As his editorial in the USA Today confirms, John Edwards has been listening to his own voice for so long nothing else penetrates his expensively-coiffed noggin. After the mandatory salute to the US armed forces and a mini-tirade about President Bush’s alleged lies about Iraq, Edwards (channeling John Kerry) proposes a to-do list for the current administration. The problem for Kedwards is they have no original proposals and can only offer a leftist spin on what the president has already accomplished.

John Kerry and I believe that there needs to be an urgent effort right now to increase international support to decrease the burden on our troops.

Maybe we should ask our allies like Britain, Poland, and South Korea! Wait, they are already in Iraq with us. How about Italy, Ukraine and the Netherlands? Oops, already there. Edwards probably trusts Kerry to garner additional support by calling our allies the “trumped-up, so-called coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought, and the extorted.” (I’m still waiting for the breakdown of that list, BTW, and am especially interested in which ones are trumped-up as opposed to extorted.)

The president should start by convening a summit meeting of the world's major powers and Iraq's neighbors this week, while he's in New York at the United Nations.

Does it really have to be proclaimed a “summit” to count? The President has spoken to the U.N. on many occasions, and in fact, he just spoke to them this morning. I suppose it’s only a “summit” when you give freedom-endorsing nations like Sudan some airtime to attack the US policy in the Middle East. And it’s never quite official until some French-speaking personage fusses about the president’s “cowboy” nature. Next suggestion, please.

. . . the president must accelerate the training of Iraqi security forces so that the Iraqi people can take control of their own country.

It would certainly be convenient for the US if the Iraqis could learn this self-security thing a little faster. Horribly inconvenient for Kedwards, though, as it would eliminate their one consistent talking point.

And finally the president needs to take immediate steps to hold promised elections to put Iraq on a path to democracy.

Edwards was apparently too busy pretending to eat lunch at Wendy’s and getting his hair done the day we handed power back to the Iraqi people. And exhibits his complete lack of analytical ability in not realizing the violence in Iraq is increasing precisely because elections are projected for January.

This is what John Kerry and I would do. This is what George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have refused to do.

Edwards really has been listening to his own voice for too long and has failed to keep up with his running-mate’s shifting platform. But one can’t blame him too much in that respect, watching Kerry change positions on Iraq is like being drunk on a carousel: everything is spinning so fast you can’t focus and if you try to get off you’ll fall flat on your face.

What really surprises me isn’t Edwards tone-deaf summary of the war but his lack of advocacy skills. Isn’t this the man who produced massive jury awards by channeling the voice of an unborn infant? I guess when you’re channeling John Kerry you just get . . . John Kerry.

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