Posted on 08/27/2004 1:03:03 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Last week I used this space to explore the history of dirty tricks in American politics. As you would remember, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had released a sequence of advertisements on television casting doubt on Senator Kerry's much vaunted Vietnam War record. Today, as I sat down to submit my article, I noticed an item in the news concerning the swift boat vets once again. Early yesterday, Max Cleland, a former US Senator from Georgia ventured down to the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas, to deliver a letter to Bush requesting him to personally denounce the Swift Boat ads, much to the chagrin of the Democrats. Cleland, indignant in his wheelchair, rolled over with his coterie to deliver the message from nine Senate Democrats and was turned away by the officer on guard at the gates of the ranch.
After weeks of angry rhetoric from the Kerry campaign calling for the end of the 'politics of hate', Cleland's Crawford antics have led many to question whether or not the Democrats actually want the affair to end with a notice of condemnation from the White House - after all, that wouldn't do much to fix the damage that the anti-Kerry vets have already wreaked across the swing states. Yesterday was the Democrats' attempt at trying to make good of a bad situation - I suppose some bright spark in the campaign machinery suddenly woke up a few days ago to a light bulb in his head: if the Republicans' can manipulate the media, and in turn the people, so can we! Senator Cleland - a former Vietnam veteran who lost an arm and both legs in combat - was probably proposed as the perfect messenger. And so, I'd imagine, the machine would have churned and churned for days before it was finally decided to take the show on the road. There is no doubt that they got the audience.
More often than not, political theatre is spectacularly conceived. However, it doesn't always play that way. Most recently, President Bush tried to make some gains in the polls last May by flying onto an aircraft carrier and giving a speech just after declaring victory over Iraq. He stood on the deck, in front of the world's cameras with a banner in the background proclaiming 'Mission Accomplished'. Whoever thought up the plan might have remarked at his own ingenuity at the time - seek out the image and just look at the number of metaphors they packed in. However, shortly after it all fell apart. Instead of appearing as the victorious commander in chief he was trying to be, Bush came across as an opportunistic politician trying to boost his rating whilst soldiers were dying in Baghdad
Max Clelands' grandstanding will also only make it harder for the Kerry campaign to take the public's mind away from the Swift Boat ads. The debate which had so far focused on the bad taste of the anti-Kerry group is now shifting to the political opportunism of the Kerry campaign. Not being the favourites to win in November, the Democrats took a risk with their move. A successful run in Crawford yesterday might have served to confirm the resolve of those voters who already believed that the republicans are playing foul, however, inadvertently, it might have given many more undecided voters reason to reconsider the Bush campaign's allegation against Kerry, that he is not of firm resolve. After wanting to distance himself from the issue for weeks, he has now made the focus even more intense, and widened the spectrum of debate on the issue.
This trick might prove more costly than any bright spark might have imagined.
(Binay Kumar is a resident of California, in the US. His column appears every Thursday.)
Absolutely. Every Literature 101 professor will tell you, When writing fiction, stick with what you know.
By repudiating your service, like John Kerry?
Wow, he was very lucky!
You are correct. Cleland was not wounded in combat. He, or someone on the same helicopter, was careless with a grenade. That is why he wasn't awarded the Purple Heart for his injurys.
I think his campaign is taking on quite a mythological quality...sort of like...let's say..."Icarus".....;)
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to share with you my story of how I came to know and love John Kerry.
The real story is that Cleland is a bitter non-hero who lost his limbs (not in combat) but through a grenade accident. Cleland was ( appropriately) not awarded the Purple Heart. His patriotism was never questioned during his Senate re-election campaign--but his voting record was held under proper sructinaty----and the people of Georgia thought he was unfit to lead them.
If I could spell better, I would apply to the John Kerry Campaign and work in the Long Wang Division of Christmas Somewhere.
Classic Indian pseudo intellectual claptrap. So involved with his own brilliance he's not even aware he hasn't a clue what is going on. Spent 4 years in India reading what passes for newspapers, and this is fairly typical.
Absolutely sickening...
Yup. I think the next line was "proud Kerry keeps on burnin'"
Wasn't alcohol an issue in the incident? That was my understanding.
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