How could they have been? John Kerry himself does not know the answer

How could they have been? John Kerry himself does not know the answer.He knows that he is the candidate of a party that hates its rival. If George Bush is re-elected, at least half the Democratic Party will have apoplexy. Mr Kerry is therefore aware that most Democrats are in no mood to cross-examine him on his views They have only one demand: that he win. How? Anyhow.Yet it may not work to his advantage that hardly any of his fellow Democrats are pressing him to define himself.

That only encourages a natural tendency towards vagueness and equivocation. There are candidates who talk the talk and there are candidates who walk the walk This one flips the flop It is hard to believe that a lot of voters will not notice. There was nothing in the speech for those who want to know who Mr Kerry is or what he believes and there was no answer to the basic question: what form would a Kerry presidency take? There was a good reason why those questions remain unanswered. There were passages in the speech to reassure those who fear that a Kerry presidency would be soft on terrorism, but there was also comfort for those who hate the Iraq war.

It was a perfectly crafted speech; one of the best of its kind that has ever been delivered. John Kerry set out to appeal to everyone and to offend no one. As Leila, a student at a London University said: “Under the UN, if it is really the UN, yes Muslims can go to Iraq and help. But not now, not under these liars who care nothing about Iraq and want to trick us again. We are not so stupid.”y.alihai-brown independent.co.uk
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