I expected the GOP to begin attacking Kerry’s VP pick, no matter who it was, immediately. That said, it’s almost amusing to see some of the areas the Republicans are choosing to focus on.
With only six years in the Senate, Edwards’ experience on foreign affairs is not on par with say, John Kerry and Wesley Clark. Fine. But if that’s a disqualifying factor, we should be expecting George W. Bush to issue his resignation any day now.
The typical response to this is that things are different now — it’s a post-9/11 era. But this argument strains credulity. If Bush had no foreign policy experience but could be president during 9/11, why can’t Edwards, with some foreign policy experience, be the vice president after 9/11?
Here’s my favorite attack from the Bush campaign’s talking points:
Edwards Declines Foreign Leader Quiz. MSNBC’s CHRIS MATHEWS: “And back in the last presidential election, a Boston TV reporter, Andy Hill, asked the president — presidential candidate George W Bush if he could name the four world leaders of four hot spots around the world. They were Chechnya, Taiwan, Pakistan, India. Do you think that was a fair set of questions to put to a guy running for president?” SEN. EDWARDS: “No.” MATTHEWS: “Do you think it would be a fair question to put to you right now?” EDWARDS: “No. Absolutely not.” MATTHEWS: “So you don’t want to go that route? That was the option you have. I have the answers here, if you wanted to try, but since you don’t want to try, we’ll move on. If you — Are you sure? You don’t want to answer these questions? I know you know at least one of them. You know who’s head of…” EDWARDS: “Let’s don’t go there.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 10/13/03)
Does the GOP really want to use this as a disqualifying standard? If so, I’m delighted.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush is enduring sharp criticism for being unable to name the leaders of four current world hot spots, but President Bill Clinton says Bush “should, and probably will, pick up” those names.
The front-runner for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination faltered Thursday in an international affairs pop quiz posed by Andy Hiller, a political reporter for WHDH-TV in Boston.
Hiller asked Bush to name the leaders of Chechnya, Taiwan, India and Pakistan. Bush was only able to give a partial response to the query on the leader of Taiwan, referring to Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui simply as “Lee.” He could not name the others.
Bush sought the presidency with the thinnest resume of any candidate in generations. He was elected governor in Texas — a state in which the governor has very little power — in 1994. He decided to run for president five years later, but since the legislature only meets in Texas every other year, the guy had fewer than three years of actual governing experience before deciding he was qualified to be the leader of the free world, without ever having traveled abroad.
And now his campaign wants to make Edwards’ experience a campaign issue? Bring…it…on.
In fact, via Michael Froomkin, I saw the E.J. Dionne found a terrific quote from the last presidential campaign.
When you hear Republicans disparage Sen. John Edwards’s lack of experience, remember the words of Sen. Orrin Hatch, spoken to George W. Bush at a debate on Dec. 6, 1999.
“You’ve been a great governor,” Hatch declared of his rival for the Republican presidential nomination. “My only problem with you, governor, is that you’ve only had four and going into your fifth year of governorship… . Frankly, I really believe that you need more experience before you become president of the United States. That’s why I’m thinking of you as a vice presidential candidate.”
Which is exactly what Edwards was chosen for yesterday.