning of the term "loyal opposition". They seem interested only in regaining power. Yes, all political parties want to lead, to be sure, but these people are a different animal because they don't seem to mind doing harm to the country in the pursuit of that power, as long as they get to rule what remains at the end of the day. How else can we explain the words and actions of men like Kerry, and Gore, and Lockhart, and McAuliffe? They seem to me to be men totally without principle; representative of and participants in the dissolution of a once great party.

No wonder John Kerry wants to France and Germany to be our allies. Like them, he, too, is against US interests.

A couple of days ago I had the crazy thought that the Kerry campaign was trying to avoid a total electoral collapse by stoking the fires of their base with Kerry's new opposition to the war, the draft demagouging, etc.

Now with the Kerry reaction to Allawi's speech and Theresa's musings about the potential capture of bin Laden before the election I am having that crazy thought again. Perhaps at this point Kerry/Edwards are just trying to avoid a total collapse that would hurt Democrat down ballot candidates?

None of what the Kerry campaign has done lately makes any sense if you believe that he has to move beyond liberal voters to win this election.

Dick Morris has argued that Kerry's fundamental problem is that his base is split on the Iraq war. I can see that and if Kerry is casting his lot against the war now, then he is basically giving up.

Maybe I'm wrong, but with Bush running strong in Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, etc...I can't think of a better explanation.

I am also wondering what foreign leaders were those that have secretly endorsed Kerry. I have seen statements in the last few days that state that France and Germany will neither be sending troops to Iraq even if Kerry wins. With all of Kerry's rhetoric about involving more Allies, aka France and Germany, these two countries are doing everything possible to refute the claims.

Maybe it is because they both want Bush re-elected. Even if America and her real Allies succeed in Iraq it will take a long time and keep the West Hatred placed squarely where France and Germany want it, on the US. This allows them to stay pretty much out of the spotlight. it also allows their governments to keep increasingly dissatisfied citizens focused on things outside of their own countries.

Tom H, my reaction was the same as yours. Kerry is still fighting/protesting against Vietnam, despite the fact we're in a very different kind of war now, but maybe the nuance of that escapes him.

People like to hear that with effort they can achieve great things. This Reagan did very well. People don't like hearing that what's wrong is their fault. This Kerry does well. Self-loathing doesn't sell. I'm sure Allawi is too experienced to let Kerry's remarks, offensive as they are, bother him.

The vast majority of people want some form of stability in their lives. It lets us know where we stand, what we can do, and in what direction to go to try and improve our lives. Kerry's flip flopping on issues does the opposite. Many of his supporters must subconsciously feel this. The best thing he can do for President Bush is to continue down this path. As for his poor taste and lack of manners in his comments about the Prime Minister's speech, it proves he is unfit to be my Commander in Chief. I learned early in my Army career that you listen to the report from the commander on the ground. He is there and see what you do not, so who are you to question him on what is happening? The Democratic party no longer will "bear any burden, pay any price" in the defence of liberty. Instead they will "deride any person, obfuscate any position" in order to win an election.

Pete -

At this point, I have to agree with your assessment.

Caution, people -- the Mickey Kaus piece on Slate also linked to "Bush's Aura" and how we can't let ourselves be caught in the same echo chamber as the Dems ...