GOP uses Dems' words against them
What do Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina have in common?
A. They're all potential 2008 presidential candidates.
B. They all voted in 2002 to give President Bush authority to use force in Iraq.
C. They're all quoted in a Web video about initial Democratic support for the war.
D. All of the above.
The answer is D.
The Republican National Committee quotes those Democrats, along with a few others, in a Web video posted on its site last week and sent to supporters.
Bayh, one of the earliest Democratic backers of the Iraq resolution, is quoted from a 2003 interview with Fox News after Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq or face invasion.
"I support the president's efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein," Bayh said. "The lessons we learned following September 11 were that we can't wait to be attacked again, particularly when it involves weapons of mass destruction. So regrettably, Saddam has not done the right thing, which is to disarm, and we're left with no alternative but to take action."
Bayh said last year that he didn't regret his support, even though no weapons of mass destruction were found and the aftermath of the war did not go smoothly.
More recently, Bayh told Democrats in New Hampshire last month that he voted in a way that seemed right at the time.
"It turned out some of the most important information we relied upon at that time just was not accurate," he said. "There were no weapons of mass destruction. The administration has proven to be terribly incompetent in the way they've carried this out. . . . Of course, we'd make different decisions based upon different facts as we know them today."
Tuesday, Bayh, Biden and Clinton voted with the majority of senators for regular progress reports on Iraq from the administration. All three also voted with most Democrats and against most Republicans in asking for a "plan with estimated dates for the phased redeployment of the United States Armed Forces from Iraq."
All three, however, said they are not advocating a specific timetable for withdrawal.
Edwards, last week, publicly declared his vote for the war was a mistake. "I was wrong," Edwards wrote in a published opinion piece. "I take responsibility for that mistake."
(Indy Star)
