Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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Kerry just made two moves that I think are tremendously boneheaded mistakes. The left and the right agree that Iraq is Issue One, that you cannot be elected president unless the American people think you handle this difficult and important mission over there. Kerry came out as the anti-war candidate this week, and I thought that was a much stronger position than his "well, I support the troops, but not the mission, sort of, but, you see, this, but that", etc.

But if you want to be the next president, and the Prime Minister of Iraq comes to Washington to address a joint session of Congress, where should you be?

In the U.S. Capitol chamber!

Not in a Columbus, Ohio firehouse!

Senator, if you win, you're going to have to work with this guy - or his successor. Kerry should have tried to get a meeting with Allawi himself, to try to make the challenger look like Bush's equal (when foreign leaders come to the U.S., they often meet with leaders of both parties on Capitol Hill. It's just common courtesy and protocol).

Major mistake number two: Even if you can't be there, you don't take a jab at Allawi.

"The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy, but the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story," Kerry said.

Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress that democratic elections will take place in Iraq in January as scheduled, but Kerry said that was unrealistic.

"The United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq," Kerry told reporters outside a Columbus firehouse. "There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone."

Smarter tone: You try to co-opt Allawi. "It was great to see the leader of Iraq come to America and thank this nation and our men in uniform for all that they have done for his nation. I understand that during this time, he feels a need to stand in solidarity with President Bush. But frankly, I think the Iraq people would be better off with a broader coalition, and assistance from around the world. Prime Minister Allawi probably couldn't say this in front of his hosts, but it's clear that this policy hasn't worked the way we hoped, and it's time to try a different strategy. We need all of our allies working at our sides in this..." Etcetera.

Instead, Kerry is essentially calling Allawi a liar, and continuing his gloom and doom rhetoric about Iraq. Major, major miscalculation, in my humble opinion.

[Posted 09/23 01:06 PM]