I don't know what level or kind of cognitive dissonance is required to believe that John Kerry is a "flip flopper," and then to support a President who says this a month ago:
We have a clear vision on how to win the war on terror and bring peace to the world."
--George W. Bush, July 30, 2004
and this today:
Asked on NBC television whether America could win its "war on terror", the president replied: "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the - those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."
--Guardian, August 30 2004
"Gotcha" journalism often works by juxtaposing quotes from different time periods and situations. But this is not one of those cases -- this is the exact same person talking about the exact same subject one month apart.
If anyone can point to some new information or event that came in during the last month that would explain Bush's change of mind, I'd love to hear it.
Some folks have also explained this statement as the President just misspeaking again, but that's bizarre. It was a direct question, and a direct answer.
I think that the notion of a "war on terror[ism]" is unhelpful for understanding America's place in the world today, but Bush has succeeded at using it to frame the domestic debate on these questions. To a large extent, the Democrat presidential campaign has accepted that framework for the debate and tried to challenge Bush within it.
If the Democrats have any sense they'll be making a devastatingly simple and effective ad contrasting Bush's claim to win the war on terror with his admission now that it can't be won.
UPDATE, 31 August 2004, 4.30 CDT: Mark Kleiman agrees with me that this gaffe is a huge opening for the Democrats, and needs to be hammered home.
Posted by robe0419 at August 30, 2004 9:21 PM