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One change voters may have noticed in this year's political campaigns shows up in commercials paid for by candidates. Toward the end of a TV or radio spot, the candidate comes on to identify himself and say, "I approved this message." That development is one of the intended results of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill of 2002. The "stand by your ad" provision makes these declarations mandatory. The idea was to discourage nasty attack ads by forcing candidates to personally endorse everything said on their behalf, making them more accountable for the messages put out by their campaigns and improving...

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - One more time, with feeling: The Vietnam War has no place in the presidential election of 2004, much less being the ONLY issue anyone is talking about. That war is over. It ended 29-plus years ago when the last helicopters lifted off the roofs of Saigon. Yet here we are busily dissecting the obscure events of an obscure part of that war. Some are using the events of 35 years ago to assassinate the character of a candidate who fought in their war, beside them, in order to promote the re-election of a president who avoided...

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry argued Tuesday that Americans want a serious discussion of the important issues facing their nation ... while he was appearing on a television comedy show. Ba-dum-bum. So this is why Kerry eschewed traditional news outlets in favor of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"? To go on a fake newscast and make mostly fake news? Certainly it's hard to picture Mike Wallace checking out Kerry's profile in the middle of a "60 Minutes" interview and remarking, as Stewart did: "I'm all Jew. You may be [one-fourth]. I got everything." It's debatable whether...

Forget the outrageous nature of the attacks against John Kerry - the man volunteered and did combat duty. For that he deserves thanks, not these dishonorable insinuations. And forget that the schoolyard tone of these back and forth accusations about Kerry's and President Bush's activities 30 years ago is simply undignified. Forget the inside-the-Beltway justifications for running such ads; they soon disintegrate into who did what to whom first and end up reminiscent of a feud that started so long ago the only thing the participants are sure about is that the other side is to be despised. What's more...

CNSNews.com) - A former executive officer of the U.S. Navy's Coastal Division 13 during the Vietnam War dismissed accusations Tuesday that John Kerry manipulated after-action reports in order to obtain military honors, including a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Anti-Kerry veterans belonging to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have repeatedly asserted that Kerry wrote after-action reports about his various missions in Vietnam. Those reports, the veterans claim, either falsely documented the circumstances or exaggerated Kerry's injuries. Kerry's presidential campaign countered the accusations Tuesday by introducing Foster E. Wright, who commanded PCF 103, later served as executive officer of Coastal Division...

WASHINGTON - John Kerry shared a few laughs last night about Republican attacks on his war record and fired a few barbs President George W. Bush's way during a fast-paced interview on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." Kerry's appearance on the pseudo-journalistic show hosted by Jon Stewart, a favorite among young viewers, was the senator's first major interview since a Republican-funded group aired TV ads questioning his war record in Vietnam. The venue was one Kerry avoided during the primary season, even as all the other Democratic contenders made appearances. Patrician and serious, Kerry didn't seem a natural fit.

Conservative darling was in same Vietnam swift boat division HOUSTON -- With puffy eyes and a tired smile, veteran John E. O'Neill sank into a chair in his office conference room earlier this week looking more like an overworked lawyer than a political firebrand. But his comments left no doubt: O'Neill is helping run what is arguably the most aggressive outside campaign to defeat Senator John F. Kerry thus far in the presidential election cycle. Kerry challenges critics over his Vietnam War record. A9 "He is unfit to be commander in chief," O'Neill, 58, said in an interview in his...

PHILADELPHIA -- After a day in which he worked to both shine a light on his political agenda and cast doubt on the Republicans' upcoming convention, John F. Kerry last night diverted from his script and instead took on critics of his Vietnam War record. The Democratic presidential nominee, standing before a statue of Benjamin Franklin at the Franklin Institute, recalled for a crowd attending a party fund-raiser that a local congressman had just told him he ''is hearing these commentators, Republicans, all of them, saying, 'Well, John Kerry was only in Vietnam for four months, blah, blah, blah.' "...

PHILADELPHIA — Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry defended his Vietnam War record last night from accusations that he didn't deserve his medals and invited voters to judge his 1970s anti-war activism as an indication of the "kind of president I'm going to be." Kerry, speaking at a fund-raiser that raised $1.7 million for the Democratic Party, said criticism of his decorated service in Vietnam has "become so petty it's almost pathetic." Kerry defended his anti-war activism as "an act of conscience." "You can judge my character, incidentally, by that," Kerry said. "Because when the time for moral crisis existed...

President Bush has pulled even with John Kerry in a new IBD/TIPP Poll amid charges the challenger may have oversold his four months of service in Vietnam. In a three-way race, Bush and Kerry both would get 43% if the election were held today, according to the poll taken Aug. 17-23. Independent Ralph Nader would get 5%. In a two-way race, Bush and Kerry deadlock at 44%. In the previous IBD/TIPP Poll, taken Aug. 2-5, shortly after the Democratic convention, Kerry led by three points in a three-way race and by six in head-to-head competition. The latest poll surveyed 884...

WASHINGTON -- The national focus on attack ads that question John Kerry's Vietnam valor has placed the Democrat on the defensive, consuming valuable campaign time and making it more difficult for him to challenge President Bush on issues of war and the economy. With Bush and the Republicans preparing for their week in the limelight at the Republican National Convention in New York, experts say the Kerry campaign finds itself at a tactical disadvantage, having lost control of the debate. "This controversy is sucking up all the oxygen and distracts from the central issues of the campaign, which are foreign...

A new book questioning the service of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry as a boat captain in the Vietnam War is a swift seller. Bookstores in the Washington area report that demand for "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Captains Speak Out Against John Kerry" has been so strong that they are sold out of the book or are scrambling to order new shipments to keep copies on shelves. "I can tell you it's selling very briskly and usually sells out as soon as we receive it," said Julie Wiggins, manager of the Borders Books & Music store in White...

August 25, 2004 In New York City Before His Rival, Kerry Rouses Friends and Rips Into FoesBy JODI WILGOREN peaking in New York City just days before it plays host to the Republican National Convention, Senator John Kerry on Tuesday painted the election as a stark choice between a mudslinging incumbent and "new leadership" bursting with plans to help the middle class. "The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, health care, energy independence and rebuilding our alliances," Mr. Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, told a handpicked...

Swift Boats and the Texas NexusPublished: August 25, 2004 resident Bush should stop evading responsibility and unequivocally condemn the attacks on Senator John Kerry's Vietnam War service that are being orchestrated by negative-campaign specialists deep in the heart of the Texas Republican machine. Mr. Bush says that Mr. Kerry's record is admirable and something to be proud of. Yet he allows these politically useful ads to continue spreading unfounded charges that Mr. Kerry fabricated his medal-winning experience as a Swift boat commander. The attempt to contradict the federal government's own records about Mr. Kerry's record is the work of a...

Freepers are generous & willing to give whenever donation time rolls around but what if every Freeper gave $5 to the Swifties? Who knows how many registered members (and many more lurkers) there are on Free Republic but if we each gave at the very least $5 it WOULD make a difference! Just giving up fast food or some other purchase during the week and instead donating the money to Swifties would benefit us all in the long run. These vets not only put themselves on the line in Vietnam but they're doing it again now. The left and the...

August 25, 2004ADVERTISINGVeterans' Group Had G.O.P. LawyerBy JIM RUTENBERG and KATE ZERNIKE he Bush campaign's top outside lawyer said he had given legal advice to the group of veterans attacking Senator John Kerry's Vietnam War record and antiwar activism in a book, television commercials and countless appearances on cable news programs.The lawyer, Benjamin L. Ginsberg, said that the group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, called him in July to ask for his help and that he agreed. He said he had yet to work out payment details with the group and that he might consider doing the work pro bono.Mr....

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth remember the Vietnam War, Senator’s Kerry’s Vietnam service, and his denunciation of his fellow veterans as war criminals after he returned from Vietnam and eagerly embarked upon his political career. Some of them would have preferred Senator John Edwards to President Bush, but all of them agree that Kerry is unfit to be President. Senator Kerry is whining that President Bush has not condemned and censored the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad disputing Kerry’s version of his brief service in Vietnam. Kerry is charging that the Swift Boat Veterans are a front for...

For Immediate Release Tuesday, August 24, 2004 KERRY CAMPAIGN BACKTRACKS ON FIRST PURPLE HEART AWARD Campaign Says May Have Been Self-Inflicted Washington—In a reversal of their staunch defense of John Kerry's military service record, Kerry campaign officials were quoted by Fox News saying that it was indeed possible that John Kerry's first Purple Heart commendation was the result of an, unintentional, self-inflicted wound." "GARRETT: And questions keep coming. For example, Kerry received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered on December 2, 1968. But in Kerry's own journal written nine days later, he writes he and his crew, quote, "hadn't been...

CRAWFORD: US President George W. Bush on Monday called for a stop to campaign ads by independent groups, including those targetting John Kerry's war record, and praised his Democratic rival's service as a Swift Boat captain in Vietnam. "I think Senator Kerry served admirably and he ought to be proud of his record," Bush told reporters at his ranch here when asked about ads attacking Kerry's military service by a group known as the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." Asked if he thought the ads by the Swift Boat group should be stopped, Bush replied: "All of them, that means...

The Swift Boat veterans from the Vietnam War are deeply divided about John Kerry. A handful support his candidacy. The vast majority of them oppose Kerry's bid for the most powerful office in the world. The American media, and most notably its newspapers, have an obligation to thoroughly research the Swifties' charges despite the liberal, pro-Kerry bias of much of the media. I've waited to opine on the Swift Boat subject, largely because it's been so interesting watching the evolving positions of the American media. It's also been fascinating to watch the evolving positions of Senator Kerry on his Vietnam...