Clinton use OKC images in '96 campaign?

[auzerais]

With all the leftist pro-Kerry "WTC widows" publically complaining about Bush's "WTC ads", I have to wonder if Clinton ever used any images from the OKC bombing in his '96 campaign?

It would be interesting to find out if any OKC widows ever complained on the Today Show to the DNC demanding that those images or references be withdrawn?

I do hope some skilled Freeper can research that and post the campaign ads for us.

I would also hope that some WTC widows or firefighters, etc would go on tv and say that they are offended by McAulliffe and the DNC's using the WTC widows to put them on tv with the latest DNC 'talking points' and publically politicising their pain.

[ladyinred]

I don't remember, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. That said, there is nothing, I mean nothing wrong with the President having 911 and the war on terror in his campaign adds. The left has been using it for months now to destroy him, and that is okay with everyone?

A President runs on his record. 911 and his response to it is part of the record of GWB and that is what the rats don't want anyone reminded of in a positive way. This is dirty politics from the rats with vengeance. And it is just the beginning.

[GraceCoolidge]

I spent some time yesterday looking for that very information, but it requires far more computer research ability than I have. I did find many many articles referring to Clinton's use of the Oklahoma City bombing to criticize conservative radio. Most of those articles, however, had more analysis of his comments than they did his actual statements. It was widely reported, however, that President Clinton was clearly implying that the blame for the bombing rested with conservative commentators.

[GraceCoolidge]

Take Richard Dean. He is a 49 year old Vietnam veteran who has worked for Social Security for 22 years. Last year, he was hard at work in the federal building in Oklahoma City when the terrorist blast killed 169 people and brought the rubble down around him. He re-entered the building four times and saved lives of three women. He is here with us this evening. I want to recognize Richard and applaud both his public service and his extraordinary heroism. But Richard's story doesn't end there. This last November, he was forced out of his office when the government shut down. And the second time the government shut down, he continued helping Social Security recipients, but he was working without pay. On behalf of Richard Dean and his family, I challenge all of you in this chamber: never -- ever -- shut the federal government down again.

That is from the "prepared version" of Clinton's 1996 State of the Union address. There's a real exploitation hat trick: he's exploiting Vietnam and Oklahoma City to attack the Republicans for shutting down the federal government. Can anyone else add to this?

[orthodox priest]

Dude,

don't mess a SOTU address and a campaign. Clinton may have used it in his SOTU speech but so did Bush. In fact Bush's last 3 SOTU had a large part of them speaking of 911.

So, Did Clinton speak about OKC in his SOTU? YES
Did Bush speak about 911 in his SOTU? YES

SOTU is not a campaign ad. As much as I would like see Bush wins this election I would not tolerate using 911 in his ads. We're better than that. Let's not use RAT's methods.

[marway]

I searched this issue myself the past few days... I didn't find anything on a Clinton ad using the OKC bombing directly. You may enjoy this article, however, which reminds us of past ads used by Clinton and others against republican candidates.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/moran200403041146.asp

[GraceCoolidge]

I would be surprised if President Bush used 9/11 in the SOTU to push for legislation totally unrelated to national security issues. To link the Oklahoma City tragedy with the federal government shutdown is the cheapest sort of pandering. I agree that there is a difference between a SOTU and a campaign ad... but apparently Bill Clinton did not agree. His use of the SOTU as a campaign ad to chastise Republicans for the federal government shutdown by trotting out the victim of the Oklahoma attack is despicable. Do you think if President Bush told a gripping tale of a pregnant woman who escaped, with her unborn child, from the World Trade Center, and then led into a plea to outlaw abortion, the media would not have accused him of exploiting 9/11?

[GraceCoolidge]

You can also visit ammi.org an see video of Clinton/Dole campaign advertisements. The Clinton advertisements featured do not mention Oklahoma City, however. There are only about ten or so on the site. I still want to see that flyer in support of John Kerry distributed by the firefighters' union, though.

[auzerais]

You might also want to read this excerpt from a very revealing article Kerry Exploits Vets for Hanoi at Insight.com:

[Kerry] was elected lieutenant governor under Mike Dukakis in 1982.
Two years later, he ran for the U.S. Senate - dusting off his veteran's credentials by standing in front of the black Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington to shoot a TV campaign ad, defying regulations that the memorial not be used for political purposes.
The ad "was filmed illegally against the wishes of the National Park Service," according to the Boston Globe.
Kerry authorized its broadcast anyway.

KERRY EXPLOITS VETS FOR HANOI

[auzerais]

I don't know why the above link to the InsightMag.com article KERRY EXPLOITS VETS FOR HANOI wouldn't work.
Here is the URL

http://www.insightmag.com/news/2004/03/16/Politics/Kerry.Exploits.Vets.For.Hanoi-621304.shtml

[Lyford]

As much as I would like see Bush wins this election I would not tolerate using 911 in his ads.

That seems, to me, to be an unbelievably outrageous position. 9/11 was the single biggest foreign policy event since the Iranian hostage crisis. The last two and half years of the Bush administration have been driven, in every regard, by what happened on 9/11. Bush is running for re-election on his record, and his record is his response to 9/11. It, and his response to it, are the biggest things to evaluate in considering whether to re-elect or replace him. How on earth can he be expected to run a relevant campaign without referring to it?

[GreenAccord]

Let's separate poilticizing an issue or event from simply running on the merits related to it.

Fact: Clinton used the Oklahoma bombing to blame republicans.

Fact: In the Bush ad, there is no assignment of blame for the events. There is only a call to remember that GWB reacted to the horrific day by executing a plan of action that has defined him as a leader.

You have to admit, to equally politicize 9/11 would require the blaming of the previous administration or democrats as a group.

Hmmm, that sounds like easy picken's for us folk, actually.

[RWingWhacko]

Actually, the complaint isn't that Bush used the images of caskets. It's that he used these images after prohibiting similar images of G.I. war dead from being displayed on TV, to keep from upsetting soldier families.

I don't know what their beef is. Liberals have been claiming for months that there's no relationship between the 9/11 attacks and the war against Saddam. Now here they are making one! Isn't that hypocrisy?

[RWingWhacko]

Actually, the complaint isn't that Bush used the images of caskets. It's that he used these images after prohibiting similar images of G.I. war dead from being displayed on TV, to keep from upsetting soldier families.

I don't know what their beef is. Liberals have been claiming for months that there's no relationship between the 9/11 attacks and the war against Saddam. Now here they are making one! Isn't that hypocrisy?

[RWingWhacko]

Actually, the complaint isn't that Bush used the images of caskets. It's that he used these images after prohibiting similar images of G.I. war dead from being displayed on TV, to keep from upsetting soldier families.

I don't know what their beef is. Liberals have been claiming for months that there's no relationship between the 9/11 attacks and the war against Saddam. Now here they are making one! Isn't that hypocrisy?

[Dilbert56]

The policy of not televising caskets returning to Dover pre-dates the Iraq war. It is out of respect for the privacy of the families - something the media would instantly trample if they could.