Posted on 08/21/2004 11:14:55 AM PDT by kattracks
WASHINGTON - 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 video, sent via e-mail to supporters, says, "George Bush is up to his old tricks" and shows then-Texas Gov. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) at a debate in February 2000.
McCain, sitting next to Bush, says that when "fringe veterans groups" attacked him at a Bush campaign function, Bush stood by and didn't say a word. McCain says a group of senators wrote Bush a letter that said: "Apologize. You should be ashamed."
McCain, also a Vietnam veteran, says Bush "really went over the line."
"I don't know how you can understand this, George, but that really hurts," McCain says.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group funded in part by a top GOP donor in Texas, has been running ads featuring veterans who served in Vietnam at the same time as Kerry and question his wartime record.
In Roanoke, Va., on Saturday, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites) called on Bush to end the ads.
"This is a moment of truth for George W. Bush," Edwards said at a Democratic rally. "We're going to see what kind of man he is and what kind of leader he is. ... We want to hear three words: Stop these ads."
Edwards said the commercials were from "people who financed the same kind of attacks against John McCain in the 2000 presidential campaign."
The Kerry campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites), alleging the Swift Boat Veterans group is coordinating its ads with the Bush campaign. The Bush campaign has denied the claim.
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.
The only similarity between McCain and Kerry is that they're both sore losers.
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.
McCain, the gift that keeps on giving...to dims.
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.
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.
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.
This is a Kerry commercial released as an AP story.
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".
Even though I disagree with your assessment, by your reasoning Kerry's credibility is also tied to that of Michael Moore.
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.....
If Bush denounces the SBVFT, he loses my vote and probably plenty of other veterans.
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......
"-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
And just who is doing that? It's the Kerry people.
"Kerry Campaign Heroically Resists Revisionists! All Denounce Swift Boat Enemies Of The People!"
"You need to stop reading the Dems spin, you get depressed."
LOL
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