Posted on 09/07/2004 2:17:21 PM PDT by Stoat
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday warned Americans about voting for Democratic Sen. John Kerry, saying that if the nation makes the wrong choice on Election Day it faces the threat of another terrorist attack.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign immediately rejected those comments as "scare tactics" that crossed the line.
"It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again and we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States," Cheney told about 350 supporters at a town-hall meeting in this Iowa city.
If Kerry were elected, Cheney said the nation risks falling back into a "pre-9/11 mind-set" that terrorist attacks are criminal acts that require a reactive approach. Instead, he said Bush's offensive approach works to root out terrorists where they plan and train, and pressure countries that harbor terrorists.
(AP) Vice President Dick Cheney speaks to supporters as he sits with his wife Lynne during a town hall... Full Image
Cheney pointed to Afghanistan as a success story in pursuing terrorists although the Sept. 11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden, remains at large. In Iraq, the vice president said, the United States has taken out a leader who used weapons of mass destruction against his own people and harbored other terrorists.
"Saddam Hussein today is in jail, which is exactly where he belongs," Cheney said.
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards issued a statement, saying, "Dick Cheney's scare tactics crossed the line today, showing once again that he and George Bush will do anything and say anything to save their jobs. Protecting America from vicious terrorists is not a Democratic or Republican issue and Dick Cheney and George Bush should know that."
Edwards added that he and Kerry "will keep American safe, and we will not divide the American people to do it."
The candidates are campaigning hard for Iowa's seven electoral votes. Democrat Al Gore narrowly won the state in 2000. Bush has campaigned in the state five times in the last month, and Cheney has made three stops.
Hours before Cheney spoke, the Congressional Budget Office said this year's federal deficit will hit a record $422 billion. Cheney, in praising Bush's tax cuts, noted that the CBO said this year's projected deficit will be smaller than analysts had expected.
Cheney replied, "No, I just tell the truth, and that French lookin' feller thinks it's hell."
I want to know if we have Kerry's comment today about being "confused and having trouble making up his mind" on tape.
I don't care if it's out of context, it's relevant.
No sense changing horses when your pulling a heavy load up hill. I like my horses. They're my Clydesdales. The other horses are high strung pretty boys not meant for heavy hauls.
Bush Team! 4 More Years!
"I WON'T HAVE IT!! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't!
Who's got the crybaby picture? Kerry's reaction is typical of the girly-men's hissy fits. I can just see him stamping his foot, putting his hands on his hips and saying "Well!"
Bottom line, the last thing we need after watching 400 kids killed and shot in the back is a president who is "sensitive" to terrorism or has some "anti-war" issues.
My brother committed suicide after 18 months in 'Nam. He returned injured and was subjected to degradation, spit, insults, drug addition, unemployment, etc. Kerry is an insult to all the men who served over there.
"Sounds like he is guaranteeing that if he and the President are reelected that we will not be attacked again"
Perhaps you might care to re-read the article, because nowhere in it is such a thing even remotely suggested, nor has it been suggested or implied by any statements from the Administration.
Naturally, the Vice President was speaking in terms of degree and likelihood. Terrorists are, of course, more likely to strike a weak nation than a strong one. One of the only consistent positions of Kerry has been in his refusal to endorse any form of proactive stance toward terrorism, preferring to adopt the approach of appeasement and endless, unenforced non-decisions via the U.N.
It's precisely this sort of blatant misrepresentation that will help Bush and Cheney in their reelection bid, as the vast majority of Americans are not dumb enough to buy it.
Please keep it up! You're helping our President tremendously!
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I hate to be the skunk at the tea party---and I'm as big a Cheney fan as you'll find---but I think Cheney's words were, well, "inelegant". Now that the Breck Girl has done his whiny reposte, it would be very magnanimous of Cheney to come out and say he did not mean it the way it came out.
(Although Cheney is not known for mis-speaking.)
On the other hand....it may have been a very artful bait to put Team Kerry into that petulant, whining frame of mind they were in the entire month of August.
All that said, I didn't like the comment when I saw it. And I love the guy!
Sorry, but I don't think that the Vice President has anything to apologize for. He spoke the obvious, documentable truth.
Sometimes the truth is inelegant, but we are at war and elegance needs to take a back seat to the defense of our nation.
I applaud him for his speech and I hope that he continues with similar themes in his speeches in the days ahead.
Please, don't take offense. I agree with everything Bush and Cheney have done in the WOT. We just happen disagree on this small quote...and I don't even disagree that strongly. Actually, the more I think about it, I think there's some kind of strategery behind it.
Speaking the truth, as our President and Vice President do, is always the best strategy :-)
The American public, at least those who are fully awake, is sick of Oprahfied spin. They understand that our nation and our culture are under attack by an enemy who cares nothing for nuance, "sensitivity" and appeasement. They want you, me,your families and everyone we know DEAD. That's all they care about....our President and Vice President understand this, and they know that the majority of the American public understands it as well, and they demand (and deserve) the unvarnished truth.
It's quite refreshing. :-)
I'm 100% for Bush/Cheney, but I think Cheney said this very badly. It does come off as a threat. He could have said it better.
John Edwards: The political equivalent of breast implants.
Well, I would suggest that the prospect of a Kerry Presidency is indeed a threat to the security of our nation, and the Vice President is "telling it like it is", as is is habit.
I think that we are unused to our elected officials, particularly the Vice President, in being quite so direct and this may strike some as being overly harsh. During these times, however, I believe that it's essential to make it clear that we must not follow a "business as usual" (endless appeasement of terrorists, terror supporting states and the U.N.)approach, but a more substantive one. This requires a change in style for delivering the message, and it may take a while to get used to.
My hope is that his speaking the honest, unvarnished truth won't turn off too many people but will instead help to illustrate some of the many distinctions that exist between President Bush, Vice President Cheney and their detractors.
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