Bush, WMDs, and the Dems

It's not my job to advise Democratic candidates, but here goes.

If I was a candidate who voted for the Iraq war, i wouldn't run from my vote. I wouldn't waste time coming up with a Dean-lite formulation.

I would not fall into the "Bush lied about WMDs" trap.

Instead I would say that Bush failed. That Saddam had WMDs and Bush lost them. That the warplan allowed WMDs to slip into Syria and Iran and into the hands of terrorists.

Both Truman and Johnson were hurt by the defection of left-wing anti-war voters. But they were destroyed by the perception that they were waging war ineptly and indecisively. (Popular history tends to treat all anti-war opinion as Joan Baez-style pacifism. But the Goldwater-Lemay brand of criticism was also a potent electoral force.)

I think Bush really is vulnerable on this score. The war in Iraq hasn't solved the North Korean nuke problem or the looming Iran nuke problem. The administration can be criticized for adopting the messianic objective of remaking the Middle East and, in the process, downplaying their duty to safeguard the security of the United States. (The continuing problems with TSA is another vulnerable flank for the right Democrat to attack on this theme).


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