"I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."- John Kerry

polipundit ^ | 3/17/04

[finnman69]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/17/politics/campaign/17CAMP.html?hp

The new Bush television commercial, which began running in the swing state of West Virginia on Tuesday, sought to discredit Mr. Kerry's defense credentials by attacking him for voting against the $87 billion bill last year that financed operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Kerry had voted for the resolution authorizing war in Iraq, but White House aides said he later expressed enough ambivalence about the war to let them portray him as opposing a war that enjoys wide support among Americans.

Mr. Kerry dismissed the advertisement. "I understand that the Republican attack machine has welcomed me to West Virginia today with another distortion and misleading statement," he said.

"I'm not going to worry about them misleading because we're going to just keep pounding away at the truth," Mr. Kerry told the crowd of veterans, who wore a rainbow of caps, jackets and pins representing all the military branches and recent conflicts. "We're going to build an army of truth-tellers."

Mr. Kerry added, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it," referring to an amendment he supported that would have rescinded some tax cuts to finance the war.

[sirshackleton]

"Seriously officer, I was sober when I drove to the bar...I wasn't drunk until after I left."

[af_vet_1981]

Mr. Kerry added, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it," referring to an amendment he supported that would have rescinded some tax cuts to finance the war.

Free advertising

[mewzilla]

J is for Janus-faced.

[goldstategop]

Kerry is a clumsy dissembler. Bubba would get away with this kind of stuff but not our boy. He's not in the same league.

[Iron Matron]

JOHN KERRY IS AN INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST

Yes he is. I expect an uprising if this slimey, socialist fool cheats during the election, or if our military vote is left on a foreign dock again!

Real Americans do not allow socialists to run their FREE COUNTRY!

KEEP AMERICA FREE - IMPEACH THE DEMOCRAT PARTY!

[finnman69]

wIf you watched the clip of kerry saying this the look on the audiences's face was priceless...sort of a non-reactive "he's completely full of s**t"

[goldstategop]

Liberals knew right there and then this guy's a goner. How many more mistakes is he gonna make? I can't wait to hear the rising crescendo of fear and concern from our friends over at DU. It'll be a treat to watch!

[tractorman]

This is playing right into Shrillary’s plans for a demo-loser in ’04 but I’m not sure if Kerry realizes it or not. Is he a fool or a pawn?

[doug from upland]

Kerry is going to need a closet full of Botox before this campaign is over.

[jocko12]

I JUST LOVE IT WHEN KERRY TRYS TO SALE HIS FLIP-FLOP.

[mewzilla]

I'd say he's a fool and a pawn :)

[FlipWilson]

And to think, I actually was sad that Howard Dean was not the nominee. Hey Mr. Kerry, skip the prelims and go straight to the meltdown. . YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH.

[tractorman]

Maybe he’s one of those split personality types.

[goldstategop]

Trying to Be GOP Kerry and Democrat Kerry at the same time. He can't even pull it off!

[rightwingcrazy]

"We're going to build an army of truth-tellers."

He's referring to the growing host of outraged voters arraying against him.

[sirshackleton]

"How can you both vote for AND against a bill? It strains credulity."

A bill will go through several votes and changes before a final version actually takes shape and gets passed. It'll get voted on in committee, go to the House, go to the Senate, probably get amended along the way at various points and so forth. So technically, a member of Congress may vote a number of times on bill to amend it or strike provisions from it, just not on its final passage.

The problem with Kerry's statement is that basically any member of Congress could use that excuse and say they voted for anything and everything when asked about any old bill. If Kerry had said something to the effect of "You know, I supported the $87 billion at first, but then A, B, and C were put into it and blah blah blah...." this probably wouldn't be such a big deal...at least it wouldn't look as ridiculous. But to me, to say something like "I voted for it and against it" means you think the American public is a bunch of idiots who don't know the difference and I think Kerry is kind of counting on that when he says things like this, even when it's not on purpose. And it just further cements his tendency to waffle.

[cweese]

...it might be on foxnews site. i saw the vid clip on brit hume's show last night...

[Stultis]

Bwahahahaha! (Stolen for my email sig blocks!)

[You Dirty Rats]

If Kerry or his handlers had any sense at all they wouldn't have started this campaign in March. He'll never last at this pace until November 2.

[new cruelty]

"I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it"

ROTFLOL!

The Botox Waffle is shifting into high gear now.