Posted on 08/26/2004 3:11:02 PM PDT by illiac
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Democrats Thursday rolled out their campaign to counter next week's Republican National Convention with a catchphrase taken from President Bush's lexicon and the famous banner hung aboard the USS Lincoln when he declared the end of combat operations in Iraq.
By MARIE HORRIGAN, UPI Deputy Americas Editor
"Every day next week we will be highlighting the simple truth about the administration of George Bush -- mission not accomplished," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, unveiling a sign bearing the party's slogan for the convention.
"(Bush) didn't make this sign, but it is based on his record of failure," he later added.
McAuliffe outlined a string of issues including the economy, job creation, foreign policy, extending access to healthcare and making prescription drugs more affordable, all of which he said Bush administration policies had failed to solve.
"But it's not as if George Bush got nothing done in the last four years," he said. "When big oil, the drug companies, HMOs, the insurance companies and other special interests called, George W. Bush reported for duty and accomplished their missions."
McAuliffe said the Democrats would have a "very strong organization" in New York over the next week to point out what he said would be Republicans' sleight of hand.
"Instead of a convention (Bush) is going to have a masquerade ball in New York City, a Hollywood façade put up by extremists pushing moderates out on stage to mask the special interests' agenda that has governed America for the last three and a half years," he said.
"We will point out the truth," he said. "America can do better than George W. Bush."
The DNC's efforts mirror those of the Republican National Committee at last month's Democratic Convention in Boston, which featured daily events with speakers such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Leading the Democratic effort will be Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, with help from Democrats in New York's delegation to Congress -- Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer as well Rep. Charles Rangel.
Former President Bill Clinton, who has been extremely popular at campaign events, including a speech at last month's convention, will not be in attendance in New York. McAuliffe attributed Clinton's absence to prior scheduling engagements, mostly tours to promote his new book, "My Life."
The party's push includes a multimillion-dollar television ad buy in 21 battleground states that would run at least through the convention, McAuliffe said, and a nationwide radio buy.
The DNC Thursday also sent out state-specific releases on what it said were Bush's failures in terms of jobs, the economy, healthcare and other issues, and a 45-page "Speakers Guide" discussing why each convention speaker is inappropriate for the job.
Overall, McAuliffe said, the counter-campaign would be "something our party has not done to this extent ever before," but said Democrats had a few tricks up their sleeves.
"And we'll need them," he said. "Because George W. Bush has a trick or two up his."
The most recent Los Angeles Times poll showed Bush with a 3-point advantage over his Democratic opponent, comparable to the lead held by presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., ahead of the Democrats own convention.
The Kerry-Edwards ticket received negligible bounce coming out of the convention despite Republican estimates it would receive the historical standard 7-point jump in polling.
McAuliffe Thursday said he thought the Bush-Cheney ticket would likely receive a 9-point post-convention bounce, which would catapult it far ahead of the Kerry campaign heading into the fall campaign season.
He added he was "very comfortable" with the campaign's position in the polls, but said he realized "we've got a long ways to go."
At Thursday's news conference in Washington, McAuliffe also repeated the party's call for Bush to reject advertising by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group, one of several so-called 527 soft-money organizations, has questioned Kerry's record of military service during the Vietnam War.
"I believe it's a charade, I think it's disgraceful, I think it's disgusting, these ads that they have out there today," McAuliffe said.
"George Bush should come out today and say the ad is wrong."
Bush earlier called on Kerry to speak out against all 527s and their activities but has not condemned the specific advertisement. The Bush-Cheney campaign, however, announced Thursday it was launching a suit against the Federal Election Commission to get it to shut down 527s.
Campaign Chairman and former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot said the campaign was suing to "compel the FEC to take action to regulate these organizations as the federal political committees that they are."
"Our goal is a level playing field -- all organizations working for the election or defeat of federal candidates should operate under the same standards and rules," he said in a statement.
McAuliffe rejected the suit as political posturing.
"Until George Bush has the courage and the integrity to step up to the plate and to take those ads down, he has no credibility to talk about these issues," he said.
He later added, however, he thought it would be impossible to shut down advertisements by the 527s because of their First Amendment rights.
"They know as well as we do, they're not going to be able to shut down these 527 ads," he said of his Republican opponents. "But what I ask the president to do is to come out and condemn these ads when they're filled with lies and misperceptions."
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(Please send comments to nationaldesk@upi.com.)
Copyright 2004 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
And when they're not...?
This is great. When one side starts falling behind, its people (in this case, RATS) start doing dumb things that snowball. I still say Bush gets 58 percent of the PV in November, but we can't get complacent about turnout.
Let the games begin.
They have become unhinged...
Every time Terry McAuliffe speaks, the Democrats lose another house seat. Go Terry Go!!!
Man, liberals cant tell the truth about anything. I dont know how anyone cant be embarassed by being a member of that party.
Please, oh please let Terry say "Bush is Toast".
I hope we don't "throw the baby out with the bathwater" by shutting down political speech. The SBVT have done a great job of exposing Kerry's lies and hypocrisy, and I applaud them for it. It's important that people be able to get the truth out there for people to see.
He just always manages to outdo himself, doesn't he?
McAuliffe has got to be worried about his job.
I do not have any military experience, but doesn't a war consist of a very large number of missions? If so, wasn't the Lincoln banner an accurate description of what that carrier had done, under very adverse circumstances? And wouldn't that put the 'Rats in a position of denigrating that noble crew?
Yes! Spend that money on useless ads.....spend it!!!!
Sounds like a funeral.
LANDSLIDE!!!
LANDSLIDE!!!
If that's the case why have they offered up a man as flawed as Kerry?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
This is the part that the SCOTUS must not have in their First Amendment.
"But it's not as if George Bush got nothing done in the last four years," he said. "When big oil, the drug companies, HMOs, the insurance companies and other special interests called, George W. Bush reported for duty and accomplished their missions."
You mean all these companies that are employing millions of americans? The horror...I guess the rats want them out of business and the welfare rolls to swell so they get a bigger voting base.
Its just going to make the Dems look like even bigger as$holes than they already do, kind of like that Wellstone funeral. They just dont get it.
The mission for the Lincoln and the surrounding task force was to deafeat the Armed Forces of Saddam's Iraq, and remove him from power. At the point in time of that banner - the mission WAS accomplished. Period. EVERYONE with a brain knows there was more to the task list.
There were subsequent missions, and subsequent tasks.
At the end of WW2, the "mission" was accomplished on the Missouri, but the 'mission' with Japan wwas far from over, just as it was far from over once the 'mission or major hostilities' was over.
These guys can;t find a real issue.
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