Question about Kerry's use of the 'pottery barn'

[DaveJ]

From the moment he brought this up during the debate, I am still wondering why Kerry said that Bu$h should clean up his own mess in Iraq. Maybe I'm misinterpreting the situation, but it seemed like an indication Kerry did not plan on winning. I thought the explanation would come naturally, and still haven't been able to figure this out.

[justinsb]

1. Unfortunately whoever replaces Bush

will have alot of messes to clean up and will be very unpopular for having to do it - vast spending cuts (in every government program), tax hikes, Iraq etc.,

[whistle]

2. Send John Kerry a letter and ask him what he meant, since MSM

...reporters don't seem to have the balls to ask tough questions like these of any politician in Washington DC. I know that if you did send such a letter, the response would never likely be a truthful answer, but it just might demonstrate that voters out there want real answers.

I personally believe that John Kerry had perhaps hoped not to win, but for very different reasons. I think that Teressa Heinz was less than enthusiastic about becoming 1st lady in the hostile and vindicative environment of Washington DC and maybe even feared for her husband's physical health and life.

When the votes began coming in on election night and Kerry saw that the counts, rightly or wrongly, were building up in the Bush camp, Kerry may have gone through the night into the early morning processing the options both politically for himself and personally for his family and just said, "Fuck it! This is not worth the pain and agony to going in and fixing this rat's nest that Dim Son and all of the vile pricks who have entrenched themselves in this country's political affairs.

"I'm still the senator from Massachusetts and I can get these bastards in other ways. I love my wife, I love my family and I need that rock of family and love in my life."

Hey, I can't blame Kerry or any decent man or woman in public service for feeling that way. As for Bush, this is one dangerous man who like a teenager who refuses to clean up his room when told to, will only make a bigger mess of things as time passes.

[DaveJ]

3. Maybe I'm over-analyzing

Before the elections I didn't know much about Kerry, being from the midwest, but I wish we had more people like him in OUR state.

I still can't get over the impression that he really was not trying, and that it could have been the election version of MIHOP or LIHOP. Anyway if he didn't want it in 2004 then I would not expect to see him in 2008 either. Too bad, he would have been a great President.

[emulatorloo]

4. I think you are -- he wanted to win and almost did - as to Pottery Barn

He meant that if we broke Iraq's infrastructure w the invasion, we had to fix it. We couldn't just leave the country hanging w no water, electricity etc etc etc

Not that Bush had to fix it, because Bush is incapable -- he has left iraq's borders weak, can't get security together because of his incompetence, so nothing ever gets fixed,

[DaveJ]

5. Sounds like Kerry was putting it too politely

I think I'm beginning to get it.

Sounds like Kerry is a respectable man unlike his opponent. Kerry could have used the disrespectful mocking tone that Shrub used, but instead he put America's interests first and wanted to send a clear message in a respectable manner, like the way a parent must talk to an inattentive child in order to persuade him to learn.

[Blue Shark]

6. But the inattentive child is still driving the car. N/T

[Bill Bored]

7. You realize this remark was originally attributed to Colin Powell

in Woodward's book right?

That said, 2 indications that Kerry wanted to lose are:

1. He never blamed 9/11 on the Bush Admin's incompetence.

2. Wouldn't challenge the results in Ohio, or any other state for that matter. NM, NV and IA were lost by only 40,000 votes in the aggregate and would have tied the electoral college. But there wasn't a single recount.