I watched John Kerry

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I watched John Kerry on Meet the Press this morning. I didn’t catch all of it. But I think I saw the most important parts.

Russert had his standard line of baiting, gotcha questions. But what struck me was how well Kerry held up under the questioning. He struck the right notes about the administration’s ideological rigidity, lack of preparation, and constant state of being at war with itself. And he was cool enough and quick enough on his feet to show how many of Russert’s gotcha questions — meant to show contradictions or flip-flops — really showed no such thing.

One dig against Kerry is that he’s waffled on Iraq. In an article tomorrow, the Washington Post says that “he has come under fire for sounding ambivalent on the Iraq war and for failing to connect with the antiwar, anti-Bush voters dominating the nominating process.”

But I thought his explanations of his stance rang true. An evolving position isn’t the same as a waffling or indecisive one. After all, we already have a president who is dogmatic and inflexible and confuses those qualities for leadership. And look where that’s gotten us …

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