Kerry Campaign Unfazed by Bush Attacks

Yahoo News ^ | 8/21/04 | AP

[paul51]

I said that all along. Bush should have denounced the ads in the beginning

I disagree with you on this. Pres. Bush is doing the smart thing by staying out of it. You've got kerry battling with these groups which will only encourage them and drag kerry down more. Bush's approach to similar attacks (eg. Moore) are much wiser. Let the supporters fight the fight.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites)'s campaign released a video Saturday comparing the controversy over Kerry's Vietnam service to attacks on John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries.

The only similarity between McCain and Kerry is that they're both sore losers.

[Soundman4x4]

"Now his [Bush's] credibility is tied to theirs" and this is a problem WHY?

Because John McCain made it Bush's problem when he told him to denounce the ads two weeks ago.

Some analyst nailed it yesterday when he said all the elements had to be in place for Kerry to pull this one: Swiftee ads, connections to GOP even if they aren't directly to Bush, McCain denunciation, 527 ad attacking Bush's service, and Kerry's denunciation of that ad.

Bush would have lost nothing to denounce the ad in the beginning. Whoever advised him not to will be the culprit if he loses.

[Bob J]

McCain, the gift that keeps on giving...to dims.

[Elvis van Foster]

You sound as panicky as your candidate, flailing around with all sorts of sideways rationalizations. Sorry. Too cute by half. Have a nice Nov. 2.

[Darlin']

Unfazed ? FOFLOL. They're in complete freak out mode. I've never seen such a transparent attempt to change the subject. Would someone, please, tell the gigalo that President Bush has better things to do than respond to a loser.

[blake6900]

Of course McCain will back Kerry on this. He already has.

Yes but he only commented once and that was right after the first SwiftVets ad came out. He's been strangely-for him-quiet since then. While no fan of McCain's, I'm actually interested in hearing what he has to say about the second ad with the POWs. I'm thinking we'll hear some tired crap about all this being so long ago and he'll completely forget that Kerry was the one who kept rubbing our collective faces in it in the first place.

After all, McCain set himself up long ago as the quintessential expert on all things POW. I suppose there's no reason to think he'll change now. And he so loves being the darling of the media one can't help but think his sound bite will be one they can embrace and scream from the mountain top.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

McCain needs to shut up and sit down

Kerry needs to cough up his real records and explain why its ok for moveon.org and mikey moore to do his biding while sitting at his convention

Yet bush has denounced both sides for the advertisements and yet its bushes fault ?

McCain also needs to explain to the American people just how campaign finance reforms work again because from where i sit its worse than ever and seeks to split the country worse than any partisan hack-job !

[VadeRetro]

This is an AP story?

This is a Kerry commercial released as an AP story.

[GoodGrief]

The video of McCain and Bush from Feb of 2000 must have been the Larry King debate just before the SC primary. In the debate they sat around a table and conducted a casual "debate".

If this is so, I remember that when McCain brought up the negative campaigning, Bush held up a flyer which he said smeared him and had been put on cars in parking lots in SC. I don't remember the content, but he made it clear they both had grievances. Unfortunately....to the loser goes the right to play victim! Never mind what the McCainiacs tried to do to Bush in SC.

So the question is.....did McCain sign off on Kerry's use of the footage? My guess is probably not. They have CNN snitches who probably supplied it and since the Senator still lives off his anger they're counting on him to say "no comment".

[Dog Gone]

Even though I disagree with your assessment, by your reasoning Kerry's credibility is also tied to that of Michael Moore.

[b4its2late]

Of course McCain will back Kerry on this.

Until he thinks back to his POW days (after seeing fellow POWs in the commercial) and what additional torture he may have received due to Kerry's little stint before Congress.....

[kabar]

I said that all along. Bush should have denounced the ads in the beginning. He waited to see their effect. Big mistake because it's too late. If he denounced them the Swifties would have kept running them but Bush would be in the clear. Now his credibility is tied to theirs. Not to "swift",/i>

If Bush denounces the SBVFT, he loses my vote and probably plenty of other veterans.

[Intolerant in NJ]

When he came home from the Hanoi Hilton, McCain had some very strong words for the anti-war movement, including Kerry, not unlike those of the POW's in the latest Swiftvets ad - he won't be able to say anything about the ad without looking like a first class hypocrite......

[Recovering_Democrat]

[Soundman4x4]

If Bush denounces the SBVFT, he loses my vote and probably plenty of other veterans. It's too late to do it with credibility now. If he'd done it at the start SWVs would understand the political realities and continue to run the ads

[airborne]

"-We want to hear three words-"
1. Kiss my butt
2. Go to hell
3. Release your records
4. Tell the truth
5. Apologize for lying
6. Denounce Micheal Moore

[Howlin]

I don't like the guy but alienating him so publicly is going to hurt Bush big-time.

And just who is doing that? It's the Kerry people.

[Interesting Times]

AP articles now read like Chinese propaganda from 20 years ago:

"Kerry Campaign Heroically Resists Revisionists! All Denounce Swift Boat Enemies Of The People!"

[Tom_Busch]

"You need to stop reading the Dems spin, you get depressed."

LOL