The problem is President Bush did not say it that way. When Matt Lousy asked him if we can win the war on terror, the first complete line of his answer was "I do not think we can win it".
Now, we can all say what he really meant, but to be honest, that has to be one of the worst possible answers he could give. What a soundbite. You can bet that will be in a commercial pronto. I mean, the President of the United States saying we cannot win the war on terror. Of course, Bush just did not say exactly what he meant, but the soundbite is now out there. And you know how these things work.
Edwards is already pounding away on the stump. His line is: "We believe we can win the war on terror, they do not".
If the Republicans are smart they will squash this one at the convention, possibly tonight (maybe Giuliani?).
Hopefully this too shall pass. But, I have posted the following many times here:
"Republicans only have themselves to fear".
Pres. did not say it like that. It was more like "I do not think we can win".. "it". He put heavy emphasis on the "it". Maybe you just don't know what the meaning of "it" is.
I see what you're saying, but most liberals I've talked understood the context. In fact, they're hoping Kerry keeps his mouth shut on this and re-focuses on domestic issues instead of the WoT. Now, we have Kerry chiming in and saying HE can WIN the War on Terror, which looks like an absolutely ridiculous and unrealistic promise now.
The public is much more savvy on the nature of the enemy than we were on Sept. 12th. Kerry is just making Karl Rove's job easier by the day.