COMMAND CONFIDENCE Kerry staff: "Unfit not a problem, media is committed to seeing us win")

THE SPECTATOR ^ | 8/18/04 | WASHINGTON PROWLER

[Liz]

According to a Kerry campaign source, senior campaign advisers tasked two Washington-based campaign staffers to vet the recently published Unfit for Command.

"The purpose was to compare what that book had with what we had on file from Senator Kerry," says the campaign source, who said that the research project developed more than 75 instances where Kerry's recollections, previous remarks, or writings conflicted with the book's reporting.

"We took some of the most glaring examples, like the Christmas in Cambodia story, and presented them to senior staff, and we assume that those things were put in front of Senator Kerry," says the source. "We haven't heard a word about it. All we were told is that it was being taken care of."

The campaign source said that the book was not considered a "serious" problem for the campaign, because, "the media wouldn't have the nerve to come at us with this kind of stuff," says the source.

"The senior staff believes the media is committed to seeing us win this thing, and that the convention inoculated us from these kinds of stories. The senior guys really think we don't have a problem here."

[Fracas]

GWB has got to stop himself from looking like a "candidate desperate for votes". He's the president of the USA and he must consider Kerry as the pretender to the office.

WE must remember when they're attacking the President they're also attacking US...OUR values, ideas and principles. That's why we must be vigilant.

He must consider the press and Kerry as a single entity. They are not neutral. They are actively working against his (and our) interests.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

John Kerry

Exhibit 25, Congressional Record - Senate of March 27, 1986, page 3594.

"Mr. President, I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have President Nixon telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia.

I have that memory which is seared -- seared -- in me . . . ."

By way of further example, Kerry wrote an article for the Boston Herald on October 14, 1979:

"I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real."

See Exhibit 26.

Hey Dude, what were you smoking? Johnson was President in Dec 68

Johnson, Lyndon
1963-69
Nixon, Richard
1969-74

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[StarCMC]

"the media wouldn't have the nerve to come at us with this kind of stuff," says the source.

MADDENING, but probably true! I think that we the poeple my be able to make them crazy with it, though, if we keep spreading the word.

[maica]

While I have no reason to suspect the Prowler of bad journalism, I would like to know how DNC staff got copies of this book in time to have highlighted 75 areas of concern. Did the Swift vets or Regnery give them galley proofs for commentary? Something does not seem right with this article.

DNC apologists appearing on TV this past week certainly did not sound like they knew what was in the book - beyond the chapter which was put online just last week.

[StarCMC]

Please do not refer to Big Media as Mainstream. You accept a marginal position for conservatives when you cede the "center" to the left.

WOW!! Now THAT is a good point! Thanks!

[maica]

Thanks for reposting that list.

[Cold Heat]

because, "the media wouldn't have the nerve to come at us with this kind of stuff," says the source.

The Kerry team has a problem now.

This story has been out there and covered(poorly) for several days, and now the book will be circulating and the book interviews start tonite on Hannity and Colmes.

The democrats must totally discredit 200 vets and they can't!

The press is caught with a story they do not want and I am elated because the story now has legs. They will be forced to cover it.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!!

[cyncooper]

When called on his 'errors' by Chris Hoerner (sp),

Fox had Horner on again, hm? He was on Friday night and was fantastic. Excellent.

[Slings and Arrows]

don't believe the quote. No Kerry worker would be so stupid as to say such a think to someone outside the campaign bus.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." --Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Footinmouthitis is a nonpartisan disease.

[Mudboy Slim]

"Kerry ia beginning to look more and more like CANDIDATE Clinton.....Clinton was the Energizer Bunny.....kept going and going and going .....right into the WH."

I really don't see any correlation at all between the two...Slick Willie had a weird sense of charisma that attracted brain-dead Lib'ral support, Kerry's got no charisma whatsoever. And Kerry's got a way of sticking his foot in his mouth and almost every opportunity...the EX-TRAITOR-in-Chief seemed to have a sixth sense about what would play politically to the ignorant masses. In contrast, Kerry's a patrician twit who comes off as a cold fish.

"GWB has got to stop himself from looking like a "candidate desperate for votes". He's the president of the USA and he must consider Kerry as the pretender to the office."

I'm not sure where yer getting this from, my FRiend...IMHO, Dubyuh's remained very "Presidential" in his actions and I don't see him seeming the least bit "desperate". Did I miss something?!

FReegards...MUD

[Blood of Tyrants]

As if anyone with one and a grain of sense couldn't see it.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

[SunkenCiv]

Oh, but wait... Moslems don't commit suicide... that means that pilot couldn't have been a Moslem... I think Kerry has a pretty deep footlocker, and will keep pulling out fake memorabilia, just shiny enough to distract his lemming support system.

George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent

[maica]

Since careers rise and fall on a military person's "Fitness Report" "Unfit to command" is a career ender for an officer.

I bet the sales of this book will 'shock' Big Media, who collectively put veterans in a category close to "religious right" "militia wackos" -- barely literate, and certainly not book readers and purchasers.

[maica]

You have convinced me to change my tagline. How does it look?

Please do not refer to Big Media as Mainstream. You accept a marginal position for conservatives when you cede the "center" to the left.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

If you recall the media tried to give FL to Gore in 2000
VNS was a private consortium owned by
ABC News, The Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC.
4 of the 5 of the networks and cable newsrooms
(only ABC waited till both time zones closed)
"announced" Gore had won
BEFORE the 2nd time zone in FL had closed.
This cost President Bush votes in the FL panhandle.

I was at a friends house and the State of FL election website results showed President Bush was winning

In fact, the networks which called Florida for Gore did so early in the evening—before polls had even closed in the Florida panhandle, which is part of the Central Time Zone. NBC called Florida for Gore at 7:49:40 p.m., Eastern Time. This was 10 minutes before polls closed in the Florida panhandle. Thirty seconds later, CBS called Florida for Gore. And at 7:52 p.m., Fox called Florida for Gore. Moore never lets the audience know that Fox was among the networks which made the error of calling Florida for Gore prematurely. Then at 8:02 p.m., ABC called Florida for Gore. Only ABC had waited until the Florida polls were closed.

About an hour before the polls closed in panhandle Florida,
the networks called the U.S. Senate race in favor of the Democratic candidate.

The premature calls may have cost Bush thousands of votes from the conservative panhandle, as discouraged last-minute voters heard that their state had already been decided;
some last-minute voters on their way to the polling place turned around and went home. Other voters who were waiting in line left the polling place. In Florida, as elsewhere, voters who have arrived at the polling place before closing time often end up voting after closing time, because of long lines. The conventional wisdom of politics is that supporters of the losing candidate are most likely to give up on voting when they hear that their side has already lost. Thus, on election night 1980, when incumbent President Jimmy Carter gave a concession speech while polls were still open on the west coast, the early concession was blamed for costing the Democrats several Congressional seats in the West, such as that of 20-year incumbent James Corman. The fact that all the networks had declared Reagan a landslide winner while west coast voting was still in progress was also blamed for Democratic losses in the West; Congress even held hearings about prohibiting the disclosure of exit polls before voting had ended in the any of the 48 contiguous states.

Even if the premature television calls affected all potential voters equally, the effect was to reduce Republican votes significantly, because the Florida panhandle is a Republican stronghold. Most of Central Time Zone Florida is in the 1st Congressional District, which is known as the "Redneck Riviera." In that district, Bob Dole beat Bill Clinton by 69,000 votes in 1996, even though Clinton won the state by 300,000 votes.

So depress overall turnout in the panhandle,
and you will necessarily depress more Republican than Democratic votes.

A 2001 study by John Lott suggested that the early calls cost Bush at least 7,500 votes,
and perhaps many more.

At 10:00 p.m., which network took the lead in retracting the premature Florida win for Gore?
The first retracting network was CBS, not Fox.

Over four hours later, at 2:16 a.m., Fox projected Bush as the Florida winner,
as did all the other networks by 2:20 a.m.

At 3:59 a.m., CBS took the lead in retracting the Florida call for Bush. All the other networks, including Fox, followed the CBS lead within eight minutes. That the networks arrived at similar conclusions within a short period of time is not surprising, since they were all using the same data from the Voter News Service. (Linda Mason, Kathleen Francovic & Kathleen Hall Jamieson, “CBS News Coverage of Election Night 2000: Investigation, Analysis, Recommendations” (CBS News, Jan. 2001), pp. 12-25.)

The big 5 media TV and Cable newsrooms are the real threat to the 2004 election.

..."Early on Tuesday, November 7th 2000, TV stations and various media based in Florida reported that Gore has won Florida which was a big surprise for everyone because of strong republican support. Bush's brother Jeb is governor there and Florida usually gives support to the Republicans. Some of them questioned that and during the night CNN showed 52% Bush's lead over 46% for Gore. It is almost impossible to believe that media could have been that blind and biased to report Gore's victory."...

[Cold Heat]

Yes, there is definitely a comparison to be made with the Dewey-Truman race.

The headlines say Dewey wins as Truman gets the prize.

The polls will not reflect this until the exit polling is done.

[StarCMC]

GREAT! :o)