Posted on 09/24/2004 9:32:31 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Please shut up, Terry McAuliffe--that is, about George W. Bush and his missing-time in the Texas Air National Guard.
I keep receiving press releases from flacks at the Democratic Party about Bush's Guard service (or lack thereof). For instance, moments before John Kerry delivered a major speech on September 20 that refocused his campaign with a blast against Bush's war in Iraq, the Democratic National Committee press office emailed me and other reporters an invitation to participate in a conference call with McAuliffe on Bush and the Guard. The call was scheduled to occur in the middle of Kerry's speech.
[Correction: After this column was first posted, the DNC contacted me to complain--about its overall thrust and about the depiction of this particular conference call. The DNC says that Kerry's speech was scheduled to start at 10:00 am and the conference call was scheduled for 11:15 am. As it turned out, Kerry began late and was speaking at 11:15. But the DNC did not begin the conference call until after Kerry finished. Still, the main point remains.]
Shouldn't the Democratic Party that day have been reinforcing Kerry's message that Bush has screwed the pooch in Iraq and that Kerry has a plan for dealing with the mess Bush created? (Click here to read about Kerry's proposals.) Instead, McAuliffe and his crew at DNC HQ thought it was best to take yet another swipe at Bush for cutting out on the Guard.
Despite the success of the Swift Vets' assault on Kerry--as fact-free as much of it was--McAuliffe and the party are wrong to obsess over what Bush or did not do three decades ago. I've written frequently about Bush and the Guard, and I encourage journalists and researchers to pursue the story. But Bush's military service should not be a frontline battle for the Democratic Party. By raising the issue incessantly, McAuliffe and the party will not persuade voters. Voters probably have already reached their conclusions about that 32-year-old episode and its significance. Absent new information--material not based on forgeries--McAuliffe should not be beating this horse further.
The matter is a sideshow. Whatever Bush did way back then, his record in the White House is more critical--particularly what he has done since September 11, 2001. Kerry is right to confront Bush directly on the war in Iraq and the misnamed war on terrorism. He has little choice. Bush has deftly and effectively defined the election not only as a referendum on the war in Iraq but a contest to determine which candidate is more decisive and better able to lead a strong and assertive attack on America's enemy. And as president and as head of a party machine that is maniacally disciplined when it comes to message development and promotion, Bush has the power to set the terms of the debate. (Kerry cannot snap his fingers and declare that this election is really about health care and outsourcing.) So the final stretch of this election will focus on who can best be the protector-in-chief. What Kerry did in Vietnam, what Bush did not in Vietnam (and Alabama) is largely irrelevant in this discussion.
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When you're done reading this article,visit David Corn's WEBLOG at www.davidcorn.com. Read recent entries on Chris Matthews going soft on the Swift Vets, the lack of evidence for the charge Kerry is a flip-flopper, Bush's latest flubs and fibs, and my recent adventure at Notre Dame.
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Yet as Kerry tries to gain ground in this debate--today he gave a strong speech outlining his specific ideas for countering the terrorist threat posed by Islamic extremists--McAuliffe and his DNC colleagues keep yapping about Bush's Guard record. On Wednesday, they put out a press release asking why Bush aides have offered conflicting explanations for Bush's failure to take a flight physical in 1972. And after the New York Post reported that the "hot rumor in New York political circles has Roger Stone, the longtime GOP activist, as the source for Dan Rather's dubious Texas Air National Guard 'memos,'" McAuliffe issued a statement, in which he asked, "Will [GOP chairman] Ed Gillespie or the White House admit today what they know about Mr. Stone's relationship with these forged documents? Will they unequivocally rule out Mr. Stone's involvement? Or for that matter, others with a known history of dirty tricks, such as Karl Rove or Ralph Reed?" C'mon, who believes gossip reported in the Post?
When CBS News announced it no longer considered the documents authenticated, McAuliffe put out an official statement urging the public and the press to "focus on the facts," not the forgeries. "The American people," he said, "already know that strings were pulled to get President Bush into the Guard; and while in the Guard he missed months of service and was grounded. We know that George Bush was a fortunate son, a child of privilege, who refuses to admit that he used his connections to avoid fulfilling his requirements. But what we still don't know is why Bush didn't fulfill his duty to his country or why he has continued to lie to the American people about it."
There is nothing wrong or inaccurate in what McAuliffe has been saying about Bush and the Guard. But his job should be amplifying Kerry's message. The GOP does that for Bush perfectly. Each day I receive numerous emails from the Republican Party that are on-message in a zombie-like fashion. Then I turn on the cable news shows and see White House officials, Bush campaign aides, and other Republicans mouthing the line du jour--all in complete lockstep. They generally have stayed away from explicitly seconding the Swift Vets' attacks, unless asked.
Kerry has decided that his best chance is to go after Bush directly on the war--this war, not that war. In his speech today, Kerry did not even bother to refer to his own Vietnam service. Instead, he highlighted his policy ideas, as well as his experience in the Senate concerning terrorism and other related national security matters. (Mark Mehlman of the Bush campaign offered the predictable response to Kerry's address. He called it one more flip-flop from a fellow who said the United States "would be safer if Saddam Hussein was still in power.") So McAuliffe ought to get on board and let other partisans bash Bush for being MIA as a Guardsman. (What's a 527 for?) Kerry has adopted a tough course, though it may be the only path available. He must convince voters that Bush, a wartime president, ought to be fired because he botched the fight against al Qaeda by recklessly launching an elective war for which he did not plan adequately. And Kerry must also persuade voters that, despite the accusations of flip-flopping, he will be a stronger leader than the swaggering, you-know-where-I-stand Bush.
There's not much time for Kerry to do all this. And the debates--which start on September 30--will be his best opportunity to put his case before a large group of potential voters. (National security will be the focus of the first debate.) Kerry could use all the back-up he can get. McAuliffe and the party should be boosting Kerry's message--by criticizing Bush for the war, not events from the early 1970s. The Guard issue certainly plays well among Bush-bashers and, no doubt, it is tempting for McAuliffe and his fellow Bush-whackers at the DNC to engage in such easy attacks. But they ought to resist. They need to concentrate their fire on the main target: what Bush has done in Iraq. Both Kerry and Bush agree that is what this election is about. McAuliffe should salute and follow Kerry's charge up a hill that will be rather tough to take.
It really makes you wonder what those high up in the food chain of Kerry's election crew are thinking of their poor choice of a nominee and his chances.
Coming from David Corn, this is priceless!
The Demcorats are afflicted with an incompetent chairman and an incompetent candidate at the same time.
Thank you, God.
david corn is a little piss ant. less than 40 days...the
democRATS are in full panic mode
250 people knocking Kerry's service in 'Nam? It's false, of course, and Karl Rove is behind it.
Zero people seeing Bush in Alabama? It's true, of course, and Karl Rove is behind it.
Millions and millions disenfranchised? True again, and once again, it's Karl.
Wow!
David Korn looks like Guy Smiley.
I hereby nominate Terri McAuliffe DNC Chairwoman for Life. Do I have a second for the motion?
NO ONE can digest Corn, if you follow my meaning.
David Corn always seems delusional to me. McAuliffe is just out to torpedo Kerry's campaign to make way for Hillary in 2008.
Well....I heard the guys on Fox News say that though President Bush missed some meetings he had made up the time and came out with a good points record. Also that a lot of guard members have personal and business reasons to occasionally miss some meetings or duty rosters and are allowed to make it up, common thing.
Even worse they are afflicted with blind rage. That is why the can't make rational choices.
Love the ad in the middle of the column, where he directs you to his site so you can read "the lack of evidence for the charge Kerry is a flip-flopper".
Yeah, right. Talk about flogging a dead horse.
Second
Yes, he's utterly incompetent. On Rush's show the other day, he pointed to a column in NRO about Terry McAuliffe's reference to Bush's Guard service before memogate broke. The problem is he apparently used the word "sugarcoat" in his rant about Bush's performance. Does that sound familiar? The problem is, I am beginning to think that I dreamt it because when I went to find the column, it was not posted and I can't seem to locate it.
Has anyone heard about this?
David Corn, Joe Conason and Tad Devine--The Three Sneering Stooges
McAuliffe has never had a real job or had to get his hands dirty. Same goes for Kerry and Edwards. What, no men in the democrat party?
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