Cornyn says he's puzzled by Kirk's comments on Iraq
Posted on 09/15/2002 6:41:25 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Cornyn says he's puzzled by Kirk's comments on Iraq
Ex-mayor renews charges that AG questions his patriotism
09/15/2002
Republican Senate candidate John Cornyn said Saturday that he is mystified by "divisive" comments by Democratic opponent Ron Kirk, who suggested a day earlier that class and race were factors in Mr. Cornyn's willingness to strike Iraq regardless of the position taken by the United Nations.
Mr. Cornyn's response came even as he launched an attack ad in the Dallas market that says his opponent is soft on defense. And Mr. Kirk, after a Dallas speech Saturday, renewed charges that Mr. Cornyn is questioning his patriotism because of his deliberate approach to the potential war to remove Saddam Hussein.
Mr. Cornyn, the state's attorney general, told The Dallas Morning News on Saturday that he was baffled by Mr. Kirk's earlier comments and is not questioning his patriotism.
FILE 2001 / DMN John Cornyn (left) says he's not questioning Ron Kirk's patriotism. Mr. Kirk says class issues are a factor in Mr. Cornyn's stance on Iraq. |
"What's really puzzling to me is that he's taking policy differences between us and putting them in such personal and divisive terms," he said.
Mr. Cornyn said he hoped Mr. Kirk would clarify his remarks.
The potential war in Iraq led to an escalation in the Senate battle on Friday when Mr. Kirk, after speaking to a veteran's group rally in San Antonio, said Mr. Cornyn "would be just as deliberative as the rest of us" if he had more friends fighting on the front lines.
"Look who would be doing the fighting," Mr. Kirk said. "They're disproportionately ethnic; they're disproportionately minority."
"The point is, I would be curious to see if we would go to war without any thought of loss if the first half-million kids to go came from families who made $1 million," Mr. Kirk said.
Mr. Kirk said Saturday that his critical remarks were based on Mr. Cornyn's charge that Mr. Kirk is allied with Senate Democrats who are "foot-dragging" because they are not sure the case has been made for a strike against Iraq.
"If we're going to ask American men and women to fight another war, I want to make sure they have every bit of a chance to be successful in Iraq as they were in Afghanistan," he said after speaking to the DFW Federal Club, a Dallas-area gay and lesbian group. "That means having strong bipartisan support, strong domestic support and strong multinational support. ... Apparently everybody understands that except John Cornyn."
President Bush on Thursday made his case against Iraq before the United Nations.
"Everyone commended the president and stood with him after his speech to the United Nations," Mr. Kirk said. "It just bothers me ... [that] John Cornyn would question my patriotism because I didn't make a blanket pledge to go."
"I was deeply offended," he said.
Policy vs. personal
Mr. Cornyn said his differences with Mr. Kirk were based on policy issues, not personal matters.
"I do not believe we need the permission of the United Nations to protect our national security," he said. "We have a difference of opinion, but I'm not questioning his patriotism."
Mr. Kirk said would side with Mr. Bush, no matter what happened with the United Nations.
"I would give the president the benefit of the doubt," he said. "If he believes Saddam Hussein is an immediate threat to the United States, then we ought to be prepared to go to war."
Neither candidate has served in the military.
New ad
The flap between the major Senate candidates over a war with Iraq comes as Mr. Cornyn began pounding Mr. Kirk with a campaign ad on Saturday that portrays the former Dallas mayor as being soft on military defense and against the appointment of conservative judges.
The commercial, which debuted Saturday in Dallas area media markets, is the first negative ad targeting Mr. Kirk that has been paid for by the Cornyn campaign.
The 30-second commercial compares Mr. Kirk to New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"They are not accurate," Mr. Kirk said. "John Cornyn has been a Supreme Court justice and the attorney general, but all he's done is spent $4 million trying to distort my record."
Cornyn spokesman Dave Beckwith said the advertisements are correct. He pointed out that in fund-raising letters Mr. Kirk has pledge to keep conservatives off the Supreme Court and was opposed to the nomination of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to a federal appeals court.
In a vote along party lines, a Senate committee recently rejected Justice Owen's nomination.
Mr. Beckwith also criticized Mr. Kirk for being endorsed by the Washington-based peace group called a Council for a Livable World.
"The ads are 100 percent correct," Mr. Beckwith said.
At the Federal Club luncheon Saturday, Mr. Kirk said the country, as it focuses on war, should fight for issues of inclusion and equal participation here.
Mr. Kirk was endorsed in June by the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay lobby.
"We're Americans too. We have value and we have character," he said. "We're just as much committed to the defense of this nation and we deserve a voice in Washington."
E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com
Excerpt:
"Look who would be doing the fighting," Mr. Kirk said. "They're disproportionately ethnic; they're disproportionately minority."
"The point is, I would be curious to see if we would go to war without any thought of loss if the first half-million kids to go came from families who made $1 million," Mr. Kirk said.
Mr. Kirk said Saturday that his critical remarks were based on Mr. Cornyn's charge that Mr. Kirk is allied with Senate Democrats who are "foot-dragging" because they are not sure the case has been made for a strike against Iraq.
"If we're going to ask American men and women to fight another war, I want to make sure they have every bit of a chance to be successful in Iraq as they were in Afghanistan," he said after speaking to the DFW Federal Club, a Dallas-area gay and lesbian group. "That means having strong bipartisan support, strong domestic support and strong multinational support. ... Apparently everybody understands that except John Cornyn."
President Bush on Thursday made his case against Iraq before the United Nations.
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
"If we're going to ask American men and women to fight another war, I want to make sure they have every bit of a chance to be successful in Iraq as they were in Afghanistan," he said after speaking to the DFW Federal Club, a Dallas-area gay and lesbian group. "That means having strong bipartisan support, strong domestic support and strong multinational support. ... Apparently everybody understands that except John Cornyn."I wonder if he actually meant bi-sexual support ??
I wonder if this means he supports a quota to limit the number of minorities allowed to serve in the military?
We already know the RATS support efforts to eliminate military votes.
Wouldn't that be interesting. Then we could start work on quotas for poor people and a draft for the rich.
That's what I was wondering. My white husband fought in Operation Deny Flight and Operation Decisive Endeavor in the Bosnia-Hertz conflict. Missiles flying everywhere...
Preach it brother Dave!
I think we need to give Kirk more rope. Every day that goes by he alienates more moderate/conservative voters. He is desperately trying to make it a race(no pun intended). His numbers are not improving, thank God! Maybe he forgot the transgender vote...
FGS
I DO question Kirk's patriotism. Gratuitous race baiting in the middle of a war we did not start. That is what I accuse this self serving race baiter of doing.
His irresponsible and reprehensible self-serving political ploy could potentially cause a rift in our fighting forces except for one thing: our soldiers don't take this clown seriously. If he were smart enough to convince minority soldiers that we are being unfair to them, then we would see all hell break loose.
This self-serving unpatriotic lowlife would love nothing better than to divide our forces in a war he clearly is not taking seriously.
Whites total 70% of the population.
Kirk needs a lot of white votes if he is going to win this race and statements like the one he made about the military expose him as just another liberal black racist politician.
Neither candidate has served in the military.
I wonder if this means he supports a quota to limit the number of minorities allowed to serve in the military?
I don't know. Either way, there would be complaints, imho. Limit the numbers and you have EEOC complaint. Open-ended (no limit), then Kirk's complaint abounds. Lose-lose situation.
We already know the RATS support efforts to eliminate military votes.
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