Posted on 08/30/2004 6:54:13 PM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie addressed the GOP Summer Meeting Thursday to set the stage for the convention that starts Monday. He said the week-long extravaganza in New York City's Madison Square Garden would focus on "the proud history of our Party, the strong record of our President and his positive agenda for our future."
Only 68 days remain until Americans head to the polls in what most political experts believe one of the closest presidential elections ever. Gillespie was upbeat, buoyed by a new poll of likely voters that showed President Bush taking the lead over Democratic Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).
He conceded that victory would not come easily, but would require a concerted grassroots effort. The Chairman praised the assembly of state party leaders and volunteers, exhorting them to bring the campaign over the goal line.
Gillespie said that this convention was one of the most important in the nation's history, something he said Democrats also realize. He believes that many of Kerry's supporters would be among the protesters who have promised to converge on the convention site.
He pointed out, "Next week many of the anti-war, big labor, abortion activist groups who were inside the Fleet Center [at the Democratic Convention] will be outside Madison Square Garden protesting our convention."
He warned against confrontations with the protesters saying, "These Democrats are free to exercise their First Amendment right to express themselves during our convention. And those of us seeking to re-elect President Bush should be courteous to those seeking to elect Senator Kerry."
Gillespie urged that conventioneers ignore any name calling from the protesters. He recalled that the President was called a "cheap thug," a "liar" and a "killer" at an official Kerry-Edwards campaign event in New York not so long ago. He declined to speculate on what epithets that might be hurled at Republicans but said, "As a party, we must continue to reject such political hate speech."
The RNC chairman contrasted his convention with the Democrats' event.
He said, "In Boston, Democrats were more focused on Senator Kerry's biography than his record. Senator Kerry himself dedicated only 27 seconds of a 50-minute speech to his 20-year Senate career. But you can be sure here in New York City, we will be talking about President Bush's record of achievements during his first term."
He added, "Democrats are running from Senator Kerry's record, and we're running on President Bush's."
Gillespie suggested that Kerry's calls for a weekly debate until November 2 would be difficult to accommodate.
He said, "It is somewhat challenging to engage the Democratic nominee in a debate over the issues when he is constantly debating himself. But eventually, Senator Kerry is going to have to pick a position and stick to it. He can't have everything both ways from now through November."
He pointed out that Kerry was for the war in Iraq when Dick Gephardt was his principal primary challenger and then against the war in Iraq when Howard Dean was his principal primary challenger.
The chairman also noted, "He cannot, after months of attacking President Bush's motives and credibility during the Democrat presidential primary, going so far as to declare himself an anti-war candidate, now say knowing what he knows today he would still have voted for the Iraq War Resolution."
He also mentioned Kerry's self-inflicted flip-flop when he said, "He can't hope the public will believe he actually voted for it before he voted against it."
Gillespie said that the RNC has produced a 12-minute documentary that outlines the evolution of John Kerry's positions on Iraq (web site).
He added, "We just updated it to reflect his latest position, and are likely to update it again over the next two months!"
The chairman continued to pound the message that Kerry is trying to have it both ways.
He said, "Kerry cannot say his service on the Senate Intelligence Committee qualifies him to be President of the United States, then object when it is pointed out that he missed more than three out of four public hearings held by that committee."
He added, "And he can't say it's not fair to site only the public hearings because that doesn't take into account the non-public hearings, then refuse to make public his attendance at the non-public hearings."
Gillespie even took on the Swift Boat controversy when he mocked Kerry's hypocrisy in the matter.
In something of a lengthy indictment he pointed out, "For months, the Kerry campaign has relied on 527 groups to distort the president's policies and to attack him in the most personal terms."
He noted that the Republican Party tried through the Federal Election Commission, over the objection of Democrats, to stop these 527s from engaging in what it thought was a clear violation of the law. But the FEC chose to permit such activity in this election.
Gillespie recalled that following the FEC's decision, "Democratic shadow groups, formed for the expressed purpose of defeating President Bush and electing John Kerry, have spent $63 million attacking the President, while John Kerry remained silent. He remained silent when MoveOn.Org ran ads falsely charging the President of being AWOL, a felony crime punishable by imprisonment or death. He remained silent while they called the President a liar, and accused him of wanting to deny Hispanics their right to vote. He remained silent while the Media Fund ran ads saying the President abandoned our troops, and that he was willfully poisoning our children."
He added, "But when anti-Kerry groups began to run ads against him, Senator Kerry found his voice. He thunders in righteous indignation, after 527s aligned with him have spent $21 for every dollar spent by those opposed to him."
The chairman continued, "He can't say that somebody in Swift Boat Veterans for Truth knowing somebody who knows Karl Rove is proof of illegal coordination-when his former campaign manager works for three of the 527s attacking the President, when an executive committee member of the Democratic National Committee heads The Media Fund, and when the chairman of the Democratic Convention also heads Moving America Forward, a pro-Kerry 527."
He also said, "John Kerry can't say that Ben Ginsberg providing legal advice to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth while serving as outside counsel to the Bush-Cheney campaign is evidence of illegal coordination when Bob Bauer serves as legal counsel to both the Kerry campaign and America Coming Together, and Joe Sandler serves as General Counsel to the Democratic National Committee and to Moveon.Org and Moving America Forward all at the same time. Bob Bauer and Joe Sandler are not likely to resign any time soon, but I respect Ben for deciding to do so."
Gillespie took a shot at the media in saying, "I am embarrassed for those who have employed such a double standard in scrutinizing one group of veterans and their relatively scant participation in this election cycle while virtually ignoring the 527s that have been attacking President Bush every single day all year long."
In a call from Air Force One on Thursday, President Bush asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to join him in filing a lawsuit to force the FEC to take action the would put an end to all the unregulated "soft money" activities of the 527 groups.
Excellent!
SKerry is a DemocRAT, he can have it four or five ways with cover from his old media stooges, such as the NY Times.
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