Gottlieb on Kerry's Militarism

Marty seems to really understand Democrats...

Carried too far, however, the center-seeking gimmicks can lower the level of discussion, putting empty gestures and symbols too front-and-center.

Kerry sometimes seems to be saying, “I can’t be a liberal. Look at my medals!” That kind of mindless political opportunism — insulting to the intelligence of voters — could do more harm than good.

Time to move on. The pre-emptive strike is over. Now the task is to build something.

...but doesn't really have much of a clue about Republicans...

Kerry has only done about military values what the Republicans have done about race: Sensitive to the charge of being a one-race party, have bent over backward to put their few blacks and minorities front and center at their conventions.

It’s just a matter of each party reaching out to the political center, trying to claim that it is not in the grip of some unrepresentative group.

Republicans DO actually care about African-Americans. Condi Rice and Colin Powell didn't get there because of their color...and isn't that REALLY what Dr. King's dream was all about? Liberals tend to think there is some sort of political motivation about these kinds of appointments, but the fact of the matter is that President Bush believed these two African-Americans were very much so qualified to do the job. And they are.

Marty doesn't seem to think so...