Posted on 03/08/2004 3:38:07 AM PST by kattracks
President George W. Bush's re-election campaign said it had no plans to withdraw campaign ads with footage of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks despite furious criticism from Democrats and some victims' relatives.Debate over the images has dominated the early days of Bush's race against Democratic challenger John Kerry, who criticised Sunday the president's handling of the Haitian crisis and said he would likely send a fact-finding mission to Iraq.
Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot defended the use of the brief images of September 11 as "entirely appropriate" to highlight Bush's leadership qualities and said he was "very comfortable" with the public reaction.
"We have not thought about pulling the ads," Racicot said in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
The ads, particularly brief footage of two firemen over a flag-draped coffin, have drawn sharp criticism from the Kerry camp, the leader of a large firefighters union and several relatives of the victims.
But Racicot said Sunday: "Recalling this moment is about the president's record of service during a very, very difficult moment. And it's also about what we're going to do about terrorism in the future."
Senator John McCain, who opposed Bush for the Republican presidential nomination four years ago, also said it was "perfectly appropriate" to use September 11 to remind voters of the incumbent's leadership.
But he added on ABC television, "I might not have used the ad of the coffin coming out, or the body coming out of the ruins with a flag on it."
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a prominent Democrat, called the ads "a little bit over the line."
"Those ads were politicizing the situation," he told CBS television.
Bush has opened his campaign for the November election with frequent references to the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center and Pentagon. He signaled Saturday he had no intention of stopping.
"I have an obligation to those who died," Bush said. "I look forward to the debate about who is the best to run this country in the war against terror."
Part of the anger over Bush's readiness to discuss September 11 on the campaign trail has been fueled by his decision to spend only an hour with a congressional panel investigating intelligence failures before the attacks.
Tad Devine, a senior adviser to Senator Kerry, said Bush's use of the images was "unfortunate" but added: "I think it's even more troubling this president appears to be refusing to cooperate with the 9/11 commission.
"I mean, he can only find one hour on his schedule to meet with them, when he spends countless hours traveling across this country raising money," Devine said on ABC television.
But Racicot, former governor of the western state of Montana, called Bush's agreement to meet with the commission "unprecedented" and said the panel had been provided with all the documents it requested.
"I believe that at the end of the day everyone would conclude that there's been a high level of cooperation," he said.
While Bush rested Sunday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Kerry campaigned in the southern state of Mississippi ahead of a new slate of Democratic contests this week for the nomination he effectively wrapped up last Tuesday.
In an interview with the New York Times, Kerry lambasted Bush for failing to back the ousted president of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide, who fled the Caribbean state last weekend amid an armed revolt and waning international support.
"I would have been prepared to send troops immediately, period" the Massachusetts senator said. He added the Bush administration had sent a wrong signal with its refusal to back a government it called flawed.
The United States "had understandings in the region about the right of a democratic regime to ask for help," he said. "And we contravened all of that. I think it's a terrible message to the region, democracies, and it's shortsighted."
Kerry, who first voted to authorize US military action in Iraq but has sharply criticized Bush's prosecution of the war, told Time Magazine he would "almost certainly" send his own team of fact-finding experts to Iraq.
"I may ask some Democratic colleagues and experts to go to Iraq and make this assessment so I have a strong basis on which to proceed," he was quoted as saying in an article scheduled to hit newsstands Monday.
Well said, Vic.
That's what "Liberals" have in mind for the United States. They love brutal dictatorship. It's the only way they can fulfill their agenda.
May I quote you?
Yes. The U.K. Independent was correct. If the people of the world could vote, they'd elect Kerry--not because they wish America well but because they hate the United States.
Kerry will definitely get the anti-American vote--domestically and abroad.
Pro-Democrat, anti-Bush propaganda in the Newsmedia--both domestic and foreign--will be relentless, subtle, insidious, and ruthless. We must neutralize it as best we can.
This will be the most important president election since 1860--perhaps in American history.
Agree. . .there will be no rest for the weary; and there is no end in sight for this fight for America's soul. We must be as doggedly determined and unrelenting, as those who oppose us.
Yes, the proverbial kick-in-the-face from those who survive and profit by way of the United States.
As much hate, of course, or more, for George Bush. Sad, because he deserves better abroad; and at home.
I should be so honored.
If Kerry wins, it will be a sad day for America, because it will expose [primarily] the stupidity and laziness of the American average Jo(e), and also the ability of the campaign staff of a "sure winner" to cause Bush to lose an election against a liberal/fascist, the opposite of everything this country was founded on. It will also demonstrate how our "media" are no news organizations, but mere propaganda-disguised-as-entertainment nozzles for the brain challenged sponges who listen to and watch their TV tripe.
In short, we will have a decision to make. Fight [literally], or leave. The commies [disguised as democrats and "reporters"] can not be allowed to gain one more inch of ground in this country...and the dumbed down idiots in our society can no longer be allowed to control our destiny.
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