Free Republic

On Monday, December 8, 2003, President Bush signed into law a Medicare prescription drug benefits package designed to help American seniors pay for their medications. This month, the Kerry campaign released a TV ad attacking President Bush’s Medicare record stating, “The very next day George Bush imposes the biggest Medicare premium increase in history while prescription drug costs still skyrocket.” There are several problems with this ad, namely that fact that 1) Kerry skipped the December 8 vote and 2) Kerry voted to support the increase in Medicare premiums that he now criticizes. The Kerry campaign offers no specifics on...

The Labor Department reported this morning that the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% in August, down from 5.5% in July, and that our economy created 144,000 new jobs in August. July job creation was revised upward to 73,000 from the 32,000 initially reported. 78,000 new jobs were added in June. Looks like the July numbers were a blip and we’re getting back to the torrid pace of job creation of May (248,000), April (346,000), and March (353,000). After President Bush’s stirring speech last night and the good economic news, just how will Senator Franken-Kerry put a negative spin on...

Will John Kerry issue in an age of a “stronger America” as his campaign bumper stickers state? I have found quite the contrary, and have provided documentation. In the mid 1960’s he tried to avoid military service for 12 months so he could continue his studies in Paris, according to Britain’s Telegraph. [1] Then he served 4 ½ months in Vietnam. Though he claimed a Purple Heart for his first “injury,” his own diary for that day states, “we hadn't been shot at yet.” [2] According to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, you have to be wounded to...

Bob Dole Slams Kerry By Andrew L. Jaffee, August 23, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Nothing has really changed for Democratic hopeful John Kerry, except that real war veterans, like Bob Dole, are questioning the “superficial wounds” and resulting “medals” he received during four (4) months service in Vietnam. Kerry is still flailing, trying to cover up a career punctuated by extreme left-wing politics and flip-flopping by talking to voters about his military service. He squandered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention by trying to convince Americans that his tour of duty in Vietnam will make him a great commander...

While reading the Kerry material presented on FR and elsewhere, I've started to notice mentions of Kerry being in a funk for extended periods of time. One reference mentioned Kerry staying with him for about a week after a campaign loss and Kerry not saying a word the whole time. Another story alluded to a converation with Kerry and Miss "T" in which he admitted seeing a therapist for the angst as he put it. I think there's another aspect to Kerry that's not common knowledge. If it's true, it can be pieced together. FR is the place to do...

Whatever you usually think of him, tune into Savage live now! He's spending the show (again) on getting the swiftboat vets story out there. His guest will be, for the second time, the machine gunner who served with John Kerry on his boat. Steve Gardner, I believe is his name. Also, Savage is expressing his disappointment with Fox News, specifically O'Reilly, for spiking this story and essentially calling the veterans liars. Savage says it's because O'Reilly wants to get John Kerry on his show.

These days, everybody knows that a presidential campaign has to have a rapid-response machine. Rising above opposition attacks is so . . . Dukakis. And everybody also agrees that you have to start hitting hard early. In 1996, President Bill Clinton caught the Republicans off guard by saturating swing states with aggressive TV ads long before Bob Dole was ready to make a move. The next generation of political consultants learned a lesson, and now, viewers with the bad luck to live in swing states are being barraged with both attacks and counterattacks while the snow is still falling. There's...

ASHINGTON, March 8 — President Bush struck back at Senator John F. Kerry today, accusing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of indecision, of being "deeply irresponsible" on intelligence spending and of being the wrong person to lead America in a time of peril. "My opponent clearly has strong beliefs," Mr. Bush told a friendly gathering at a campaign fund-raiser in Dallas. "They just don't last very long." And when Mr. Kerry has been consistent, the president said, he has been consistently wrong. "My opponent is against personal retirement accounts, against putting patients in charge of Medicare, against tax relief," Mr....

BOSTON, March 5 — When Senator John Kerry was speaking to Jewish leaders a few days ago, he said Israel's construction of a barrier between it and Palestinian territories was a legitimate act of self-defense. But in October, he told an Arab-American group that it was "provocative and counterproductive" and a "barrier to peace." On Feb. 5, Mr. Kerry reacted to Massachusetts' highest court's decision legalizing same-sex marriages by saying, "I personally believe the court is dead wrong." But when asked on Feb. 24 why he believed the decision was not correct, he shot back, "I didn't say it wasn't."...

People say it shouldn’t be a beauty contest. Lawmakers such as Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) dismiss the subject of presidential looks as merely a frivolous concern of the media, but party nominations and capturing the White House are not merely the stuff of dry debates on the issues. When you’re a man seeking the presidency, everything about you, including your masculinity, matters. In the 2000 presidential race, former Vice President Al Gore brought in feminist and image coach Naomi Wolf to work on his style and image. Out went his dark suits and red ties. Wolf dressed Gore in khaki...

It was all part of a master plan. The obligatory official declaration of a candidacy--carefully situated not at home in Massachussetts, or even next door in New Hampshire, where the candidate is a distant second in recent polls. Rather, a picture-perfect fresh start in front of an aircraft carrier in Patriots Point harbor in South Carolina. All constructed to telegraph a few important things: First, that Sen. John Kerry is a national candidate. Second, that he is strong on national security. Third, that he is a tough veteran, a patriot with "courage." His Vietnam gunboat mates were even there to...

  Why bill "it was the TERRORISM, stupid" clinton would have been an utter failure even if he weren't a corrupt, cowardly, vacuous, self-serving, balkanizing, opportunistic RapistThug And why the missus deserves no less than half the credit by Mia T. 5.28.03 Achieving leadership in any area demands the ability to reach good decisions promptly. What is the essence of success on the battlefield? It is to make instant decisions on the basis of best available information, then act on that decision. And be right about that decision, because lives are on the line and will be lost if you...