"Seven — And Climbing"

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCXCIII

From Deborah Orin at the New York Post yesterday.

It was bizarre yesterday to hear John Kerry criticize President Bush over the Iraqi prisoner-abuse scandal, considering Kerry publicly confessed to committing war "atrocities" when he served in Vietnam.

"Yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers," Kerry told "Meet the Press" in 1971, ticking off "free-fire zones" and burning villages in violation of the Geneva Convention.

In testifying before Congress in 1971, Kerry also claimed U.S. troops committed rapes, cut off ears, electrically shocked genitals, razed villages and poisoned food.

He now says some of his words were inappropriate but has never recanted his claims of U.S. atrocities by himself and others — recanting would mean saying he lied in sworn testimony to Congress.

Perhaps that's why Kerry at first was so cautious on the prisoner-abuse issue and yesterday spoke so gingerly as he said the U.S. response was "slow and inappropriate.

It's the latest case where Kerry's campaign seems hamstrung, with his record coming back to haunt him. That's fueled a near-panic in Democratic ranks that isn't really justified by the polls, although he is slipping.

Other worries:

* Kerry is having trouble exciting black voters — the most loyal Democrats — and black and Latino leaders (like Al Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile) complain his inner circle is all white.

* Kerry still has no war room, despite Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's warning that it's vital. Ex-Clinton staffer Howard Wolfson was hired to run a war room, but left after 41/2 days. Word is, other Kerry aides felt threatened.

So on a 1-to-10 scale, how high is the panic meter gone?

"Seven — and climbing," says a New York Dem.

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Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 05/07/04 06:50:20 AM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & John Kerry.