"AWOL" cries by the Dems are helping Bush, reports NPR

[jean]

NPR ( link ) report late this afternoon:

Mark Racicot spoke saying Dem accusations about Bush's service record have prompted the RNC to send out a letter asking the membership to donate money to the cause of helping the President defend against these personal attacks.

Racicot implied the party would rake in more money thanks to the AWOL issue.

The NPR link will take you to the site but I couldn't find the report on tape there. Also, I don't know Racicot's current title, but he's in the top echelon of Republican leadership - used to be RNC chair before Gillespie I think. They pronounce his name "Ras-coe."

[lancdem]

1. Sounds like Racicot is saying that, not NPR

I don't care what the RNC does. I'm just glad the Dems are finally pushing this after Gore didn't in 2000.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

20. Exactly. Racicot is as evil as they come.

And Montanans are still paying the price for his time as governor.

:puke:

[jean]

22. as I said, NPR reported the story

[Supply Side Jesus]

2. oh no!!

I guess we shouldn't attack our great president, for fear of him raising 303 million instead of just 300 million!! :eyes:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Racicot hasn't said

what kind of a response this appeal is getting. :evilgrin:

[BootinUp]

3. I HATE THAT GUY

He is the scum of the political world. Let him squeal, if the Bushistas are pulling him out then they are obviously worried.

[efhmc]

4. Not sure how this will help bush since he can always get more money.

What we can't always get is the truth into the public eye.

[LisaM]

5. What bosh. I heard that story

and it said no such thing. It simply said the RNC was using it as a fund-raising appeal.

[Jawja]

24. As they

will also use the Gay Marriage issue.

[MidwestTransplant]

6. Who cares if his donors give more

you can't silence the truth with money once everybody is talking about it.

[rucky]

7. I Guess We Better Stop, Then

:eyes:

[Straight Shooter]

8. Why don't they just send a letter for prayers for the Anointed One?

If God chose bush, what's the problem? The Big Guy in the Sky will fix it. All God wants is to hear some really earnest prayers. What a sham, what a scam.

[Old and In the Way]

9. At some point, raising more money is not effective.

They need to raise votes to win. Their great fundraiser's, no doubt. Luckily, fundraisers don't vote.

[mlawson]

10. Even if true, it only helps him with the true believers,

who would vote for him, if he murdered Babs and Poppy on camera. But there is no way it helps him with the swing voters.

[Cocoa]

11. of course that's going to be the RNC's response

but I just saw a report on CBS news, and even though it wasn't very tough at all, it looks really bad. It seems so strange that Bush's only answer to the question of where he was for a year is to just declare that the questions are out of line. A lot of people are out there, thinking, why doesn't Bush just prove he served his duty?

[lancdem]

17. Josh Marshall says there are ways to answer these questions

through documentation, such as pay stubs, etc.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com

[D G]

12. Marc Racicot is the Bush-Cheney ’04 Campaign Chairman

Former governor of Montana.

July 24, 2003--Former Gov. Marc Racicot formally resigned as RNC chairman on July 25, after 18 months in the position, to become chairman of Bush-Cheney '04

Here's a photo:
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/parties/rnc0703/rnc0703mr.html

[tishaLA]

13. Contributions to NPR help Chimpy, tishaLA says

[NV1962]

14. They're in for a rude awakening if they respond...

Because the coup de grace is that a duty-dodging president isn't capable of deciding when a war is appropriate - as they themselves tried to point out with "some other" president... Their AWOL president is a stain on the seal in the Oval Office.

[LuminousX]

15. Racicot makes me ashamed of my Montanan heritage

and not even the Freemen militia could do that.

[asjr]

16. If Creepublicans have to

rake in more money to offset this "attack" on Shrub, then it must be true. More money will not help.

[democracy eh]

18. So they raised more money

they have so much $$$ it is beyond nutty oooohh another million
are they planning on buying all the ads in prime time

maybe we can spin this back at them, they are being greedy, taking in too much, it is money that the rich should be investing to create jobs not sending to Bush/Cheney 2004 to waste.

but I guess Supreme Court challenges cost a lot of $$$

[cindyw]

19. Those bastards are asking people for more money? Don't they have enough to

counter attacks. Don't they have enough to respond by now? I mean come on. Rapid response? Do they really need this?

[David Zephyr]

21. That's Republican Speak For: This AWOL Thing Can Take Us Down.

Republicans are very, very worried about the 12 months of absence by Bush during his time in Alabama.

It is playing very badly with the troops and their families.

[PeteC]

23. Draft dodger defending AWOL

Check out this story. Apparently there are questions about Racicot ever registering for the draft.

http://www.billingsnews.com/story?storyid=3182&issue=98

[NJCher]

25. LOL, this has great potential

"...questions about Racicot ever registering for the draft."

Monkey see, monkey do. The whole damn bunch of them are chickenhawks.

When I heard this was the RNC response, I was jubilant. They are trying to say to threaten the Dems, "Stop--we will just use it to build our campaign warchest." But as the poster above pointed out, money only goes so far. At some point they have to translate that into votes.

This is the best sign yet that they fear how this story will play out.

I heard the request for more funds read on the radio today. Their copywriters whipped themselves into histrionics.


Cher

[enough]

28. Interesting story indeed.

NPR needs to hear about this. What program had the Racicot interview?

[jean]

29. All Things Considered

[amber dog democrat]

26. oooooooooh

I'm scared!
Even if a few more dollars are sucked in, this story is not going away.
Let him prove he completed his tour of duty.

[pa28]

27. The Democrats

are always passing on the offensive by being convinced or convincing themselves that issue attacks will backfire somehow. When was the last time the Republicans paid any penalty for boring ahead on every contrivance and beating the Democrats over the head? We have to pick up this issue and run with it.

[DrFunkenstein]

30. Here Is My GOP Team Leader E-Mail From Racicot

Dear Moe Dickstein,

Democratic attacks on President Bush have reached a new low in the form of false accusations and innuendo about the President's honorable service in the National Guard.

First, activist Michael Moore called President Bush a "deserter." Then, former Democratic Senator Max Cleland said President Bush "didn't even complete his tour."

Finally, this past Sunday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, accused the President of being AWOL, describing the President's service in the National Guard by saying, "George Bush never served in our military in our country."

These are the kinds of vicious, personal attacks we can expect to face as the Democrats try anything to defeat President Bush. Don't let them succeed. Please donate today - $100, $75, $50, $25, even just $5 will help us answer these shameful attacks and tell America the truth - that President Bush is an honorable man working to make our country safer and stronger both at home and abroad:

http://www.GeorgeWBush.com/Grassroots/

Sadly, none of the Democratic Presidential candidates, including John Kerry, will repudiate these slanderous attacks against our President.

"I don't even know what the facts are," Kerry said yesterday.

However, a man seeking the presidency has an obligation to get the facts straight before he sends his surrogates out to slander the Commander-in-Chief. Don't let the Democrats get away with these false accusations against President Bush. You have the power to answer these attacks by going to:

http://www.GeorgeWBush.com/Grassroots/

The facts are simple: President Bush served honorably in the National Guard and he was honorably discharged. Today, he serves as our Commander-in-Chief. Peter Jennings called the accusation by Michael Moore, "a reckless charge, not supported by the facts," and the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania has said that the charges are unfounded.

Thank you for your continued support. We're counting on you to help re-elect President Bush this November.


Sincerely,

Marc Racicot
Chairman
Bush-Cheney '04

[D G]

31. You're "Moe Dickstein"? LOLOL

Let me guess... that's a psuedonym, and you're not a GOP team leader.

Thanks for posting this!

[DrFunkenstein]

33. I'm A Team Leader - They Send Me All Their Strategy Stuff!

I've been watching the GOP memos bounce around for months now. Fascinating stuff. I actually got the idea from Tom Tomorrow's (This Modern World) blog. I highly recommend setting up an account! If you don't want the e-mail clutter, just go to this website:

http://www.gop.com/default.aspx

It's worth it just for the photo gallery alone! (Check out the "outreach" photos!)

[spooky3]

32. What happens to fools and their money?

[dumpster_baby]

34. I believe they call it "menage a trois", err.... "Reverse Psychology"

If they are desperate to try the old "Reverse Psychology: ploy, this AWOL thing must really scare them....

[PretzelWarrior]

35. don't let that silence you. they'll send letters to contributors

saying Dems are stealing their babies to make them into gay nazis. They'll say we want to take everyone's guns away so we can be controlled like the communist people were. They will say anything and everything to give you some line about why GOP needs money to fend off "attacks" on the American way.

Get the message folks: Bush was given a pass on the AWOL issue last time. That's why he got away with it. Don't let him get away with it. Al Franken's short story about Bush the chickenhawk is perfect analogy. He's a p*ssy and everyone needs to see that. No amount of c*ck enhancement in a flight suit will take awy from that fact.

[tobius]

36. This issue

is tailor made for Clark- he needs to run with it!

:kick:

[charlie]

37. They need a fundraiser to refute these charges?

Whatta crock. In the military, you can't scratch your backside without generating paperwork. Bush is the fucking President -- he can demand and produce a paper trail accounting for his whereabouts for every month that he was in the Guard.

[jpgpenn]

38. twisted logic all in the name to save face!