Posted on 08/26/2004 8:06:56 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - President Bush (news - web sites) wants to work with Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) to pursue court action against political ads by "shadowy" outside groups, the White House said Thursday amid growing pressure on the president to denounce attacks on John Kerry (news - web sites)'s war record.
"The president said if the court action doesn't work, that he would be willing to pursue legislative action with Sen. McCain on that," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to New Mexico.
McCain, R-Ariz., has called on Bush to condemn the anti-Kerry ads, even as he is actively supporting Bush's re-election. McCain told The New York Times that he plans to personally "express my displeasure" to the president, the paper reported Thursday.
Bush called McCain from Air Force One and the two had a brief discussion about the matter, McClellan said.
The debate over Democratic nominee John Kerry's service in Vietnam has dominated the presidential race in recent weeks after the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth aired ads questioning Kerry's decorated record.
You've used an excerpt from the article, maybe you could get Admin to correct so people can read the full article.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=696&e=1&u=/ap/20040826/ap_on_el_pr/bush_swift_boat_ads
I am no fan of McCain, but the full article's last paragraph does read:
In a separate but related matter, McCain said he wants Kerry to stop using him in advertising that denounces the anti-Kerry swift boat group. "I very much do not want them to use clips from my primary campaign against the president," said the Republican, who lost to Bush in 2000 and is joining the president on the campaign trail this week.
______________________________________________________________
I would prefer a harsher statement by McCain against these ads.
He would be if you were a rat.
Looking at how the 527s are actually working, I think the Suprem Court saw that individuals, like the Swiftvets, were not hampered by CFR. Bush is not going to outlaw free speech. He is just mocking the dems. He is not stupid. He knows exactly where to insert the knife. And when.
He can't, because that is illegal.
Now he needs to shut McCain up since the media is following his every word and the RATS are using McCain in their ads and speeches. Bush calling McCain today puts both McCain, Kerry and the RATS/media into a box.
I agree. It's a good move in the current legal climate.
It's all so simple to see if people would just stop their knee-jerk reactions to everything!
Some people take freedom of speech seriously, and don't like McCain-Feingold, and don't like that Bush signed it into law. That position is hardly knee-jerk. Nor is it "knee-jerk" to fight against a position that appears to advocate restriction on speech.
I'm not necessarily a big McCain fan, but I did notice that at the end of the article it says that McCain has asked the Kerry campaign to stop using his image in their ads. Sounds like a good first step to me!
There is no real threat of legal action. The law is clear and the law is not going to be changed anytime soon. Bush is just knifing the dems in the gut, figuratively speaking.
Yep. It looks like Bush wants all 527's removed, just like he told the Kerry whores. Good political move.
After the election, maybe McCain will understand what he's done and do something to stop it, like ask for a "veto" of his own bill.
Agree with your reasoning 100%. Note to self: send more money to Swifties today.
Original article only had first 5 paragraphs viewable at Yahoo when I snagged it.
Here's the Updated article, same name.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - President Bush (news - web sites) wants to work with Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) to pursue court action against political ads by "shadowy" outside groups, the White House said Thursday amid growing pressure on the president to denounce attacks on John Kerry (news - web sites)'s war record.
"The president said if the court action doesn't work, that he would be willing to pursue legislative action with Sen. McCain on that," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to New Mexico.
McCain, R-Ariz., has called on Bush to condemn the anti-Kerry ads, even as he is actively supporting Bush's re-election. The senator welcomed Bush's gesture. "I'm very appreciative of the president's effort to do that," McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I want to emphasize if I could that we're not saying that 527s should be abolished. We're just saying they should live under the same campaign finance restrictions (as hard money groups) because they are engaged in partisan activity."
McCain added: "I've said before I would like for the president to specifically condemn that ad, but the president has said John Kerry served honorably and also the president is now committed to acting to try to bring 527s into regulations that are appropriate."
Bush called McCain from Air Force One and the two had a brief discussion about the matter, McClellan said.
The debate over Democratic nominee John Kerry's service in Vietnam has dominated the presidential race in recent weeks after the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth aired ads questioning Kerry's decorated record.
Bush has criticized the Swift Boat Veterans group's first commercial and all other outside group attack ads — many of which have targeted his own re-election. But he has not explicitly condemned the Swift Boat veterans' ad.
McClellan said that complaints have been filed with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites), including one by the Kerry campaign, which allows legal action if the agency doesn't act. The Bush-Cheney campaign would be the entity that would file such a lawsuit, but McClellan did not indicate when that might happen.
"There have been previous complaints filed," McClellan said. "The FEC had an opportunity to act. They did not act so that allows those who filed those complaints to pursue action against the FEC."
The Bush campaign and the GOP have filed complaints accusing the Kerry campaign of illegally coordinating millions of dollars worth of anti-Bush ads with soft-money groups on the Democratic side.
Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said it filed a complaint with the FEC on March 31 alleging that the Kerry campaign was benefiting from activities of 527s. He said the FEC decided on May 13 or so that it was not going to act.
The Kerry campaign filed its own complaint last week with the FEC, alleging that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was illegally coordinating its efforts with the Bush-Cheney campaign.
All sides deny the allegations, and neither campaign has produced proof of coordination on the part of its rival.
McClellan said the goal is "to shut down all of this activity by these shadowy groups."
"We want to pursue court action," he added.
Mike Russell, a spokesman for the Swift Boat group, said Thursday that "we're going to continue doing what we're doing because this group is made up of more than 250 veterans who feel it is their obligation to tell the truth about John Kerry's military service."
"We're obviously going to abide by the spirit and letter of the law but as it sits right now 527s are free to operate and we're going to continue to do so," he said.
In a separate but related matter, McCain said he wants Kerry to stop using him in advertising that denounces the anti-Kerry swift boat group. "I very much do not want them to use clips from my primary campaign against the president," said the Republican, who lost to Bush in 2000 and is joining the president on the campaign trail this week.
We'll have to agree to disagree. The NRA is hampered, and many individuals contribute to the NRA on the basis of it (the NRA) providing a voice that the individual could not muster on his own.
Bush is not going to outlaw free speech.
I understand tha there are shades of grey in everything, including free speech. Totalitarian and total shutdown of free speech is impossible, it didn't happen in the Soviet Union, and it isn't happening in Iran, China, or even North Korea.
He is just mocking the dems. He is not stupid. He knows exactly where to insert the knife.
I agree, it's a good move in the current legal and political climate. I hope he is mocking not only the dems, but also McCain for his so-called "reform."
Political Judo. It's beautiful to watch this.
No, it is not right.
For those who missed it, read the letter the Bush/Cheney camp composed and directed to John Kerry:
excerpt:
You can't have it both ways. You can't build your convention and much of your campaign around your service in Vietnam, and then try to say that only those veterans who agree with you have a right to speak up. There is no double standard for our right to free speech. We all earned it.
~snip~
Rick Fulbaum (sp?) just reiterated on Fox that the Kerry Kamp is pulling the ad they put together featuring McCain from 2000. I think Rick said it was at McCain's request. I would think so.
It's about time he said that.
Reading this, I suddenly came to the image I was looking for. Bush is using his opponent's strength, the mainstream press, to skewer him. By turning the issue to the 527s, Bush is body slamming Kerry without lifting a finger.
Bob Dole is on Fox right now. He has predicted that the Dim 527s will start to go after McVain now if he tries to stop all the 527s. Also Dole giving Lurch hell. LOL
Libertarians out on the prowl already?
They always seem to scream "freedom", but do all they can to get Democrat socialists elected.
And Rove and Dole are skewering the press for their blatant hypocracy at the same time. CFR is predicated on the press delivering news that represents the best arguments of both sides of the fence, all sides of the issues. Kerry and the press are on the same side, and are nearly indistinguishable. This body slam has the potential to generate far-reaching and lasting change, for the better.
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