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Folksy Bush to the fore as Kerry's lead is eroded
Belfast Telegraph ^ | August 39, 2004 | Rupert Cornwell in New York

Posted on 08/30/2004 3:05:19 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

The final phase of George Bush's bid for re-election will commence with a convention orchestrated around his folksy style but portraying him as a tough leader who has waged a highly effective war on terror.

Mr Bush will spend part of his time setting out a second-term domestic agenda, including an ambitious plan to part-privatise social security, but above all Republican speech-writers will style him as far better equipped than John Kerry, the Democratic challenger, to protect America's national security.

That was his message as he campaigned on Saturday in the pivotal swing state of Ohio. It has also been the subtext of the independently sponsored television ads by a group of Vietnam veterans, accusing Mr Kerry of lying over his Vietnam record.

Mr Bush took the high road once again on Saturday, conceding in an NBC interview that the Massachusetts senator had fought "more heroically" than himself, who had served at home in the Texas Air National Guard.

But members of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as the independently funded but Republican-aligned group is called, have let it be known they have more salvoes to fire in their controversial offensive which has dominated the August political debate here.

Thanks in part to the ads, Mr Bush enters his convention in distinctly better shape than seemed likely a month ago, when the Democrats wrapped up their own show in Boston. A national poll in the latest issue of Time magazine, giving the President a 46-44 per cent lead, follows others showing that he has eroded Mr Kerry's slim advantage at the end of July.

The party's leadership in Washington is uncompromisingly conservative. But the featured speakers this week will be moderates: Senator John McCain of Arizona, Rudolph Giuliani, mayor of New York at the time of the terrorist attacks three years ago, and Arnold Schwarzenegger - picked to appeal to the small group of independent voters in the middle.

The last two in particular are supporters of gay and abortion rights, despite the call in the 2004 convention's political platform for bans both on gay marriage and a woman's right to have an abortion.

All will be choreographed - a minutely scripted four-day party political advertisement, leading up to Mr Bush's keynote acceptance speech on Thursday evening.

He will speak not from a traditional platform, but from a small rostrum extending into the middle of the hall. Organisers aim to create an intimate "theatre in the round" effect, bringing Mr Bush's folksy style into the living rooms of his primetime audience.

Source: Independent


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bush; gopconvention; kerry; swiftboat; uselection; veterans; vietnam

1 posted on 08/30/2004 3:05:19 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Morni' CW..feeling great..looking forward to the convention..The only "bad" thing I see in the next 4 days is the incredible inept choice of Pataki to introduce W..Nothing to do with his views..he's just a gawdawful public speaker..he has that whiny, sing-song voice..


2 posted on 08/30/2004 3:33:48 AM PDT by ken5050 (Bill Clinton has just signed to be the national spokesman for Hummer..)
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To: ken5050

Knowing that the broadcast networks are skipping tonight's speeches, I'd have switched Pataki to tonight, and let Rudy go on Thursday.


3 posted on 08/30/2004 3:38:09 AM PDT by ABG(anybody but Gore) ("I'm just a gigolo, and everywhere I go, people know I'm lyin' about 'Nam".....)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"But members of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as the independently funded but Republican-aligned group is called..."

Can ANYONE show me the evidence that the Swift Vets are aligned with the Republican Party?

4 posted on 08/30/2004 3:57:54 AM PDT by Boss_Jim_Gettys (Bush/Cheney, the Official Candidates of the 2004 Olympic Summer Games)
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To: Boss_Jim_Gettys

If you're against Kerry you must be for Bush, is the logic.

Besides, the Left wants to blame Bush for the sun coming up in the morning.


5 posted on 08/30/2004 4:02:32 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Boss_Jim_Gettys
Can ANYONE show me the evidence that the Swift Vets are aligned with the Republican Party?

A lot of the initial funding came from Republicans. Not exactly a shocker, but there you have it.

Where Moveon.org, ACT and the others are just decent, common, everyday Americans trying to eke out a living in spite of tyrannical leadership. < / vomit >

It's about time for this independent to make another donation to the Swifties.

6 posted on 08/30/2004 4:23:05 AM PDT by Coop (In memory of a true hero - Pat Tillman)
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To: Coop
"A lot of the initial funding came from Republicans. Not exactly a shocker, but there you have it."

No doubt many republican voters have donated (such as myself), but that still does not prove that there is ANY link with the Republican Party.

Unfortunately the MSM is just a water carrier for the Dems and will reprint their talking points without doing any work.

7 posted on 08/30/2004 6:34:22 AM PDT by Boss_Jim_Gettys (Bush/Cheney, the Official Candidates of the 2004 Olympic Summer Games)
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