WashPost Endorses Kerry

Washington Post endorses Kerry for president in typically thoughtful fashion.

One or two quibbles. The Post says Kerry "understood early on the dangers of non-state actors such as al Qaeda." Not true. In his book, The New War, on non-state actors causing international mayhem, Kerry actually dismissed the Taliban as only interested in drugs. Also, the Post's comments sidesteps a major question raised by The New War and many of the senator's comments: Would John Kerry treat major terrorist activity merely as a law enforcement problem?

Bush charges he would and has plenty of evidence to back him up. Kerry has, on occasion, talked tough, as when he vowed to add two divisions to the United States military, a stand the Post mentions favorably in its endorsement. I, too, would like to see more troops made available to the commander in chief as we proceed in the war on terror and try to leave Iraq in some semblance of order (and to relieve reservists of the oppressive burden they've come to shoulder). But I just don't believe John Kerry is going to be a more energetic scourge of terrorists and malfunctioning, terrorist-encouraging regimes than George Bush.

The pivotal terror question of this election is: Can John Kerry deliver all that he promises, toughness equal to or exceeding that of George Bush, yet complimented by greater diplomatic finesse? I don't buy it. George Bush may be gruff, but his major diplomatic shortcoming is that he really wants to hunt down the bad guys--and will continue doing it his way even if your country objects to his methods (or in many cases the goal itself and the consequences that flow from its realizion). For me, this is the irreplacable asset of the George Bush administration and the number one reason to vote for him.

Can John Kerry also deliver the tax cuts he promises to everyone but the wealthy while keeping the economy on the upswing? Can he deliver fiscal discipline even as dreams of explosive government growth through universal health care and refuses to reform Social Security?

John Kerry wants to be all things to all people, just the kind fo person I don't trust.