John Kerry Calls Lieberman's "Scare Tactics" a Disgrace

John Kerry was on The Young Turks last night. We talked about his health care proposal, Iraq and how to effectively fight terrorism. He was most forceful when it came to Joe Lieberman's statements about Iraq. When we asked the Senator what he thought of Lieberman's remarks that the plan Ned Lamont and Senator Kerry support would strengthen the terrorists, this is what he had to say in response:

"That's bunk. That's scare-tactic bunk. And it's an unfortunate statement from somebody of Joe's quality, and I regret it....

I'm not going to stand for those scare tactics, that's exactly what the Republicans have been doing for the last years. They avoid a real discussion by throwing out a slogan and they scare people....

It's a disgrace that people are playing to the lowest common denominator of American politics, which is fear."

Those are some pretty strong words. Senator Kerry seems to be taking the lead in fighting back against the Republican/Lieberman talking points. And that's a welcome sight.

You can watch the clip of the interview where Senator Kerry made the remarks about Joe Lieberman here.

And here's the whole interview with Senator Kerry.

It's about time that Democrats realized that you can't sit back and let Republicans fire off these ridiculous talking points about how the Democrats strengthen our enemy and not respond. Senator Kerry should know this best of all after his experience in not responding to the smear campaign of the Swift Boat Veterans quickly enough. And it appears he does know it and is now one of the leading advocates of fighting back quickly and aggressively.

Senator Kerry's comments when added to Senator Feingold's statements about how Joe Lieberman just "doesn't get it," gives me hope that we finally have some Democratic leaders who do get it -- and who are now ready to fight back.

And, of course, it should be pointed out that for the 88th time in a row, who is the man delivering the most strident Republican talking point against Democrats? The so-called Democratic Senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman.

The Young Turks