To bolster this baseless claim, he is once again using Vietnam POW Senator John McCain as a weapon against Bush (and McCain seems to be just fine with this, but that's another thread). In "Old Tricks," one of a flurry of new ads available on the Kerry website, a clip from the GOP Presidential Debate from February 15, 2000 is used. It was broadcast on CNN and moderated by Larry King. Present were not only then-Governor Bush and Sen. McCain, but also Alan Keyes, who was allowed to participate in this debate (he was arrested and removed from the studio where the first debate was held when he demanded to be included).
You can view Kerry's "Old Tricks" commercial by clicking here.
As the ad begins, with ominous, horror-movie music in the background, with a black screen and "George Bush...is up to his old tricks" appears in white letters.
Fade in to the debate clip, with Sen. McCain speaking slowly and somberly:
Let me tell you what really went over the line. Governor Bush had an event, and he paid of it, and standing -- and stood next to a spokesman for a fringe veterans' group. That fringe veteran said that John McCain had abandoned the veterans.Now, I don't know if you can understand this, George, but that really hurts, that really hurts.
And so five United States senators, Vietnam veterans, heroes, some of them really incredible heroes, wrote George a letter and said, Apologize, you should be ashamed...
It is at this point the video stops, and Bush, who is about to respond to the charges, is frozen with his mouth partially open. The screen goes black except for a square around Bush's awkward-looking face, and the words "America can do better" are shown in white.
Now, here you will find the actual exchange between Bush and McCain IN FULL, and IN CONTEXT. I would simply cut-and-paste it here, but CNN only will allow excerpts. Sorry.
A reading of the entire transcript reveals that McCain admits to negative ads of his own, some that he said he authorized in response to negative ads from Bush. It also shows that the "fringe veteran" that McCain refers to didn't only suggest that McCain was less than trustworthy, but also aimed barbs at former President George H.W. Bush, Dubya's father, who is also a decorated veteran (of World War II).
Bush in return takes McCain to task for not condemning former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman, who apparently said something intimating that the Christian Coalition was made up of bigots. McCain's response was "he's entitled to his opinion."
BTW, FWIW -- I stand by my prediction that McCain will pull out of his speech at the Republican Convention if Bush doesn't bend over and beg forgiveness for something he's not responsible for.