The Great Alliance-Builder

In 1991, George HW Bush assembled a coalition of dozens of nations, as disparate as Denmark, Syria, the Ukraine and New Zealand, to fight the first Gulf War against Saddam Hussein. It was perhaps the greatest coalition ever assembled in history, at least diplomatically-speaking.

13 years later, John Kerry - who would subsume US diplomacy and security to "coalitions" he'd somehow manage to assemble from nations that rejected George W. Bush after 18 months of trying - couldn't put together a "coalition" of his former comrades in arms.

Carroll Andrew Morse writes about Kerry's shortcomings as an alliance-builder.

Money quote:

John Kerry was handed what should have been a baby-step in the presidential-simulator. Manufacture an alliance of veterans. For a candidate who is centering his foreign policy on the notion of building alliances, creating an alliance of men with whom he shared common background should have been an easy task.

John Kerry failed to build a credible alliance. Unilaterally speaking for the group of 23 veterans represented in the 1969 photograph highlighted the failure. His use of the photograph was based on a fraudulent coalition of just 3 of the 23.

The only thing that mattered to Kerry about the 19 men in the photo was how their image could be used to advance his leadership ambitions. He ignored the fact that they might not want to be used as part of his campaign. The views and concerns of the little people did not matter. He failed the fundamental challenge of alliance building -- accommodating people with disparate interests.

Read the whole thing.

They say the personal is political. George W. Bush is an affable guy with the ability to close a deal in real life; its' shown in his politics, in Texas and internationally. He's a fellow who's been able to act decisively to deal with crises in his personal life, as he has with crises in the nation's life.

So what does John Kerry's personality say about him as a leader? The man who:

• Can't run a competent presidential campaign against an incumbent who, let's be honest, was dealt a soft hand politically-speaking
• Passes the buck for his failings down to his subordinates (remember the skiing incident?)
• is by all accounts an imperious man with an exaggerated sense of self-worth (remember the incidents where he jumped the line in the department store)?
• Most importantly, crumbles when the pressure is on. Do you think he can retire to Nantucket and quit talking to the press if he is (heaven forfend) President, and a serious crisis erupts?

Ugh. No.

No.

Posted by Mitch at September 20, 2004 08:35 AM | TrackBack