Nothing But Words

I haven’t posted a full review of the debate, as so many other bloggers have already done good jobs with theirs (in particular, see the Washington Monthly). But I’ll make one point that others haven’t, concerning the last question of the debate, in which Bush was asked to provide three examples of mistakes he’s made has President. Bush dug himself a hole by not being able to provide even one, but Kerry missed a huge opportunity to bury him in it. Instead of just talking more about Iraq, here’s what Kerry should have said (I’m making up words for him here):

“Saying that the only mistakes he can think of are some people he appointed tells me he thinks that mistakes that happened on his watch must be their fault, not his. What this President doesn’t realize is that owning up to your mistakes isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. In 1983, when Ronald Reagan was President, over 200 US marines in Beirut were killed in their barracks by a terrorist truck bomb. Almost immediately, President Reagan stepped up and took responsibility. He didn’t just let the blame fall on the local commanders. Similarly, look at how Tony Blair reacted to the Butler Report, which was the British investigation into their intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq invasion. He took responsibility for the failures, and he apologized. Both Reagan and Blair understood what leadership means. It means, as President Truman famously said, ‘the buck stops here.’ Where does the buck stop with this administration? Whether it’s our intelligence problems, the Abu Ghraib scandal, or our economic mess, this President not only won’t take any responsibility, he can’t even think of anything he should have done differently. President Bush likes to compare himself to Ronald Reagan. I don’t think Reagan would have answered your question like he just did. In fact, I doubt you’d even feel the need to ask Reagan such a question. Ladies and gentlemen, refusing to admit mistakes isn’t a sign of strength or moral clarity, it’s a sign of failed leadership.”

Now, I’ve obviously had time to think about this and polish the language. But the Reagan and Blair analogies popped into my head right when the question was asked. Kerry has lived and breathed politics for most of his adult life, so I’m surprised he didn’t think of them too. I think he was so focused on reinforcing his points about Iraq that he didn’t think of shining a light on the “leadership” aspect of the question.

In his appearances since the debate, Kerry has made statements along the lines of “Bush won’t admit his mistakes,” but he needs to connect that argument to the larger issue of leadership for his point to really resonate.