My E-Mail to My Cousin

She wrote:

Jane.

> I've always voted Democratic, but this time I am

> just not sure.  Kerry seems

> a bit insincere, and his wife drives me nuts - I do

> not like her.   It scares

> me that Kerry might leave Iraq before the war is

> won.

>

> What do you think?



My response:



I hear you.  I like John Kerry but I was disappointed

that he was picked as our candidate.  We have an awful

governor's race out here in Washington -- it's hard to

talk people into voting "for" either Democrat.  And

the ads are horrible!!  They each spend millions to

tell us lies about the other guy.  Think how cheap and

how much more useful it would be if they spent just a

fraction of the dollars but told us what THEY stand

for.



BUT we have to get Bush out -- our economy and

standing in the world cannot take 4 more years of

this.  You ask  if Kerry will take us out of Iraq.  I

personnally hope so but he disagrees with me.  Here's

what he says:



Our military performed brilliantly in the war's first

mission: ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. Today,

Americans share a desire for Iraqis to live with the

blessings of democracy and security. John Kerry and

John Edwards have a practical plan to win the peace in

Iraq and bring our troops home.



We must change course in Iraq. Having gone to war, we

cannot afford to fail at peace. The United States must

take immediate measures to prevent Iraq from becoming

a failed state that inevitably would become a haven

for terrorists and a destabilizing force in the Middle

East.



John Kerry and John Edwards will make the creation of

a stable and secure environment in Iraq our immediate

priority in order to lay the foundations for

sustainable democracy. That is the right way to get

the job done and bring our troops home. John Kerry and

John Edwards believe the following principles should

guide American policy in Iraq right now and that if

these steps are not taken, options in the future will

become more limited. This needs to be an urgent agenda

to:



   * Internationalize, because others must share the

burden;

   * Train Iraqis, because they must be responsible

for their own security;

   * Move forward with reconstruction because that's

an important way to stop the spread of terror; and

   * Help Iraqis achieve a viable government, because

it is up to them to run their own country.



I copied that right off his web site at

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/national_security/iraq.html





Now I'm no fan of Robert Novak (he's the one that

"outed" the CIA covert operative Valerie Plame) but he

seems to have a pipeline into the Whitehouse and he

said in his 10/7 column that Bush's plan is to have a

quickie election in Iraq and then pull all the troops

out.  See:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/07/no.victory/index.html



However, I've heard so many lies from this Whitehouse

that I don't put too much store in Novak's comments.



I've probably made your choice murkier for you.  Well

whatever you decide -- please vote.



Good luck!



Jane