Absolutely correct. This can be more than a one front war. Kerry's full bio has tons of self-destruct in it. Let the Swiftees roll onward, AND let us launch other 'fronts' as well... I've cartooned it today in my own attempt:
I, for one, am delighted that they are doing it. I wasn't in Vietnam but I served with a lot of guys who were and they educated me on John Kerry 30 years ago. It's nice to see that guy getting his comeuppance by the guys he slandered and tagged as baby killing, drug addled madmen.
I think the vets are doing a great job of this. The medal controversy got them out in the public. I believe they were 'preparing the battlefield', so to speak. The second add had far more impact than it would coming out first. I see perhaps two more strong ones, kerry's pandering in paris with the VC and his trip back to Viet Nam. They are hitting very hard and directed blows.
" Concentrate on his treasonous actions after the war, and you get rid of a great deal of the factual controversies. The second Swift Boat ad starts to do this."
Kerry Part Deux starts tomorrow.
If you go straight to Kerry's VVAW comments, you can hang him with his own words!
I disagree. As I pointed out yesterday, and Dole did today, Kerry's record in Vietnam is at the very least muddied. Kerry chose the 4 months in country to tout, especially at the convention. If he hadn't raised it, those who have a contrary view would not have a foundation to speak on. They do have a quarrel with Kerry's inflated claims and so that issue was challenged.
Now as we move to his anti-war protesting activities, the treachery is underscored and the backstabbing becomes stark. He betrayed his "band of brothers". His "no man left behind" chant from the convention is shredded as the truth emerges that that is exactly what Kerry did. Fled those men and left them behind and then stuck a knife in their backs.
I don't think this is going wrong. It is right on target. Questions about the medals have led to discussions of anti-war activities. We are heading to Kansas City, November 12-15, 1971. John Kerry is in deep trouble and Hillary is popping the corks on the champagne.
this is just the softening up stage. stay tuned,
That comes next. And I hope Kerry's visits with the N. Vietnamese twice, possibly while still a Naval officer the first time, come out as well.
Prairie
...which is exactly why the Kerry campaign started trying to tie this around GWB's neck. Questioning Kerry's war record simply got the ball rolling. Kerry hopes to divert attention and steer the media into the "blame Bush" direction. It will never work and the reason why is so simple.
The media that made Kerry an anti-war hero when he testified before Congress, ran his mouth at rallies with Jane Fonda and threw medals away is a little different now. While the "mainstream media" may not agree with Iraq they know most Americans agree with the war on terror and most of the fighting in that war is being done by members of America's Armed Forces. But, more importantly, less people get their news from the mainstream media than they did before. ABC, CBS and NBC ran the show then along with the NY Times and the Washington Post. Talk radio, the internet, cable news, etc. are aspects that didn't exist during the Vietnam Era. But they do now and that, of course, explains why the Swifties got traction in the first place. Kerry can ill-afford to be pictured as anti-military in any way, shape or form particularly since he's the one who's based everything on his own military service. It only strengthens his reputation as a flip-flopper who's on all sides of every issue.
As soon as more and more Americans see his statements regarding alleged atrocities in Vietnam-especially after hearing his recent rhetoric about veterans-he will be hard put to repair the damage. He was counting on the mainstream media ignoring this but the Swifties flat refused to go away. It will be difficult for the mainstream media to continue to carry his water exclusively without at least questioning some of this.
While there may be questions and discrepancies regarding Kerry's war record his after war record is not at all in doubt. He did what he did and he said what he said and now, finally, he's got to live with it and explain it. I assume that when the media finally starts calling on him to personally address all this he'll probably appear on Larry King Live knowing King is incapable of asking tough questions. Kerry knows it's a safe harbor. But Kerry's problem will be what Kerry's problem has always been: when he speaks off the cuff he screws up.
He'll do more harm than good. Count on it.
How right you are - this election won't be about what one did in Viet Nam - it should be about "what have you done for me lately"...and on that Kerry falls pitifully short!
it's all mud J-4 and it's about who gets stuck with most of it clinging in the end.
W is best to stay way out of it till the debates if he can.
Kerry made a critical error taking all these Vets with 3-4 decades of pent up anger on.
I hope they kick his ass back under Therayza's skirt where he is most comfortable.
even if the swifties were lying, this stuff pales to the NAACP James Byrd ads in 00.
I agree with you but I'll go even further.
I don't think we should be hellbent on attacking Kerry at all. Why? Because all the Dems that I've talked to or even read about online are only voting for Kerry because they hate Bush.
Which means they'll vote for him regardless of his bogus war wounds, medals, or even his abysmal Senate record.
My thinking is that we need to give them a reason to vote FOR Bush.
The Bush campaign needs to do the very thing the Dems have made them afraid of doing: run ads with Bush's carrier landing, his going to Ground Zero, his Thanksgiving trip to Iraq.
Show how Bush is keeping America safe.
Just my opinion.
Have to have a two-front war. It's all part of a pattern--the exaggeration, the lies, the blind ambition.
Bob Dole nearly died on the battlefield in WW2; he spent years recovering, and could not be put all back together again. His axe to grind with Kerry cuts far more deeply than the politics of it. It goes to honor, duty, country, lying, and everything that Kerry is that makes him unfit to be CIC.
I am a woman; I have not served my country in uniform, but I have tremendous empathy, love, and appreciation for those who have done so honorably, and for those who came home with part of them in another country.
Absolutely correct. This can be more than a one front war. Kerry's full bio has tons of self-destruct in it. Let the Swiftees roll onward, AND let us launch other 'fronts' as well... I've cartooned it today in my own attempt:
Great words by Bob Dole, but I think we're going about this wrong. If you attack the Purple Hearts or his service you get mired in an investigation of volumes of old facts.Kerry, by shamelessly trying to tout himself as a war hero, has walked right into the kill zone. I guess his four big months of constant warfare (snicker) didn't prepare him for this. The Swifties know what they're doing. Their campaign will follow a tactical path.
If you go straight to Kerry's VVAW comments, you can hang him with his own words! Concentrate on his treasonous actions after the war, and you get rid of a great deal of the factual controversies. The second Swift Boat ad starts to do this.
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent