Quote:
Originally posted by Rudey
Really and what was his position a year ago??
-Rudey
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CNN) -- Democratic front-runner Sen. John Kerry took issue Thursday night with a top Republican who earlier in the day questioned his credentials to be president.
While debating his six rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination in Greenville, South Carolina, Kerry said President Bush broke his promise that he would "build a legitimate global coalition" and go to war only "as a last resort."
"He did not go to war as a last resort, and I think he fails the test of the commander in chief," said Kerry, a decorated Navy veteran of the Vietnam War.
"I intend to hold him accountable in this election, because the American people's pockets are being picked to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, and our troops are at greater risk than they needed to be," said the senator from Massachusetts.
"And we deserve leadership that knows how to take a nation to war if you have to."
Earlier in the day, Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, questioned Kerry's ability to lead the nation in the post-September 11 era. (Full story)
While calling Kerry's service in the military "honorable," Gillespie faulted Kerry's voting record in the Senate, where he is serving in his fourth term.
"His long record in the Senate is one of advocating policies that would weaken our national security," Gillespie said.
Kerry, along with Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, voted to support the war in Iraq. Edwards says his vote was based on intelligence information and that an independent commission should be formed to determine if that information was credible.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/...ain/index.html
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