Great Question

This was about half way through the interview between Presidential Candidate John Kerry and Tim Russert. I didn't actually watch the interview, so it's possible this didn't play as bad as it reads.

"MR. RUSSERT: Senator, again, in the interest of candor and clarity, you have promised to create 10 million jobs...

SEN. KERRY: Yep.

MR. RUSSERT: ...and cut the deficit in half in your first four years.

SEN. KERRY: Yes, sir.

MR. RUSSERT: If you don't achieve those goals, would you pledge that you would not seek re-election?"

Hmmmmm. I don't know exactly what the point of that question is; does Russert really think that Kerry should commit to not run for reelection based on that set up? For one thing, the House at least will probably remain in Republican Hands, and they not be interested in passing Kerry's budgets or jobs creation bills. For another, world events might intervene in between now and then. At any rate, let's hear Mr. Kerry's answer.

"Well, it would depend on the circumstances. If I don't because there's a war or
something terrible happens, of course I'm not going to make that pledge. But if I walked away from my promise, which I won't do, I wouldn't deserve to be re-elected. Look, I know I can create 10 million new jobs for this country. Bill Clinton, when he ran in 1992, pledged to create eight million. Guess what, Tim? He created 11 million. We're now a bigger economy with more people. There's no reason we can't create 10 million jobs. But you can't do it with George Bush's failed policy.

I will make this country and our economy stronger by restoring fiscal responsibility. And what I've promised to do--and I have a plan. George Bush has no plan except tax cuts that take place seven years from now for the wealthiest Americans. My plan is to give 98 percent of all Americans a tax cut now. I will give 99 percent of all American businesses a tax cut now. And I pay for it. And I show precisely how I pay for it. And I'm going to reinstate the pay-as-you-go principle that we lived by in the 1990s so that, if we're going to have a program, we're going to have to show Americans how we pay for it."

Although the MSNBC Story about the interview does reveal the positive news that Kerry does have a plan for Iraq (which you all should know, frankly), the interview itself seemed to consist of Russert reading off Republican attacks on Senator Kerry and asking him to respond. It seemed a lot less softball than the infamous Presidential appearance on Meet the Press a couple of weeks back.