Posted on 08/23/2004 12:28:53 PM PDT by KQQL
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - Under pressure from Democrats and Republican Sen. John McCain, President Bush on Monday called for ads attacking John Kerry's record in Vietnam to be stopped along with others run by independent groups, and said Kerry should be proud of his war service.
"That means that ad and every other ad," Bush said when asked if he wanted to bring a stop to commercials by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which accuse Sen. Kerry of lying about his war record in Vietnam.
Bush said Kerry "served admirably" in Vietnam, adding: "He ought to be proud of his record." But Bush stopped short of directly condemning the charge that Kerry lied about his actions.
Unlike previous statements by the White House, Bush this time referred specifically to the ad attacking Kerry's Vietnam service record, though he did not mention the Swift Boat group by name.
Bush did not specify what actions might be taken to stop the advertisements run by independent groups, except to renew his call on Kerry to join him in condemning all unregulated soft money ads.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Nope, unless "him" is some GOP lawyers and "them" are 527s funded by Soros ... don't use 'bait and switch' on us.
The fact is that 527s are mainly a Democrats vehicle this season. The other fact is that 527s are a loophole creature of CFR, so if you oppose CFR, don't be such a fan of the 527s.
Two problems: 1) the vets are not running for any office; 2) Kerry is limited to spending campaign dollars to attacking the VETS. Meawhile, that is merely a process attack, not a substance attack. GWB never passed judgment on the credibility of the VETS. Meanwhile, Kerry has no defense for SBVfT ads detailing his antiwar activity. Kerry is boxed in.
Edwards demands sound SO MUCH LIKE THE BS FROM Al-sadr in Najaf.
Bush did not attack the Vets!! Note: He said Kerry OUGHT
TO be proud of his record. Of course, everybody knows Kerry can't be proud of his record. Bush is therefore bringing attention to that. Bush is not only a good, decent man, but
a formidable opponent in politics. Kerry is just beginning to realize that. Texans know how many time the Democrats called him "stupid" in the Governor's race and predicted that Anne (Big hair, big mouth) Richards would destroy him. Guess who not only won the election, but won re-election by the greatest margin in Texas history.
I am a big fan of "W". His political career is something that will hold political historians in awe for years to come. Don't get discouraged.....just WATCH HIM GO!!!
Hang in there my friend...the prez is just playing a little softball and is doing a good job in just suggesting that all 527 attack ads should stop and leaves Kerry stuck with a head on confrontation with the Swift Vets and he can't cry to W anymore...Its good politics and W sticks to the high ground..take care
WHEN WILL TERESA RELEASE HER COMPLETE TAX RETURNS???
Sadly, I think a lot of his subtlety is lost on the mushy middle which doesn't pay attention to what W is saying but to what the Media suggests he is saying.
W's move to disassociate himself with all 527's and then let the 527's hammer on Kerry all they want is very nifty.
Hang in there my friend...the prez is just playing a little softball and is doing a good job in just suggesting that all 527 attack ads should stop and leaves Kerry stuck with a head on confrontation with the Swift Vets and he can't cry to W anymore...Its good politics and W sticks to the high ground..take care
Has Edwards made some demands? Has he been found?
If you are old enough you will remember him as President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Surely, a man psychologically poorly equiped to make the reasoned judgements required for the leader of the Free World.
Too bad we didn't have some like the Swift Boat Vets in 1964. If we had, and Lyndon hadn't been elected it would have been a boon.
Check out the latest GOP ads:
- One on Kerry's AWOL from the intelligence committee, being away 3/4s of the time, trying to cut intel spending.
- Another on Kerry's *hundreds* of votes to raise taxes.
yes, 351 votes to raise taxes.
And also, the 'flipper' Kerry on Iraq video:
http://kerryoniraq.com
I agree, we should be hammering Kerry as a Liberal from massachusetts. It's what he is.
What is helpful with the swift vets is not to 'prove' he did something awful in Vietnam (he didnt), but to show that Kerry was/is abusing his service for political/personal gain. As such, it neutralizes Kerry's #1 talking point. Kerry cant wrap himself in his service to be immune on foreign policy questions.
Probably one of the smoothest political moves I have seen in a long time...very subtle stealthy, and dumps the mess back in Kerry's lap and he can't run a crying to W anymore...pretty slick I must say.
That makes no sense. So if I don't like the bans on free speech in CFR, I must favor further bans on free speech by being against 527's? I don't think so. I think the CFR supporters who favor 527's are hypocritical. Bush gets credit only for being consistent. He's wants to ban all of it. So under Kerry I get the freedom to speak out on politics via 527's only if I am a liberal. And under Bush I lose all unregulated freedom to speak out. I don't like either choice. Like I said before, I will vote for Bush on other issues, but I will hope and pray that a leader will come along who helps us fully restore the First Amendment.
Wrong. Bush will be distorted, no
matter WHAT he says. He's asked
direct questions, BTW. And the
reporters revealed their hatred
for the SBVFT by their wording of
the questions. People SEE that.
If I were Kerry, I would gin up a one minute ad campaign starring John McCain (SBVFT ad is "dishonorable and dishonest") and GWB (Kerry served admirably and he should be pround of his service) and list my military decorations. I would then show it in the battleground states opposite the SBVFT ads.
Correct. :-)
Apparently Kerry is now to give an address hitting Bush tomorrow, Edwards says he failed to condemn the Swifties, and Howard Dean is going berserk. They will now try to place all the blame for this on G.W.
Watch it fail.
The SBV's are not connected to Bush. They have credibility, the MSM has sustained hits as they have been shown to have none. Kerry still not address the charges. This is going to backfire and I'm looking forward to it.
It's like a contest to see who can run the worst campaign.
It's just that I see no high ground in any regulation of political speech. Most political speech will be negative. That's the nature of it. People speak up when they don't like something. The right to criticize candidates and politicians is fundamental.
No he isn't!! The press is lying .. did you see the press conference ..??
And .. the first thing Rush said about Bush's statement: "The media will try to say that Bush called for the SwiftVet ads to stop" .. and that's exactly what the media has done. They're still lying!
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