Posted on 08/19/2004 2:23:36 PM PDT by ArcLight
Nightline Daily E-Mail August 19, 2004
TONIGHT'S FOCUS: It sounds like John Kerry has decided that the pushing and criticism have just gone too far. Today he sounded angry as he took President Bush on. He was referring to the campaign ad funded by a Republican group that attacks the veracity of John Kerry's war record. Kerry accused the President of letting others do "his dirty work" and invoked the President's own words "bring it on" to challenge him to a one on one debate on their respective war records. The President has not responded. So what happened to make Kerry so mad? And why did he do it now?
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A Republican-funded campaign ad disputing John Kerry's war record has been airing in a few battle ground states since the beginning of the month. The ad consists of interviews with Vietnam veterans, some who served with Kerry and have supported him in the past. They all say he's lying about his record. Today, the Washington Post broke news with documents that directly contradict one of those veteran's assertions against Kerry in one of the ads. Meanwhile, the President is being accused of not being willing to condemn these specific ads while continuing to say that he won't criticize John Kerry's war service for this country.
But the story has continued to grow and it seems to have reached a peak level. It's the lead topic on talk radio and the cable stations and is taking on a life of its own. This has led some senior members of the Democratic Party to push John Kerry to hit back, saying that his strategy of just letting the attacks happen was not working. So today, in front of a room full of firefighters, John Kerry switched tactics and turned to his own wartime service and experience to announce his next move. "More than 30 years ago I learned an important lesson. When you're under attack the best thing to do is turn your boat into the attack. That's what I intend to do today." Anchor Chris Bury bring us an anatomy of a story fueled by the media. How did it get so big so quickly?
So why did he do it? Did he take a lesson from Michael Dukakis who didn't counter attack in his bid for the Presidency? Why now, at this point in the campaign? Has it really reached a point where not responding would harm his candidacy? And what's the effect on the voter? Chris Bury talks to campaign reporters about how we got here and what might happen next.
I hope you'll join us.
Gerry Holmes and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
ABC News Washington Bureau
What republican group? One guy gave 100,000 dollars the rest of the monies are coming from folks. Wonder why it is ok for soros to give millions to defeat this president and Michael Moore can say what he wants as can others, yet the Swifties are not allowed........scheesh c'mon folks be honest once
Make sure John the cowardly traitor brings ALL his paperwork!! Most of this would go away very quickly if he just posted all his records. He can't, of course, because that would prove that not only is he a coward and a triator but a flaming serial liar as well.
This one isn't 'fueled by the media.'
Good call.
Sit back and enjoy the MSM and skerry as they flounder and hang on the rope of lies that they have brought to the party. skerry has taken the bait and opened his lying pompous mouth and there is no turning back. Soon the MSM will realize they are trapped and abandon his "boat of lies" in record numbers and try to cover their butts. It will be fun to watch...remember the bitch hillary said that skerry would implode before October....you fill in the blanks
I just left Holmes a message suggesting that either they do a FOIA or they convince Kerry to submit a 180 and get all the records. The report for the medals awarded was written by Kerry. Others did not know what was in there. We need to see that report and let the debate begin.
What rock have you been hiding under??
Oh I don't think so, this isn't peak level, this is busting out of the seams of those who tried to contain and ignore the story.
Mis-read your intent...sorry
Maybe because Kerry admitted he's a LIAR, he never spent Christmas in Cambodia and the implications are that he's a delusional psychopath who should never be entrusted as POTUS!
>> Nightline covers the Swift Boat story again
Nightline did not cover the story the first time. They only pretended to cover it.
In my car at the top of the last hour--ABC radio news with Elizabeth Vargas, this story led the report.
First clip was of John Kerry, but then I was most gratified to hear them play a clip of John O'Neill responding.
Let's not underestimate (oops, misunderestimate) Nightline's influence. A couple years ago, their viewing audience was at least 4 times that of the most popular cable news/commentary program. I'm guessing it's not much less than that now. The damage they can do should not be minimized.
IMHO
They're going to try bury it. Why is Nightline talking to the campaign reporters? How are they going to shed any light on whether the charges being made by the SBVs are true or not? The answer is they can't. Nightline will cover this from the horse race angle of the Prez race all while highlighting the Kerry defense talking points.
What does it matter where they got their original funding? What matters is if what they're saying is true.
The true test on whether this report will be fair or not will be if they even mention the Cambodia story and how Kerry has had to retract claims that he had been making for over 35 years.
Kerry is still the only person in all of this who has proven to be a liar. The onus should be on him to credible refute the charges, he shouldn't be able to just attack the messenger as his response to their charges.
The whole Nightline description of the story is off the mark. They keep repeating "Republican funded" and then as you point out this idiotic "fueled by the media" business.
Still, I am pleased to see it chugging along.
Good statement. IMO, an even better way for Bush to deal with this latest demand from Kerry is to studiously ignore it. If asked about it at a press conference, I think he would be well-advised to say, "This appears to be a matter between this group of veterans and Senator Kerry. It's none of my business and I have no comment on it. Next question?"
OH, I see, it's not just FUNDED by rich Republicans but it is actually a Republican GROUP.
For heavens sake, why are you interviewing "campaign journalists" about the Swift Boat Veteran flap? What light can they shed on the truth or untruth of the claims of the veterans?
You folks are going to eventually have to face this head on, and let the chips fall where they may for Mr. Kerry.
By the way, your email trailer for tonights show says this "seems to have reached a peak." Hardly. There is a long way yet to go.
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