Eerie Parallels in Attacks on Kerry, McCain - GREAT!!!

[GOPAgainstGW]

August 24, 2004
San Francisco Chronicle, By: Zachary Coile
http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=8687&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported

Four years ago, as George Bush struggled in the polls, supporters of his bid for the Republican presidential nomination unleashed a ferocious attack on rival John McCain, questioning his commitment to veterans and his fitness to serve. After the charges took root, Bush distanced himself from the veterans group that made the attacks, called the Arizona senator's service "noble'' and cruised to a nomination-saving victory in the South Carolina primary.

Monday, in a series of events that some observers say are eerily familiar, Bush distanced himself from a veterans group running fierce attacks on John Kerry's military record and called his rival's service in Vietnam "admirable. '' Rather than focus on the Democratic nominee's Vietnam record, a matter that has engulfed the presidential contest for the past week, Bush said "we ought to be debating who (is) best to be leading this country in the war against terror.''

Bush passed up an opportunity to denounce the content of the group's television commercial, in which veterans accuse Kerry of lying in order to win combat medals. In a carefully worded statement, Bush called on all independent groups -- those supporting him and those supporting Kerry -- to pull their television commercials relating to the 2004 presidential campaign off the air, a request that strategists on both sides appeared to not take seriously.

Bush's comments from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, were his most extensive yet on Kerry's military record. They seemed to fit a pattern that dates back to Bush's early run for office as well as campaigns run by Karl Rove, his chief political adviser. "It's amazing how similar this type of attack is to the pattern of attacks I have seen over two decades -- in some cases involving Bush's campaigns, in other cases they involved campaigns in which Karl Rove was a participant,'' said Wayne Slater, senior political writer at the Dallas Morning News, who has covered Bush since his early days in Texas politics and is author of the book "Bush's Brain,'' about Rove.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Bush's motives are twofold:

One: to repeat the tactic used against McCain in 2000

Two: to paint the ads of MoveOn, ACT, and other liberal groups as irresponsible slander.

I'm sick of right wingers implying that the Hitler ad from MoveOn was ever sanctioned by that group or ever shown nationally. And that's what they talk about, even as they show ads that state FACTS and show Chimp and his minions saying one thing while facts show they did another. These ads are hitting home, and I think Bush is scared of the one to run during the RNC-I believe it is the Marine who was a Republican but who will vote for Bush.

What I'm hoping is that the Swift Boat bruhaha will make it so that people will be more interested in what veterans say, and will make it so the young man in the MoveOn ad will be listened to even more than he would have before.

[GOPAgainstGW]

2. You Are Right

Bush-GOP are totally stupid to use the same playbook as 2000!

What happened is they totally unestimated the power of the DNC, Kerry-Edwards ticket. I'm a life long Republican, I know, but am voting for Kerry-Edwards, like millions of other Republicans.