http://my.ev1.net/english/news/newsarticle.asp?articleID=34481449&subject=political Bush Criticizes Anti-Kerry Television Ad President Bush on Monday criticized a commercial that accused John Kerry of inflating his own Vietnam War record, more than a week after the ad stopped running, and said broadcast attacks by outside groups have no place in the race for the White House. "I think they're bad for the system," added Bush, who had ignored calls to condemn the ad while it was on the air. Democrats criticized the president's remarks at the same time they worked to limit the political damage from the ad which they denounce as a smear sanctioned by Bush and his high command. "The moment of truth came and went, and the president still couldn't bring himself to do the right thing," Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said in a statement. "We need a president with the strength and integrity to say when something is wrong." "Too little, too late," added party chairman Terry McAuliffe. Campaign surrogates worked throughout the day to rebut the claims made by Kerry's detractors. "The fourth Purple Heart could have been an AK-47 through his heart," said Rich Baker, who served on a swift boat in Vietnam at the same time as Kerry. He was referring to weekend comments by former Republican Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas grievously wounded in World War II that Kerry had won three Purple Hearts "and never bled that I know of." Dole's comment drew a morning-after phone call from Kerry, his colleague in the Senate for more than a decade. "He said he was disappointed. And I said, 'John, I didn't mean to offend you,'" Dole told CNN, the same network where he appeared on Sunday. Other Swift Boat veterans came forward over the weekend to verify the events that Kerry's detractors have challenged. The controversy over the ad aired by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth has roiled the race for the White House during what is customarily a quiet summer interlude between political conventions. While attacking the ad, Democrats have also said privately that Kerry and his campaign were slow to recognize the potential danger in the attack. The four-term Massachusetts senator, who came home from Vietnam with five medals, has made his wartime service a cornerstone of his challenge to the president. Sean McCabe, a spokesman for the veterans' group, said the ad that questioned Kerry's record ran in three states for a week and stopped on Aug. 12. The organization intends to begin airing a second commercial on Tuesday in three other states. That spot intersperses clips of a youthful Kerry talking about war atrocities during an appearance before Congress in 1971 with images of members of the swift boat group condemning his testimony. Asked about the issue, Bush said, "I think Senator Kerry served admirably and he ought to be proud of his record. But the question is who is best to lead the country in the war on terror? Who can handle the responsibilities of the commander in chief? Who's got a clear vision of the risks that the country faces?" Bush criticized the groups' first commercial and all other outside group attack ads many of which have targeted his own re-election. "That means that ad, every other ad," he said. "I can't be more plain about it. And I wish I hope my opponent joins me in saying condemning these activities of the 527s. It's I think they're bad for the system. That's why I signed the bill, McCain-Feingold." Bush's comment about 527s was a reference to independent groups that raise money in unlimited amounts. The so-called McCain-Feingold bill, a campaign finance overhaul bill which Bush signed reluctantly earlier in his term, banned the political parties from raising such funds. While Kerry and Democrats have demanded that Bush condemn the attack on his war record, the president has been targeted by an estimated $60 million in commercials by outside groups since the campaign began. Kerry has declined to call for an end to those ads, which helped him at a time when he did not have the funds to compete with Bush' campaign advertising budget. At the same time, Kerry's aides and campaign argue heatedly that the commercial that challenged Kerry's war record was demonstrably false and fit a GOP pattern. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was subjected to a similar attack four years ago during the campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, they said, and former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland's patriotism impugned in an re-election race he lost two years ago. "This can't be tolerated," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who participated in a campaign conference call during the day. McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for nearly six years, has urged Bush to denounce the ad the day it began running. Cleland came home from the war a triple amputee. The Bush campaign denies any involvement with the group.
Good for him! I'm so glad he did this after the ad ran it's course and isn't playing anymore! Let's hope he does it for the next one coming out next week!
Yet more reason to end this madness and find a way to accomplish publicly funded elections. For the $200 million that Bush alone will spend this cycle, we could elect the entire federal government.
If any of you actually saw this interview, it wasnt exactly Bush lashing out against the SBV's. And he certainly wasnt critisizing the Anti Kerry ads at all. Only after prodding from the press did he make a sweeping general statement about these "types" of ads.
I actually just saw the whole thing, and it's true that it wasn't the denunciation I had imagined. Oh well, that negative type of advertising will come back to bite him in the bum.
CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- President Bush on Monday called for the so-called 527 groups to stop airing political ads, but he did not directly condemn commercials by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that have attacked Sen. John Kerry's war record. Speaking to reporters at his Texas ranch, Bush said he has repeatedly condemned 527 ads. These groups are named for the federal provision that makes such organizations tax exempt and allows them to accept unlimited donations. One reporter cited the swift boat ads and asked, "When you say that you want to stop all --" "All of them," Bush responded. "That means that ad, every other ad. Absolutely. I don't think we ought to have 527s." White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Bush's use of the words "that ad" did not indicate a repositioning on the issue. He said Bush was repeating his previous calls for an end to 527 ads. http://us.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/23/bush.kerry/index.html Once again! Dancing the issue.
You guys just will never be happy with what Bush says. He condemns ALL ads (including THAT ad...), yet you claim he's dancing around the issues. Mmmmmkay.....
I think because most people who want him to condemn the ads want Bush to condemn them because of their disgusting and slanderous allegations against Kerry's military record - not because it's a 527 organization.
Has Kerry condemned all the Moveon.org ads? If you want to talk about a connection to his campaign, look no further than the group's coordinator -- a former campaign manager for Kerry. Kerry and the liberals have openly attempted to assassinate Bush's character for YEARS. When it's time for this independent group of distinguished Vietnam veterans to voice their opinion, with thier small ad buy, the Kerry campaign goes into full meltdown mode. The hypocrisy is simply overwhelming. One day you have the liberals moaning and groaning about Ashcroft, Rove & Co attempting to play the role of censor of free speech, the next day you have Kerry demanding that a group of free speakers take their ad off the air. The one constant throughout Kerry's complaining about this devastating ad? He won't tough the actual statements themselves being advanced by the Veterans. He blames Bush, he looks for ties to Bush, and he begs for mercy.... yet somehow during all this whining, he never attacks the substance. Telling. Very telling. Release the military records, Kerry. Release your journal. Admit your lie regarding Cambodia. Apologize for the lies you told which were used to torture American POWs. Stop bragging about the superficial wounds that sent you home prematurely from Vietnam. Stop disgracing the military after you gamed the system for you own personal benefit.
I love it! I really do! People slamming a decorated veteran when their own candidate is an former coke sniffing, misogynic, alcoholic who dodged the war and was stripped of his flying status. go ahead mods! close the thread!
Kerry has denounced ads attacking Bush. He denounced the one attacking Bush's service, and he denounced the one where Hitler was used. The 'substance' the Swifties are putting out there has been debunked. They go against the official Navy records, and in fact go against previous statements and documents by the swifties themselves. I will present the same challenge to you that I did to Faos, if you think Kerry was lying about Cambodia(the last time he made the claim was 10 years ago) and not just wrong about the dates he was there, or embellishing then surely you must admit that Bush was lying, and not just embellishing or mistaken. Again: Bush claimed he played Varsity rugby in College, when he did not. There was no Varsity rugby team. Bush claimed Iraq was six months away from a nuke, and cited an IAEA report that didn't exist. The Bush camp tried to say Bush was mistaken, and referred to a different IAEA report. It turns out that report didn't exist either. The Bush camp tried yet another time to justify Bush's statement and mentioned a third report which wasn't from the IAEA. This third report wasn't even in existence at the time Bush made the original statement. Bush claimed he didn't have much contact with Chalabi. Later there are pictures where CHalabi is a guest of honor at a whitehouse function, and statements of Bush talking about meetings with Chalabi. I ask you to pick a standard for what is and isn't a lie and stick to it. This may be just like the trial lawyer thread where you bashed trivial lawsuits but then refused to BAsh Bush's lawsuit against a rental car company over a fender bender.
If I were Kerry, I would see his bet and raise him: I would ask all the 527's to stop but only if BUsh pledges, along with him, to not use any negative ads for the remainder of the campaign. If Barack Obama can do it, so can these two. I can dream....
Wrong, wrong and wrong. The substance has NOT been debunked. Kerry has yet to release the FULL SET of military records. Why won't he sign the 180 form? He's obviously hiding something. Why won't he release his journal? He's obviously hiding something -- probably the evidence that proves that his first Purple Heart was a sham. The fitness reports and other incomplete records posted on the website can be easily explained -- garbage in, garbage out. Kerry writes himself up for Purple Hearts using fraudulent and disputed recounts of 'battles'. No one has the time or energy to dispute them at the time, so they get rubber stamped. The path of least resistence is to just let them go. Only years later, do they receive the proper scrutiny -- something Kerry is begging to have stopped. The key difference which you are not grasping, FranchiseBlade, is that Bush hasn't made his long ago past the *centerpiece* of his campaign. Kerry is trying to get elected based on his abbreviated 4 month stint in Vietnam. Nevermind the fact that he fabricated stories, went around filming his mock wars on his camcorder, deserted his swift boat after 3 superficial wounds, gamed the system for personal gain, desecrated his medals, and told lies which were used in torture sessions against his former crewmen. Nevermind all that. It's the premise that he cheated on a test and is now bragging about his A+. Its the premise that he told lies which burned other people who were still in Vietnam. It's the premise that he brags about three cuts and scrapes when others have lost limbs (Dole). The man is a manipulator and a liar. He is a total disgrace. He makes these manipulations and lies the *centerpiece* of his campaign, and for that he is pathetic.
Bush's long ago past? I don't think Chalabi, Iraqi Nukes, etc. are Bush's long ago past. They are from his first term as President. You are also wrong about Kerry re-enacting battles for his 8mm film. You weren't around when that rumor was debunked. 8mm cameras were common for people including vets from Nam to have. The footage that Kerry shot from that camera don't go to make him look heroic at all. They are mostly of scenery and other people. There is nothing in the footage that portrays Kerry as a hero period. The naval documents, reports, and medical records have been released, they aren't filled out by Kerry in the first place, and they contradict the swifties. The swifties themselves contradict the swifties. Again I ask you to pick a standard for what's a lie and what's a mistake or an embellishment and stick to it.
Here are links to what reports Kerry is still HIDING: http://www.swiftvets.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2256 http://www.sportsmenforkerryedwards.com/fitrep_analysis.htm To sum it up, MOST of the critical records are not posted on Kerry's website. Obviously, his journal is not posted either. Liberals, please explain this.
Thats funny, when I see the "home movies" of Kerry prancing around in the jungle in a "Army" helmet and "Army" flak vest, when he was a navy officer.
