Burnt Orange Report

Beldar Won't Like this

By Byron LaMasters

Over the weekend, the conservative Beldar Blog posted that "Kerry's no Ike", differenciating how in his opinion Dwight Eisenhower's election in 1952 in the middle of a war is from the 2004 election. As he concludes, Bedlar writes:

When John Kerry says, "Trust me and I'll fix things in Iraq and with the Global War on Terror" — what possible basis can you have to give him that trust, other than a faith so blind that it has become genuinely reckless?

I could offer my reply, but why don't I just let Ike's son, John Eisenhower do the talking:

As son of a Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration’s decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry.

The fact is that today’s “Republican” Party is one with which I am totally unfamiliar. To me, the word “Republican” has always been synonymous with the word “responsibility,” which has meant limiting our governmental obligations to those we can afford in human and financial terms. Today’s whopping budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion.

Responsibility used to be observed in foreign affairs. That has meant respect for others. America, though recognized as the leader of the community of nations, has always acted as a part of it, not as a maverick separate from that community and at times insulting towards it. Leadership involves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other countries as practically devoid of significance. Recent developments indicate that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident leadership with hubris and arrogance.

[...]

Sen. Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dangers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I will vote for him enthusiastically.

The trust given to John Kerry by a lifetime registered Republican for fifty years, who saw his father's Republican Party take a wild and radical turn to the right in recent years is no small issue. This is not someone putting blind faith or reckless trust in John Kerry, but rather someone who despite a lifetime of supporting Republicans, has seen the Bush administration take a rapid departure away from the leadership role that America has played in the world since World War II.

Will anyone listen? Or will John Eisenhower just get the Ron Reagan Jr. from the right?