John Kerry For President | Title: "Pilot"

Republican National Committee ^ | June 30, 2004

[RWR8189]

Rhetoric

NARRATOR: “He’s a husband and father.”

 CHYRON:  Husband

CHYRON:  Father

NARRATOR: “A pilot, a hunter, a hockey player.”

CHYRON:  Pilot

CHYRON:  Hunter

CHYRON:  Hockey player

NARRATOR: “Tough prosecutor, advocate for kids. 19 years Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”

CHYRON:  Tough prosecutor

CHYRON:  Advocate for kids

CHYRON:  19 years Senate Foreign Relations Committee

The Facts

 

Kerry Is No Friend Of Hunters

“The Democratic Party Will Never Be The Choice Of The NRA – And I’m Not Looking To Be The Candidate Of The NRA.”  (John Kerry For President, “Kerry Stands Up To NRA’s Divisive Agenda In Letter To Blacklisted Americans,” Press Release, 10/30/03)

Kerry Is Not A Member Of The Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus.  (The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Website, http://www.sportsmenslink.org/caucus/caucus_members.asp, Accessed 3/31/04)

ü      The Caucus Boast 324 Members: Including Democrats Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA), Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN), Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Sen. Thomas Daschle (D-SD), Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-WV).  (The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Website, http://www.sportsmenslink.org/caucus/caucus_members.asp, Accessed 3/31/04)

Kerry Received An “F” Rating From National Rifle Association In 2002. (National Rifle Association Website, www.nra.org, Accessed 1/24/04)

John Kerry Has Voted With Coalition To Stop Gun Violence 100% Of The Time.  (Candidates On Guns Website, Project Of The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, www.candidatesonguns.org/content/meet/cand_kerry.html, Accessed 2/9/04)

John Kerry Received A 0% Rating With Gun Owners Of America In 2002. (Candidates On Guns Website, Project Of The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, www.candidatesonguns.org/content/meet/cand_kerry.html, Accessed 2/9/04)

John Kerry Voted With Brady Campaign 100% Of The Time.  (Brady Campaign Website, http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/scorecard/scorecard.php?ssr=MA, Accessed 4/1/04)

Kerry Votes Against Gun Owners

Kerry Was One Of 17 Senators To Vote To Ban 12 Additional Assault Style Weapons In Bill Already Banning 9 Assault Style Weapons.  Kerry voted to add weapons to those banned in the underlying bill. The measure was defeated, with only 16 other Senators joining Kerry. (S. 1970, CQ Vote #102: Motion Agreed To  82-17: R 42-2; D 40-15, 5/22/90, Kerry Voted Nay; Joan Biskupic, “Anticrime Package Falters After Gun Ban Retained,” CQ Weekly, 5/26/90)

 Kerry Voted To Allow Federal Authorities To Conduct Inspections Of Gun Dealers Without Notice.  The measure was soundly defeated, with only 17 other Senators joining Kerry. (S. 49, CQ Vote #140:  Motion Agreed To 76-18: R 47-4; D 29-14, 7/9/85, Kerry Voted Nay)

Kerry Voted For Mandatory Trigger Locks. (S. 2260, CQ Vote #216: Motion Agreed To 61-39: R 52-3; D 9-36, 7/21/98, Kerry Voted Nay)

Kerry Voted Against Destruction Of Records After Background Checks For Purchase Of Handguns. Kerry voted against requiring that “law enforcement agencies to immediately destroy any information on individuals allowed to purchase firearms after the check.” (S. 2260, CQ Vote #217: Adopted 69-31: R 55-0; D 14-31, 7/21/98, Kerry Voted Nay)

Kerry Voted To Strip Bankruptcy Protection From Gun Manufacturers From Debts Caused By Fraud, Recklessness Or Negligence.  Only 28 Senators joined Kerry in supporting this measure.  (S. 625, CQ Vote #4: Rejected 29-68: R 1-51; D 28-17; I 0-0, 2/2/00, Kerry Voted Yea)

Kerry Voted Against Limiting Civil Lawsuits Involving Guns.  Craig, R-Idaho, motion to table (kill) the Levin, D-Mich., amendment no. 2631 that would exempt from the provisions of the bill civil lawsuits in which gross negligence or reckless conduct of a defendant led to the death or injury of another person.  (S. 1805, CQ Vote #29: Motion Agreed To 56-41: R 45-5; D 11-35; I 0-1, 3/2/04, Kerry Voted Nay)

Kerry Voted For 14 Day Waiting Period.  McClure, R-Idaho, motion to table (kill) the Inouye, D-Hawaii, amendment to require a 14-day waiting period between the purchase of a handgun and its delivery to the buyer. (S. 49, CQ Vote #141: Motion Agreed To 71-23: R 46-5; D 25-18, 7/9/85, Kerry Voted Nay)

Kerry Voted To Abolish Civilian Marksmanship Program In 1993 And Its Successor In 1996.  (H.R. 3116, CQ Vote # 325: Motion Agreed To 67-30: R 39-2; D 28-28, 10/21/93, Kerry Voted Nay;  S. 1745, CQ Vote #178: Motion Agreed To 71-29: R 51-2, D 20-27, 6/27/96, Kerry Voted Nay)

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Rhetoric

NARRATOR: “Author of a strategy to win the war on terror.”

CHYRON:  Strategy to win the war on terror

The Facts

Kerry’s Book Was No “Strategy To Win The War On Terror”

Despite Bin Laden Terror Links, Kerry’s 1997 Book On Terrorism Contains ZERO References To Him Or Al Qaeda And Just One Dismissive Mention Of Taliban.  “In the autumn of 1996, Taliban fighters … called for a return to Islamic purity and a repudiation of opium trafficking. But Western intelligence analysts immediately detected evidence that the public statements were a sham to mask continued [drug] smuggling …”  (Sen. John Kerry, The New War, 1997, p. 97)

Reviewer Noted Kerry’s Book Lacked “Any New Ideas” For Fighting Terrorism.  “[K]erry rightly fears the effects of political terrorism, particularly the incredible dangers that come with the increasing necessity to trade individual freedom and privacy for collective security. With a laundry list of examples to make his point - the New York World Trade Center bombing, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma, the nerve gas attack on the Japanese subway - Kerry posits that terrorists will increasingly force society to bargain away its freedoms … Kerry will probably receive some criticism for his book’s failure to advance any new ideas for dealing with international crime. Other than his declaration that nations must work more closely together to identify and apprehend criminals and their assets, Kerry seems to be lacking for solutions to the criminal scourge he so skillfully documents.”  (Phillip Morris, “Top Analysis Of Global Crime Lacks Solutions,” The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer, 7/20/97)

The New Republic Said Kerry’s Book “Was Almost Entirely Focused On The Threat Of Global Crime – Not Terrorism” And “Missed The Mark” On “Course Of Action.”  “Kerry must be assuming no one will go back and actually read his [1997] manifesto [The New War], because his description of it is awfully selective. Yes, Kerry briefly considered the possibility of a terrorist catastrophe on American soil. But The New War was almost entirely focused on the threat of global crime - not terrorism. If the future Kerry predicted really had arrived, we’d currently be locked in a vicious cyberwar with CD-pirating Japanese yakuza, Chinese kidney-traders, and Italian mobsters - not hunting Islamic fundamentalists potentially armed with weapons of mass destruction. It is, of course, true that almost no one predicted a September 11-like attack, and few correctly identified Islamic terrorists as the chief post-cold-war security threat to the United States. But the ways in which The New War missed the mark are nevertheless revealing. They show the extent to which Kerry was influenced by the criminal investigations of his early Senate career, his preference for viewing post-cold-war security more as a matter for law enforcement than the military, and his tendency to describe problems ad nauseam without offering a clear and bold course of action.”  (Michael Crowley, “Kerry’s Odd Book On Terrorism,” The New Republic, 2/9/04)

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Rhetoric

NARRATOR: “A combat veteran who has been praised by former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Presidents Reagan and Clinton.”

CHYRON:  Combat veteran praise by former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

NARRATOR: “Stronger at Home. Respected in the World. John Kerry for President.”

CHYRON:  Stronger at home

CHYRON:  Respected in the world

KERRY: “I’m John Kerry and I approve this message.”

CHYRON:  Approved By John Kerry And Paid For By John Kerry For President, Inc.

The Facts

Kerry’s Joint Chiefs Backer, Admiral Crowe, Has Long History Of Liberal Views

Retired Adm. William J. Crowe Jr. Was Chairman, President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Committee, 1993-94; Ambassador To Britain, 1993-97; Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, 1985-89.  (Ronald Brownstein, “Retired Officials Say Bush Must Go,” Los Angeles Times, 6/13/04)

Crowe Originally Supported Howard Dean For President.  “Howard Dean has the blues? Well, he did Monday night, but not because he was celebrating his 55th birthday, along with his closest 700 friends. Nope, Dean wowed supporters -- including Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Adm. William Crowe and Clintonites Maria Echaveste and Harold Ickes -- when he grabbed his harmonica, a birthday gift, and started jamming with the blues band Cephas and Wiggins.”  (“Names & Faces,” The Washington Post, 11/19/03)

Crowe Endorsed Bill Clinton For President In 1992.  “Many in the military seem comfortable with the retired brass stepping into the political arena. After all, they note, retired Adm. William J. Crowe, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, supported Bill Clinton in the 1992 election.”  (Thomas E. Ricks, “Bush's Brass Band Raises Some Questions,” The Washington Post, 9/22/00)

Shortly After Stepping Down As Chairman Of JCS, Crowe Began His Criticisms Of The First Bush Administration On Topics Such As SDI And Nuclear Arms Cuts.  “The United States should consider negotiating with the Soviet Union to eliminate tactical nuclear weapons from surface warships and submarines, or to reduce its naval forces in exchange for major Soviet concessions on strategic arms disputes, according to William J. Crowe Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) from 1985 until his retirement in September. Crowe's opinion, which he has not previously stated publicly, is at odds with the longstanding position of Navy leaders and the Bush administration…. He said he believes the SDI research program should be funded at no more than $ 3 billion, roughly 75 percent of its current budget, and that ‘my instincts tell me that all the deadlines you hear about it are wrong -- we cannot do these things as quickly as many think.’”  (R. Jeffrey Smith, “Crowe Suggests New Approach On Naval Nuclear Arms Cuts,” The Washington Post, 1/8/90)

Crowe Was Critical Of The First Gulf War.  “Retired Navy admiral William J. Crowe Jr. and retired Air Force general David C. Jones, former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were eminently worth listening to, as is ever the case with high brass who oppose military action. Besides, they have a professional grasp of the subject under discussion, and treat strutting senators like midshipmen and deal briskly with their maunderings. The Democrats can hardly believe their luck in having them on their side.  ‘The issue,’ said Crowe, ‘is not whether an embargo will work, but whether we have the patience to let it take effect.’  At one point, he said, when Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) was going on about the evil of chemical weapons, that guns are equally deadly.  ‘You see starving children on television,’ Crowe said, sighing heavily, ‘then you hear we should bomb them.’”  (Mary McGrory, “An Important Moment,” The Washington Post, 11/29/90)

In 1993, Crowe Said He Was Open To Allowing Gays Serve In The Military.  “Retired Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., the nation's senior military officer under presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, said in an interview that arguments against allowing homosexuals in the armed forces are ‘generated more by emotion than by reason’ and the military could adjust to their presence just as it has to minorities and women.”  (John Lancaster, “Crowe Discounts Military Objection To Homosexuals,” The Washington Post, 4/11/93)

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[dead]

He’s been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king. He’s been up and down and over and out and he knows one thing - each time he find himself flat on his face, he picks himself up, blames the secret service, and gets back in the race.

[marlon]

On the one hand I'm glad the Presidents team is reacting and rebuting so quickly but honestly this ad is so pathetic it hardly requires a rebuttal!

[JoeSixPack1]

Ouch! Sinatra just rolled over in his grave!

[fhlh]

John Kerry - HypocRAT for President.

[Alcibiades]

You know this bird reminds me of the chickens we ate in Vietnam. You didn't know I was in Vietnam didn't you?

[gymbeau]

Hey, that's life!

[My2Cents]

...each time he find himself flat on his face, he picks himself up, blames the secret service, and gets a Botox shot in a sagging space. That's life.....

[My2Cents]

"Senator Kerry, this dead duck is a metaphor for your campaign...."

[My2Cents]

Is Kerry actually a pilot? Maybe one like John Kennedy Jr.

[LibertarianInExile]

You have to ask? I've heard an awful lot of people say Kerry is a...

...Oh, wait, that was pile o' $#!#. Sorry.