speech bit

[Jester]

"Well, he did try to refute it at least once. That's where we get the "I actually voted for [it]... before I voted against it." quote. "

But that's how the Senate works. Being a Senator isn't like being a Governor, or a President. Your vote is tradeable. Bills are malleable, and have nine lives. Funding bills need to be approved or rejected, which is related but distinctly different from actual policy. Everyone in the Senate has a completely crazy voting record. That's how the system works. Sometimes you'll support a thing in principle, and (in Kerry's case) actually have a similar, alternate proposal. So you'll vote against it, hoping to support the similar alternative. But what does that mean to someone making an attack ad? That you voted "against" the thing, implying opposition to the principle as well as the details. Maybe all you didn't like was the ins and outs of the funding. Or maybe you thought there was a better time or way to go about the same thing. Who knows.

The Senate is complicated. Accusations in speeches are not. John Kerry's record, like pretty much every Senator's record, is decidedly mixed.

Jester