NYT, pg1: Kerry TV Ad Pins Veterans' Attack Firmly on Bush

[DeepModem Mom]

Kerry TV Ad Pins Veterans' Attack Firmly on Bush
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JIM RUTENBERG

Published: August 23, 2004


Senator John Kerry released a television advertisement yesterday blaming President Bush for a campaign by a "front group" of veterans that Mr. Kerry said had smeared his Vietnam record, as he intensified his drive to gain control in a fight that some Democrats said could undermine his campaign for the presidency.

Mr. Bush's campaign denied any involvement with the effort by the veterans challenging crucial parts of Mr. Kerry's war record and sent a letter to television station managers calling the new Kerry advertisement libelous.

But at the same time, Bob Dole, the Republican presidential candidate in 1996 and a World War II veteran, called on Mr. Kerry to apologize to Vietnam veterans in a television interview on CNN. He appeared to get behind some of the accusations raised by the group, when its most serious contentions have been undermined by official records and conflicting accounts....

***

The exchanges came as aides in both camps said the dispute over Mr. Kerry's war record was now at the center of the race in the week leading into Mr. Bush's nominating convention in New York City. And some Democrats close to Mr. Kerry said they feared that the very thing that had led the party to see him as its strongest challenger to Mr. Bush, his record as a decorated combat veteran in Vietnam, was now threatening to undermine his candidacy because of criticism raised by some former Vietnam veterans....

***

Mr. Kerry's advisers had originally planned not to spend any money on advertising in August, but shifted gears last week in the face of concern voiced by Democrats outside the campaign that Mr. Kerry was not moving aggressively enough to deal with this threat....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/23/politics/campaign/23swift.html

[PurityOfEssence]

1. Hey George, why is John O'Neill your brother-in-law's attorney?

Koch, a name that makes greed seem like a form of altruism, is the married name of Junior's sister, and O'Neill's their lawyer.

No connection.

Voted for Perot twice, but somehow donated to Bush I in '92.

[w13rd0]

2. Voted for Perot twice...

...in Texas. His vote "counted" for how much in that "swing" state? And how do we know he voted Perot? Based on his word? If he walked up to me and told me it was raining, I'd seek a second opinion.

[thebigidea]

3. boy, could you imagine this Nagourney creep...

... ever writing a critical article about Bush? Just looking at his list of article titles over the past year is extremely enlightening.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. NAGOURNEY E-MAIL: [e-mail]; NYT reader rep...

[e-mail]

[BootinUp]

5. He slimed General Clark

on an almost weekly basis during the primaries.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Adding WP: "Kerry Unveils Ad Countering Attacks Over Vietnam"

Link -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24891-2004Aug22.html

"On Long Island, N.Y., Saturday night, a group of wealthy supporters cried, 'Fight back, fight back,' as Kerry spoke. And yesterday, former senator Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), whose right arm was disabled during World War II, attacked Kerry, agreeing with critics. 'One day he's saying that we were shooting civilians, cutting off their ears, cutting off their heads, throwing away his medals or his ribbons,' Dole said on CNN's "Late Edition." "The next day he's standing there, "I want to be president because I'm a Vietnam veteran." Maybe he should apologize to all the other 2.5 million veterans who served. He wasn't the only one in Vietnam."

[greenman3610]

7. what happened to the ad

with the footage from the Bush/McCain debate?
I thought that was more powerful than this one.

[Catfight]

8. How courageous of Bush to have Dole and his cronies question

John Kerry's service to America. The Bush administration has brought nothing good to America, nothing is sacred anymore, and as far as I'm concerned, today, with the soldiers fighting Bush's war for oil are no longer hero's. If any soldier gets a medal, I will consider their service questionable and if they deserved a medal. Everything that goes on in the military will be suspect because under Bush's commander in chief, your service to your country will be suspect if you are running for public office. Remember soldiers, you might have a Bob Dole talking about how you didn't deserve your medals someday because you didn't BLEED enough for them! Fucking Dole and the Shitboat Liars are an American disgrace. Brother against brother, that's what Bush stands for, the great divider!

[bagnana]

9. you said it! And the most bewildering thing is Bush!

Fucking cowardly deserter ! They would rather have him? Words cannot describe how much I despise this bunch.

[Tempest]

10. Bush campaign asks TV station managers to do their dirty work

Dear Station Manager:

Your station is being asked to run an ad from John Kerry's presidential campaign wrongly accusing Bush-Cheney '04 of violating the campaign finance laws. We ask that your station set the record straight.

It is completely false and without any evidence that the Bush "campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry's military record," as the Kerry ad states. The Bush-Cheney campaign flatly rejects this baseless allegation of illegal coordination between Bush-Cheney '04 and a group called Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. The ad running on your station contains this false and libelous charge. ..

The Kerry campaign is hiding behind the law which does not permit your station to reject this false advertising by a candidate. But your station can insure that the record is clear in your total program. We ask that you to do that.

Respectfully,

Ken Mehlman

Campaign Manager

http://www.townhall.com/news/politics/200408/POL20040823d.shtml

[Cocoa]

11. this work should have been done by the news media

the media gives the lies free air time, but Kerry has to buy time to get the truth out.

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Excellent point! The only reporting, I believe, was the NYT pg 1 article

a few days ago. That's print press, of course -- most Americans who get news, get it from TV news, which is useless, and worse.