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Kerry Handler Cahill: Swift Boat Veterans Sank Us
NewsMax ^ | Dec 16, 2004 | Limbacher

Posted on 12/16/2004 6:03:49 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection

Mary Beth Cahill, the pro-abortion radical who mismanaged Sen. John Kerry's failed presidential campaign, admits her worst blunder was underestimating Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Astonishingly, Cahill said Kerry's campaign at first thought there would be "no reach" to the low-cost ad, which originally aired in only three states.

Does the left still fail to grasp the power of Internet, radio and cable news?

"This is the best $40,000 investment made by any political group, but it was only because of the news coverage that it got where it did," Cahill, a former underling to Sen. Teddy Kennedy, snapped Wednesday at Harvard University, where she appeared with Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager.

"In hindsight, maybe we should have put Senator Kerry out earlier. Perhaps we could have cut it off earlier," she fumed.

Sorry, Miss Cahill, you no longer get to decide what news to "cut off," outside of the New York Times, PBS, NPR, CBS, ABC, "Today" and the other shrinking Old Media outlets.

Mehlman noted that of course the ad created waves, because Kerry had made his few months in Vietnam decades ago the centerpiece of his campaign, rather than anything he might have accomplished in the Senate (which is very little) or as Michael Dukakis' lieutenant governor.

"Because Senator Kerry was so focused on that part of his biography, it came out as an issue," Melman observed.

Even though it was congressional Democrats who sponsored legislation to renew the military draft, Mehlman acknowledged that the donkeys succeeded in fooling some ignorant voters into thinking that was Bush's idea.

"I think that was something that worked. It wasn't true, but it worked," he said.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cahill; dirtyrats; kerrydefeat; lurch; rats; sorelosers; swiftboatveterans
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I compared this with the ABC version and decided to post it because of Limbacher's comments.
1 posted on 12/16/2004 6:03:49 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
"This is the best $40,000 investment made by any political group, but it was only because of the news coverage that it got where it did,"

Yeah, you keep telling yourself that cupcake. The million copies of the Book that were sold, and the tremendous work of the blogosphere, had nothing to do with anything.....

2 posted on 12/16/2004 6:05:25 AM PST by hobbes1 (Hobbes1TheOmniscient® "I know everything so you don't have to" ;)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Kerry Handler Cahill: Swift Boat Veterans Sank Us

Tell it like it is, Cahill.....THE TRUTH sank you

3 posted on 12/16/2004 6:05:31 AM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

"Astonishingly, Cahill said Kerry's campaign at first thought there would be "no reach" to the low-cost ad, which originally aired in only three states."

The truth hurts.


4 posted on 12/16/2004 6:06:44 AM PST by Max Combined (Clinton is "the notorious Oval Office onanist")
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Also, here is the other post.
5 posted on 12/16/2004 6:07:23 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection (www.whatyoucrave.com)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

"In hindsight, maybe we should have put Senator Kerry out [of his misery]earlier."


6 posted on 12/16/2004 6:09:59 AM PST by jocon307 (Jihad is world wide. Jihad is serious business. We ignore global jihad at our peril.)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Does the left still fail to grasp the power of Internet, radio and cable news?

Yes. Even now, 6 weeks after such a long hard fought campaign, and the dismal failure of their elitist candidate. Yes they still don't see the 'net as anything more but a way to get money to run for a political office. Dean showed them how to do that before he melted down.

let's 'em stay ignorant.

7 posted on 12/16/2004 6:11:21 AM PST by theDentist (Jerry Springer: PBS for White Trash)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
These are the very same people who think that the success of Ronald Reagan was due solely to the way he was 'packaged'.

Hey, we WANT them to think like that, don't we?

8 posted on 12/16/2004 6:12:03 AM PST by Slyfox
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
How about this: the TRUTH sank you??

I am still astonished President Bush won re-election. He had MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of dollars poured into slandering him as a leader, a thinker, and even as a human being. Millionaires happily GAVE of their money and time to try and defeat him...and he still won.

The impact of the Swifties was not their money--it was that they spoke the truth.

God bless America.

But I was nervous for a while, I'll admit. I believed the right would ultimately win, but I still feared for a time that the huge outpouring of funds by a hateful few would persuade just enough people to vote against the President.

9 posted on 12/16/2004 6:12:55 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
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To: Puppage
the lack of TRUTH sank Kerry.
How could anyone but a zealot ignore Kerry's dancing around not signing the Standard Form 180?
That one action would have laid to rest all of the need for further defenisve responses....BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED!!!
We all waited and waited and waited.
and in their analysis of Kerry's failure this lack of signatture on that form 180
IS STILL, NOT A PART OF THEIR ANALYSIS OF KERRY'S FAILURE?????
AMAZING!!!!
10 posted on 12/16/2004 6:13:41 AM PST by ThirstyMan (Why is it, all the dead vote for Democrats?)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
The Swifties were (and are) an important part to Kerry's demise. But Kerry lost because of Kerry. One said something, the other denied it. One claimed to be a war hero, the other a war protester. One was an obvious elitist snob, the other was obviously not the "man of the people" he pretended to be.

All in all, the Republicans couldn't have asked for a better candidate to run against. The Kerry campaign sank under his own weight.

11 posted on 12/16/2004 6:14:22 AM PST by silent_jonny (It's CHRISTmas, not Xmas!!!)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
They keep looking for a "reason" as to why Kerry lost. It was the Swiftboat Vets. It was the Osama Bin Laden tape. It was the gay marriage issue. All of these were a factor but it came down to the one thing they can never admit. America AMERICA JUST DID NOT LIKE JOHN KERRY. Even the votes he did get were votes against Bush. Most Democrats held their nose while casting their votes for Hanoi John.
12 posted on 12/16/2004 6:17:13 AM PST by speed_addiction (Ninja's last words, "Hey guys. Watch me just flip out on that big dude over there!")
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
Kerry sank Kerry. The SWIFTboat vets supplied much of the ammunition, but if Kerry had been a decent nominee, he could've risen above it.

Ultimately, Kerry was his own worst enemy. And I take nothing away from the valiant and honorable campaign John O'Neill and the rest of the vets waged. They are wonderful patriots who completed their mission. But Kerry sank Kerry.

13 posted on 12/16/2004 6:18:07 AM PST by savedbygrace ("No Monday morning quarterback has never led a team to victory" GW Bush)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

14 posted on 12/16/2004 6:18:41 AM PST by rocksblues (No more Kerry, no more polls!)
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To: hobbes1

What does Cahill think of the blanket suppression of the Swifties message by the MSM for three solid months achieved? The Swifities layed it all out in early May at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. fer crying out loud and the press devoutly ignored Kerry's treason with a solid wall of silence.

The new media, however...


15 posted on 12/16/2004 6:21:25 AM PST by WorkingClassFilth (From Ku Klux Klan to the modern era of the Koo Kleft Klan...the true RAT legacy.)
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To: savedbygrace

in the final analysis it's not the messenger it's the message


16 posted on 12/16/2004 6:21:25 AM PST by JohnLongIsland
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
"This is the best $40,000 investment made by any political group,...

I like to think that my little sawbuck packed a whallop this year. The Swiftees have spoiled me for future fundraisers, since now I'll be expecting them to elect my guy for $29.95.

17 posted on 12/16/2004 6:22:32 AM PST by gridlock (ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Integrity. Integrity. Integrity. Thanks Swift Boat Vets!


18 posted on 12/16/2004 6:23:19 AM PST by PGalt
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection

Dems continue to call the Swifties "proven liars" based on little more than their saying so. They then quote "factcheck.org, supported by the VP".

The truth killed the Dems, on this one. I just wish it had the power to take Kerry out of the Senate, where he does not belong. While it was probably the correct political decision to not force the issue, more, for the Bush campaign, Mass Republicans need to force it when Kerry comes up for re-election.

On the finances front, I know I bought the book and contributed $150 directly. $40,000 my butt.


19 posted on 12/16/2004 6:23:33 AM PST by FreedomPoster
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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Shouldn't that be "sunk"?

20 posted on 12/16/2004 6:24:30 AM PST by Cai Della
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