KERRY CAMPAIGN'S FIRST SERIOUS MISTAKE

Real Clear Politics ^ | 8/20/04 | J. McIntyre

[italianquaker]

The media has no scruples and honor at all.
Once thet see for the 100000x that kerry lied they will attack him ,we just have to keep the pressure up. they hate Pres Bush but love themselves and there jobs so eventually they have to tell the truth or watch more of there subscription and advertisements go down.
w2004
ciao

[Oztrich Boy]

I hardly see that as the first. What about the gomer salute at the convention? What about the bunny suit? What about the ultimate prime mistake of basing his entire campaign on Vietnam in the first place?

Deciding to run?

[USA_Soccer]

Please, please make a contribution now. Even if it's $5.

Direct link where you can make a donation via credit card:

https://swift1.he.net/~swiftvet/swift/ccdonation.php?op=donate&site=SwiftVets

[dawn53]

And the new ad can't be disputed. It is Kerry's own words and the POW's are just commenting on how they affected them. Nothing to dispute in that ad, it's just the facts!!!

[Blood of Tyrants]

First mistake: Making his pitiful four months in Vietnam the core of his campaign

Second mistake: Sending Edwards out to tell people to spend time talking with the men who served with Kerry in Vietnam, knowing that many would refute his claims

Third mistake: Trying to intimidate TV stations into not showing the SwiftBoat ad

Fourth mistake: Directly attacking the Swift Vets instead of providing proof as to why their claims are false

Fifth mistake: Claiming that the SwiftVets are funded by "a rich Republican" when it can easily be demonstrated that most of the liberal 527 orgs are supported by people known to hate Bush.

Sixth mistake: Attempting to censor the book by publicly demanding that bookstores pull it from their shelves,

[OESY]

"Two more months and I'll be through,
then I'll look for something to do.
Selling ketchup might bring me dough,
Worked for me on Purple Heart row."

[Argus]

Kerry was counting on the "chickenhawk" taunt to freeze the opposition into giving him a free pass on his Vietnam heroics. It's a measure of his quasi-royal arrogance that he never considered that actual Vietnam veterans might take his boasting and selective memory amiss, and publicly contradict him. The Swiftboat vets have really blindsided him, and he's lashing out wildly in all directions as a result. It's telling that his only recourse is to smear his fellow veterans (again!) as liars, and demand that they be muzzled, censored and banished from the public square. He is showing his true colors, and it's not pretty.

The only question is - are the voters paying attention?

[El Gran Salseron]

Where is all of the discredit of the writers of the book?

Where are the falsehoods?

The only thing I've heard is that John Kerry says they are discredited and that there are falsehoods.

[Petronski]

Okay, I know when I've been trumped. ;O)

I doff my Cleveland Indians cap to you now, good sir.

[T Lady]

Kerry not only opened Pandora's Box, he and the Dimocrats stepped on a land mine. That's just what he and Terry McAuliffe get for trying to front the American people off with a decades-old, yet painful issue like Viet Nam. And expecting no one to question their motives. What neither one of them counted on was the Alternative Media (Talk Radio, Internet Blogs, and Fox News) to call them on it.

As for John O'Neil and the rest of the Swift Boat Veterans, along with others who served honorably during that most turbulent time in our history (no thanks in large part to Walter Cronkite and other media 'icons' who twisted and perverted the truth), these guys deserve to be heard, and have every single right to refute the slanderous charges Senator Kerry leveled against them over the years. There are streets named after Mr. Kerry and the Democratic Party and Michael Moore/George Soros/Hollywierd crowd: One Way.

-Regards, T.

[savedbygrace]

I'll disagree with you about Colmes. I totally disagree with him on most issues, but he is about as fair as libs come, and he does very little, if any, yelling.

[T Lady]

Kerry not only opened Pandora's Box, he and the Dimocrats stepped on a land mine. That's just what he and Terry McAuliffe get for trying to front the American people off with a decades-old, yet painful issue like Viet Nam. And expecting no one to question their motives. What neither one of them counted on was the Alternative Media (Talk Radio, Internet Blogs, and Fox News) to call them on it.

As for John O'Neil and the rest of the Swift Boat Veterans, along with others who served honorably during that most turbulent time in our history (no thanks in large part to Walter Cronkite and other media 'icons' who twisted and perverted the truth), these guys deserve to be heard, and have every single right to refute the slanderous charges Senator Kerry leveled against them over the years. There are streets named after Mr. Kerry and the Democratic Party and Michael Moore/George Soros/Hollywierd crowd: One Way.

-Regards, T.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Just sent them $25.

[Petronski]

"Two more months
and I'll be through,

then I'll look for
something to do.

Selling ketchup might
bring me dough,

Worked for me on
Purple Heart row.

.

Burma Shave."

[dirtboy]

The more exposure and coverage they get, the more it will make it increasingly harder to discredit them. Mickey Kaus writes:

Respectable big-time journalist friends who met with the anti-Kerry vets recently found them a lot more credible than expected.

It's funny what happens when you do your job instead of just regurgitating the Dem talking points as you are so accustomed to doing. This paragraph damns the "big-time journalists" as much as anything I've seen.

[T Lady]

Sorry for the double-post.

[glennherman]

Soros' 30 Million comes to naught....$150k from a texas businessman decides the election. WHat a great country. The truth can still live in America - and you don't need a billion to be counted! I also donated to the swift boat vets - everyone who cares about our country and the evils of marxist enemies of the state should donate NOW.

[ntnychik]

John O'Neill was featured on Lehrer's news show on PBS last night. Counterpoint was provided by a smirking Tom Oliphant, who just happened to have witnessed the O'Neill/Kerry debate on the Cavett show in 1971. Oliphant closed with the observation that the swiftees' story was at the level of tabloids and cable TV, which have lower standards. Lehrer looked Oliphant in the eye, and said that the story is now on PBS (duh, obviously) due to Kerry's speech.

[bayourod]

I knew Soros lived overseas but i didn't realize he wasn't a US citizen.

[MEG33]

Great post..Thank you!