With President Bush’s approval numbers spiraling below 50 percent, and administration officials under daily grilling over prisoner abuse, and war and honor, you would think these would be heady days for the opposition. But John Kerry, the Democratic challenger is out on the hustings talking about health care, job retraining, and bonus pay for teachers. And while these issues might play well in Peoria, that’s also the only place they’re making headlines.
Experts say that Kerry is obeying one of the fundamental principles of politics, that when your opponent is in over his head, you don’t try to push him under. Others say that by going AWOL on the biggest political issue of the day, Kerry is failing to lead and damning the Democrats to defeat once again in November. Will Kerry get his war on?
Guests:
James Rubin, foreign policy advisor to John Kerry
Joe Klein, political columnist for Time Magazine
Ryan Lizza, senior writer for the New Republic.