Kerry Charts Complex Course on War
Candidate Balances His Support for Iraq Resolution With Criticism of Bush
By Edward Walsh
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 16, 2003; Page A08
CHARITON, Iowa, Dec. 15 -- The capture of Saddam Hussein has not changed Barbara Paulding's opinion about the war in Iraq or how she intends to vote in her precinct caucus Jan. 19 as Iowa Democrats begin the process of selecting their party's presidential nominee.
She was among about 50 people seated at tables in Donna's Place, a cafe here, Monday morning when one of the Democratic candidates came bounding in to begin another day of campaigning. Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) greeted the diners at their tables, delivered a standard stump speech and fielded questions on health care, steel imports, stem cell research and other topics. The subject of the war did not come up in the questioning until Kerry turned to Paulding, 66.
The retired teacher at Indian Hills Community College here said she was "ashamed" that her country had started the war.
"I'm as angry as you are about the way George Bush took us to war," Kerry replied. He went on to say that he voted for the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq because he thought it was important to "stand up to Saddam Hussein" and because of intelligence data indicating that Iraq still had weapons of mass destruction.
"The responsible position was to get the [weapons] inspectors back in and to go through the process of disarmament, which was exactly what we were doing under Bill Clinton," he said. "The irresponsible thing to do was to ignore the inspectors, ignore the building of a coalition and rush to war."
Neither Kerry's answer nor the capture of Hussein swayed Paulding from her commitment to the Democrats' leading and most vocal critic of the Iraq war, former Vermont governor Howard Dean. "We had no right to be there in the first place," she said.
Kerry has been struggling to win over voters such as Paulding from the beginning of his campaign. When he entered the race, he was widely seen as a formidable candidate, a decorated Vietnam War veteran with years of experience in both foreign and domestic policy. But Dean has been able to ride a wave of antiwar sentiment among hard-core Democrats to the front of the race. Meanwhile, Kerry has been forced to chart a more complex course, simultaneously defending his support for the use of force while sharply criticizing Bush's conduct of the war.
Whether the dramatic capture of the deposed Iraqi president will change the political equation in the Democratic race is not clear. But in the interview, Kerry suggested that Dean's antiwar position should now come under closer scrutiny.
"I think it raises serious issues about people who didn't have a position," he said. Asked if he was referring to Dean, he said, "There are several people in the race, but there is certainly one person who didn't."
At a news conference in Des Moines, Kerry was more critical of Dean, saying that he had just delivered "a foreign policy speech written by somebody else."
"I think it underscores the question of experience," he said. "There really is a very significant difference here. Who is ready to be president of the United States and [provide] what we need today? When you talk about tone and nuance, I think particularly the tone and nuance have been lacking in most of what has preceded us in this campaign. What people want is somebody who can lead America to a safer and stronger place, who has a demonstrated record of leadership. I have that record."
Kerry said Dean had voiced support for a congressional resolution that "in fact gave the president authority to go to war" and had said that Hussein should be disarmed. "Now how can you have it both ways?" he asked. "What kind of leadership is that? Let's be accountable for our words. Those are the words he spoke; that's the position he took. Now he's speaking a very different language."
Kerry's theme since Hussein's capture has been that it creates "a golden opportunity" to do what he said Bush should have done before invading Iraq: build an international coalition to help in the war and its aftermath. "You can bet that our troops would want us to do whatever it takes to bring in other countries and reduce the target on the backs of our troops," he said at a senior citizens center in Des Moines.
Kerry's criticism of Bush's conduct of the war and his call for the United States to reach out to other countries for help in Iraq was well received in the Iowa towns he visited during a three-day campaign swing. He and his aides believe that he is slowly climbing back into contention in this key state. According to an internal poll made available by Kerry aides, he has moved to within 4 percentage points of Dean in Iowa and is in a virtual dead heat with Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), the early front-runner here.
His converts do not include Paulding, but that does not mean that he has not made an impression on Dean supporters like her.
"I'm very impressed with Senator Kerry," Paulding said. "If he gets the nomination, he's going to have my full support."
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