Paulsen on Iraq: 3 positions in one answer

We all know that Erik Paulsen refuses to take a position on Iraq. He doesn't have any position listed on his website, but that's no surprise--his website is pretty much devoid of content. Chris Truscott tried valiantly to nail down Paulsen's position, but that's more difficult than it sounds -- because he apparently has at least three.

Paulsen's possible positions include the following:

1. “It is absolutely critical that the phase-down we’ve seen in troop levels continues.”
2. “It’s really pure folly for any congressional candidate or anyone to say that they know best or what the timeline should be. That’s kind of how we got into this mess in the first place.”
3. The Iraqi government should move forward with their timeline for withdrawal. (see MNBlue for some commentary on each of his positions)
   

So, a quick recap: either he's decided he agrees with Ashwin Madia's common-sense policy on Iraq, or he has no idea what to do, or he doesn't want to have anything to do with it. Wow. Paulsen managed to cram an impressive lack of leadership into one short sound bite.

It seems to me that Paulsen's lack of position pretty much sums up his approach to the whole race. He's hoping that people will just accept that he's "like Jim Ramstad," and he won't have to articulate his positions on the issues. He knows that he's sunk once people start asking for his positions on the issues. Not only doesn't he have any positions, but he seems quite willing to admit that he doesn't even know what to do.

Like this post?
Paulsen on Iraq: 3 positions in one answer	Subscribe by RSS	Subscribe by Email
What is this?	What is this?