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George, I've become convinced Kerry will lose the popular vote, that Bush will easily exceed 50%. Three reasons for this. One, Kerry has just appointed to high positions on his campaign staff the man sharing the responsibility for the Dukakis fiasco and the man carrying the responsibility for the Gore loss. New blood from a tainted supply is the road to risk, not the road to health. Two, surveys recently taken show well over 50% of Americans don't trust the news media. ie they are shooting the messenger because they don't like the message. They are being told truths they don't want to hear. They will believe reassurances and reject naysayers. You can't win the game when the ace, king, and queen of truth are trumped. Three is exemplified by the message below. You don't have to read it, just look at the introduction and glance at the size and the complexity of what follows. Way over the heads of the voters. If you haven't got a simple message, you can't win an election. It didn't have to be this way. A good, focused campaign staff could have won. But for losing, I'd much rather have lost with Dean. He never stood a chance but at least he had something important to say. Rey Barry (electronic mail, September 21, 2004) * * * * * Dear MoveOn member, The war in Iraq is President Bush's signature failure. To reduce the damage the war has caused him, Bush and his campaign operatives have spent the last six months attacking and distorting John Kerry's position on Iraq. But yesterday, in a powerful speech in New York, Kerry set the record straight. John Kerry laid out a plan to end Bush's irrational, deceptive and unilateral policy in Iraq, and pursue a policy of international cooperation to end the worsening insurgency and rebuild Iraq -- and bring our troops home. And Kerry made it clear that we would not be in Iraq today if he were president. The action today is simple: if you like what you hear from Kerry in the speech below, pass this email on to your friends, neighbors, co-workers -- anyone who wants to hear from you on this issue. It's critical that progressives like us spread the word that John Kerry is fighting back on Iraq. We've excerpted a few of the highlights, below. You can read the whole thing at: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0920.html Here are the main points from Kerry's speech on Iraq yesterday: * The war on Iraq was a mistake -- war was unnecessary because the inspections were working: "Today, President Bush tells us that he would do everything all over again, the same way. How can he possibly be serious? Is he really saying that if we knew there were no imminent threat, no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to Al Qaeda, the United States should have invaded Iraq? My answer is no -- because a commander in chief's first responsibility is to make a wise and responsible decision to keep America safe." * Iraq distracted from the war on terror: "The president claims it is the centerpiece of his war on terror. In fact, Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. Invading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight." * President Bush misled us about the reasons for the war before it occurred: "He failed to tell the truth about the rationale for going to war. And he failed to tell the truth about the burden this war would impose on our soldiers and our citizens. By one count, the president offered 23 different rationales for this war." * President Bush is still misleading people about Iraq, painting an optimistic picture directly contradicted by his own intelligence officials: "In June, the president declared, 'The Iraqi people have their country back.' Just last week, he told us: 'This country is headed toward democracy. Freedom is on the march.' But the Administration's own official intelligence estimate, given to the president last July, tells a very different story. According to press reports, the intelligence estimate totally contradicts what the president is saying to the American people." * Bush went to war for ideological reasons and consistently misjudged
the situation on the ground: "This president was in denial. He hitched
his wagon to the ideologues who surround him, filtering out those who disagreed,
including leaders of his own party and the uniformed military. The result
is a long litany of misjudgments with terrible consequences. The administration
told us we'd be greeted as liberators. They were wrong. They told us not
to worry about looting or the sorry state of Iraq's infrastructure. They
were wrong. They told us we had enough troops to provide security and stability,
defeat the insurgents, guard the borders and secure the arms depots. They
were wrong. They told us we could rely on exiles like Ahmed Chalabi to build
political legitimacy. They were wrong. They told us we would quickly restore
an Iraqi civil service to run the country and a police force and army to
secure it. They were wrong. In Iraq, this administration has consistently
over-promised and under-performed. This policy has been plagued by a lack
of planning, an absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence.
And the president has held no one accountable, including himself."
* "First, the president has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don't have to go it alone. It is late; the president must respond by moving this week to gain and regain international support. The president should convene a summit meeting of the world's major powers and Iraq's neighbors, this week, in New York, where many leaders will attend the U.N. General Assembly. He should insist that they make good on that U.N. resolution. He should offer potential troop contributors specific, but critical roles, in training Iraqi security personnel and securing Iraq's borders. He should give other countries a stake in Iraq's future by encouraging them to help develop Iraq's oil resources and by letting them bid on contracts instead of locking them out of the reconstruction process." *"Second, the president must get serious about training Iraqi security forces. The president should urgently expand the security forces training program inside and outside Iraq. He should strengthen the vetting of recruits, double classroom training time, and require follow-on field training. He should recruit thousands of qualified trainers from our allies, especially those who have no troops in Iraq. He should press our NATO allies to open training centers in their countries. And he should stop misleading the American people with phony, inflated numbers." * "Third, the president must carry out a reconstruction plan that
finally brings tangible benefits to the Iraqi people. One year ago, the
administration asked for and received $18 billion to help the Iraqis and
relieve the conditions that contribute to the insurgency. Today, less than
a $1 billion of those funds have actually been spent. I said at the time
that we had to rethink our policies and set standards of accountability.
Now we're paying the price. Now, the president should look at the whole
reconstruction package, draw up a list of high visibility, quick impact
projects, and cut through the red tape. He should use more Iraqi contractors
and workers, instead of big corporations like Halliburton. He should stop
paying companies under investigation for fraud or corruption. And he should
fire the civilians in the Pentagon responsible for mismanaging the reconstruction
effort." Most people will see a second or two of the speech, if they see it at all. But by forwarding this email to your friends and family, you can help make sure people get a full picture of Kerry's position on Iraq -- in his own words. And you can read the whole speech at: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0920.html Thanks for everything, --Eli Pariser PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC www.moveonpac.org
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