When John Kerry asserted that multiple foreign leaders would prefer a Kerry administration to a Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney had a cute rhetorical idea.
Challenging Kerry’s claim of foreign support, Cheney asked, “What is he saying to foreign leaders that makes them so supportive of his candidacy?”
Fair enough, Dick. The truth, of course, is that the leaders Kerry alluded to support his campaign because they’ve grown frustrated with dealing with the consequences of the Bush administration’s failed policies. Kerry didn’t have to promise them anything; these leaders just want the U.S. to change its leadership. They have, in effect, joined the Anybody-But-Bush camp.
But as long as Cheney has set the standard, let’s apply it to his boss.
Bob Woodward’s book explains that Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar made a pledge to Bush to lower gas prices shortly before the U.S. presidential election. Some of us think this sounds like a secret deal, while others dismiss it as a deal-related program activity.
But if Cheney is right, isn’t it fair to ask Bush to explain what it is he said to Bandar that makes him “so supportive of his candidacy”? If the White House is so concerned about Kerry striking secret deals with foreign leaders, shouldn’t the rest of us be equally worried about the secret deals Bush is striking?
Just a thought.