Sweet Jiminy, This Is Getting Ugly

Ron Fournier, political reporter for the AP, is always spoken of quite highly by the ABC Note. And of course, the AP stories go everywhere. So when Mr. Fournier delivers the journalistic equivalent of the Rodney King beating, I, bouyant, light-hearted, and resolutely not-grim partisan that I am, have to avert my eyes.

But you can peek:

WASHINGTON - John Kerry (news - web sites) says he can "put a deal together" as president to drastically reduce U.S. troop strength in Iraq (news - web sites), a pledge reminiscent of Richard Nixon's secret plan to end the Vietnam War and Dwight D. Eisenhower's promise to stop fighting in Korea.

Nixon comparisons in the lead paragraph? Well, Ike is in there, too...

Like those Republican presidential candidates, the Democrat's blueprint for peace lacks detail and has critics squawking.

Oh, boy.

...when asked for hard evidence that his victory would produce a troops-reducing deal for America, neither Kerry nor his fellow senators cite anything other than their vague perceptions and utmost hopes.

In Jersey, we have a stronger, smellier term for "vague perceptions and utmost hopes".

...Levin wavered on the question of whether any foreign leader promised to get more involved in Iraq if Kerry wins. "It seems to be that's the basic implication," he said at first.

But has any leader made a commitment?

No, he replied.

End the suffering.

Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), D-Del., a top Kerry adviser, thinks Kerry could sway allies better than the president, said spokesman Norm Kurz. But that's only hypothetical — "I don't think there's a guarantee," he said.

Is it over yet?

Kerry voted against the first Persian Gulf War (news - web sites), which threw Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) out of Kuwait in 1991. Eleven years later, he voted to give Bush authority to use force against Saddam, then voted against a bill to help pay for the conflict as anti-war sentiment threatened to undermine his bid for the Democratic nomination.

OK, it's safe to look. Oh, golly. Kerry has surely charmed this reporter, hasn't he?

Well, there's always Theresa!

MORE: We have excerpts from the ABC News interview that led to the Nixon comparison here.

And if anyone can paste a clip to a similar beat-down of a major candidate, I would love to be reminded of it. I'm still in a bit of shock here.

UPDATE: Ron Brownstein of the LA Times is also highly regarded. From Kerry's perspective, this interview went a lot better, though it was guided by the same fantastical visions.

Comments

[ed]

Hmmm.

You know that, beyond a certain point, it becomes impossible to mock.

I think we've sped past that point.

[RandMan]

Well, after reading an article like this in the MSM I was worried. So I called my pastor and he assures me that Hell has not frozen over.

[Les Nessman]

I just knew you were a non-grim partisan. More like a happy warrior.

[TM]

Thanks. I'll accept that upgrade from "happy idiot".

[sym]

Well, at least he's being compared to winning candidates.

[TM]

LOL. And it suggests a new motto - "Kerry's The One".

[JK]

Who's Kerry?

[sophy]

Welcome to our game world, my friend asks me to buy some Metin2 yang .