Massachusetts Senators Oppose Bush Address
By Scott Brooks
WASHINGTON — Amid a barrage of Democratic assaults on President Bush Tuesday, both before and after he delivered his State of the Union address, the Bay State’s two senators sharply criticized the president’s speech.
While many Americans awaited evidence of a “smoking gun” in Iraq, John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy separately said they were unconvinced of the merits of Bush’s war plan. Kennedy, who said Congress will oppose Bush’s “non-solutions,” said he will introduce a resolution to require the president to reappear before Congress and “present convincing evidence of an immediate threat” before sending troops to Iraq.
“The president had an opportunity tonight to change the direction of this nation, and he failed,” Kennedy said in a statement. “He identified the right challenges, but I didn’t here anything approaching the right solutions for America.”
Kerry, whose verbal assaults on the president have been central to his early White House campaign, was equally clear in his statement: “The state of our union is strong; it’s the state of President Bush’s leadership that’s been so weak.”
Tuesday night’s criticisms cap off a week that saw highly publicized criticisms of the president from an array of Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and former President Bill Clinton. Both Kerry and Kennedy spoke out against the president in several speeches leading up to Tuesday night’s address.
Their criticisms weigh against a president whose latest approval ratings are hovering around 60 percent — well below the 83 percent Bush enjoyed during last year’s address. While presidential approval ratings tend to increase just after a national address, Kerry said Bush’s war message will produce no spike in popularity over the long term.
“Any time the president gets to talk to 58 million Americans for one hour in prime time, basically unopposed, he ought to be able to pop it up a little bit,” Kerry said. “The question is, where are you in a week?”
Both Kerry and Kennedy were wide-reaching in their criticisms, faulting the president on his economic stimulus plan, his support of privatized health care for seniors and particularly on his policy on Iraq.
“The American people wanted the president to reassure them that war is still the last resort,” Kennedy said. “He did not make a persuasive case that the threat is imminent and that war is the only alternative.”
Speaking before Bush’s address, Kerry said the administration has failed to educate Americans and their allies. Instead, he said, the administration has insulted other governments and alienated allies, noting Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s recent reference to Bush critics France and Germany as “old Europe.”
Saying the administration has handled its international role in a “unilateral, overbearing, high-handed way,” Kerry said the administration needs to be “a little less confrontational, a little less insulting” in building its case for war. He did not question the president’s threats against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, but complained instead of Bush’s weak show of respect for the United Nations process.
“It’s not whether you do it; it’s how you do it,” he said. “I think this administration has made this road much more difficult by doing it in not a very effective way.
“If the administration had worked harder these past months at bringing people on board – and frankly, showing a little more respect to the process – we wouldn’t have as many allies as angry at us as they are,” Kerry said. “Clearly there is a gap here in compliance. “That puts him in breach.”
While leveling harsh words at the Bush camp, Kerry singled out Secretary of State Colin Powell as a voice of reason within the administration. Kerry said Powell’s recently elevated rhetoric should be an indication that Hussein is “on the wrong road.”
“If the rest of the administration had behaved the way Colin Powell has, people would have a greater sense of credibility in what they’re doing,” Kerry said.
Published in The New Bedford Standard Times, in Massachusetts.
