One of John Kerry’s obvious goals — in all three debates — was to return the public’s focus onto Osama bin Laden. It’s been effective in every instance, and even prompted Bush, in the first debate, to utter the embarrassing, “I know Osama bin Laden attacked us; I know that” response.
But last night’s bin Laden mistake might be the one that changes the election.
Kerry: When the president had an opportunity to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, he took his focus off of them, outsourced the job to Afghan warlords, and Osama bin Laden escaped. Six months after he said Osama bin Laden must be caught dead or alive, this president was asked, “Where is Osama bin Laden?” He said, “I don’t know. I don’t really think about him very much. I’m not that concerned.”
We need a president who stays deadly focused on the real war on terror.
Schieffer: Mr. President?
Bush: Gosh, I just don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. It’s kind of one of those exaggerations.
I can’t believe Bush’s allegedly brilliant staffers didn’t have him ready for this one. It was such an obvious line of attack and Bush couldn’t have handled it any worse.
First, he called it a Kerry “exaggeration” when it was Bush who was lying. Here’s what Bush said on March 13, 2002:
“As I say, we haven’t heard much from [bin Laden]. And I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don’t know where he is. I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”
Busted.
This response not only caught Bush saying something that clearly wasn’t true, it also reminded everyone that Bush let the terrorist who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks get away, while also reminding everyone that Bush is “not that concerned” about catching him. It’s a trifecta — for Kerry.
Second, Bush didn’t even have to go there. Kerry talked about being focused on the war on terror and Bush could have gone in a number of different directions. Instead, he chose the one response that wasn’t true. It was a gaffe for the ages.
Slate’s Chris Suellentrop makes a compelling case that this mistake could cost Bush dearly — and it may be the best gift the Kerry campaign could have asked for.
By denying that he had ever minimized the threat posed by Bin Laden, Bush handed Kerry, during the very first question, the victory in the post-debate spin. The Kerry campaign’s critique of the president is that he has doesn’t tell the truth, that he won’t admit mistakes, and that he refuses to acknowledge reality. Bush’s answer played into all three claims. Within minutes, the Kerry-Edwards campaign e-mailed reporters the first of its “Bush vs .Reality” e-mails, complete with a link to the official White House transcript. A half-hour later, the Democratic National Committee circulated the video.
If the president had ignored Kerry’s charge, everyone would have forgotten about it. By contesting it, Bush handed Kerry two gifts: As delighted as the Kerry people must be by yet another untruthful statement from the president, the substance of this particular statement is even more important. Dick Cheney’s false declaration that he had never met John Edwards didn’t help the Bush campaign, but this error will be orders of magnitude more damaging. Video of the vice president standing next to Edwards at a prayer breakfast is embarrassing. Video of the president saying he isn’t concerned about the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks is devastating.
That last point shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s bad enough when a candidate makes a mistake that the print press can highlight. But when there’s video evidence of his mistake, it offers the networks (and Jon Stewart, Leno, Letterman, etc.) the chance to show how wrong Bush was over and over again.
If the media emphasizes the Mary Cheney story over this blockbuster, it would be journalistic malpractice.