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In Bush's War Room, the Gloves Are Always Off
The New York Times ^ | July 14, 2004 | Jim Rutenberg

Posted on 07/14/2004 10:42:27 AM PDT by quidnunc

Arlington, VA – Shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday, a handful of President Bush's campaign aides huddled around two small speakers in a room that, with its shades drawn, was lit by the glow of 15 television monitors. They were listening to the voice of Senator John Kerry.

None of the networks were carrying Mr. Kerry's entire speech to a group of financial donors, mostly women, in Boston that day. But Mr. Bush's operatives had somehow arranged for their own audio feed, they refused to say how, and were listening intently, ready to pounce on any opening for attack.

After sitting impatiently through what seemed to be a typical stump speech, they found one: Mr. Kerry said he was "proud" of votes by him and his running mate, Senator John Edwards, last fall against the president's requested $87 billion appropriation for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a vote that Republicans have used to make a case that Mr. Kerry has been failing to support the troops after voting to authorize the war.

Within an hour or so, Mr. Bush's team, at the campaign's headquarters in a corporate office building in suburban Virginia, across the Potomac River from the White House, had sent a release via e-mail to hundreds of journalists, supporters and campaign surrogates. The e-mail message included the new quote and one from September, when Mr. Kerry implied it would be "irresponsible'' to vote against such spending. The quotation, along with the idea that Mr. Kerry's position on the money had evolved, found its way onto Fox News and into articles in The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Associated Press.

And this was a relatively slow day in Mr. Bush's war room.

-snip-

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: arlingtonva; gwb2004
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1 posted on 07/14/2004 10:42:28 AM PDT by quidnunc
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To: quidnunc
GOOD NEWS

I am glad we are keeping on top of things this time around.

So9

2 posted on 07/14/2004 10:45:48 AM PDT by Servant of the 9 (Goldwater Republican)
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To: quidnunc

Finally - a rapid response team doing the work that needs to be done to combat the left.


3 posted on 07/14/2004 10:47:14 AM PDT by Peach
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To: Servant of the 9

Better put some ice on that, Senator Kerry.


4 posted on 07/14/2004 10:48:12 AM PDT by hchutch ("Go ahead. Leave early and beat the traffic. The Milwaukee Brewers dare you." - MLB.com 5/11/04)
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To: quidnunc

its always a slow day in the war room - is this the war room that allowed the media to characterize Abu Ghraib as "torture" every day for 6 weeks while saying nothing? the same war room that allowed Cheney to be attacked over Halliburton without responding for months on end, to the point where his unfavorable numbers are so bad that people are talking about tossing him from the ticket? the same war room that applied these new restrictions on packages sent to Cuba, causing Bush's south florida poll numbers to erode?


5 posted on 07/14/2004 10:48:55 AM PDT by oceanview
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To: Peach

This article is an attempt to hinder their efforts, IMHO. That means to me that Kerry is still not up to speed and needs the help. He's toast if this keeps up and I hope it does.


6 posted on 07/14/2004 10:49:24 AM PDT by Thebaddog (Woof!)
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To: quidnunc

Oh yes, when Clinton had a "war room" it was for Defense against those Wrascully Wrepublicans. Sure, Sure. Bush's "war room" is to go on Offense. There's your media bias right there.


7 posted on 07/14/2004 10:51:37 AM PDT by rhombus
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To: quidnunc
War Room
Gloves are off
Questionable audio feed
Ready to Pounce

Objective reporting? If this had been Kerry the language would have been:

"John Kerry, a decorated war veteran, knows more about defending the things he loves than most people. When duty calls, and he needs to defend his presidential campaign, he is not alone. A dedicated, loyal, and patriotic staff stands ready to point out chinks in his opponents armor. Through informative news releases, these loyal soldiers help spread the word about President Bush's latest public stumble."

8 posted on 07/14/2004 10:51:49 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The Fourth Estate is a Fifth Column)
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To: quidnunc

I guess the NY Slimes thinks that only the democrats should have war rooms. I don't recall many articles by the Times on Clinton's bimbo-eruption team. Of course one way to limit the damage Bush's war room could do would be for Kerry to quit flip-flopping on all the issues.


9 posted on 07/14/2004 10:56:43 AM PDT by Alcibiades (Put a Hollywood type out of work --- turn off the TV and go fishin.)
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To: quidnunc

where? It seems they have backed off defining kerry and edwards.

These are two lawyers.

Kerry was BRIEFLY a prosecutor. ( I have even seen people who were prosecutors for less than a year claim it as a "qualification" decades later after being asked to leave. )

Edwards is a ABA, ATLA trial lawyer. Two left of left voluntary groups.

Forget teh gloves, go for political BLOOD.


10 posted on 07/14/2004 11:03:09 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: quidnunc
Another liberal op-ed from the NYT, thinly disguised as "news".


11 posted on 07/14/2004 11:05:53 AM PDT by Joe Brower (The Constitution defines Conservatism.)
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To: quidnunc

One thing about Clinton, he knew how to play politics.


12 posted on 07/14/2004 11:07:36 AM PDT by ServesURight
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To: Darth Reagan

ping


13 posted on 07/14/2004 11:10:22 AM PDT by marblehead17
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To: marblehead17
Several journalists who cover Mr. Kerry later said they were too embarrassed to say publicly that it took the Bush operatives to spot what was notable in Mr. Kerry's remarks. -JIM RUTENBERG, New York Times

Embarrassed! Isn't this an admission that this particular "spot" is completely fair game in a political campaign? And why didn't the journalists notice it? Could it be their bias preventing them from recognizing a flaw in the spiel of their favored candidate?

14 posted on 07/14/2004 11:14:57 AM PDT by NutCrackerBoy
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To: quidnunc
As such, the war room is the nerve center of what Democrats, and some presidential scholars, have called the most relentlessly negative re-election campaign in memory

Let's see. The Dems have the Whoopi hate-fest, Michael Moore, and moveon.org comparing the President to Hitler, and it's Bush's war room that is "relentlessly negative"????? Yeah, uh huh, ok NY Times....

15 posted on 07/14/2004 11:15:06 AM PDT by Libertarian444
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To: Peach
None of the networks were carrying Mr. Kerry's entire speech to a group of financial donors, mostly women, in Boston that day. But Mr. Bush's operatives had somehow arranged for their own audio feed, they refused to say how, and were listening intently, ready to pounce on any opening for attack.

I love how the New York Times tries to paint a picture of women being victimized by the skullduggery of the Bush camp.

Hurray for the Bush campaign.

16 posted on 07/14/2004 11:19:40 AM PDT by cyncooper ("We will fear no evil...And we will prevail")
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To: quidnunc

Does the 'War Room' know about the 'rope a dope' strategy that so many here seem to think is in effect at BC04?


17 posted on 07/14/2004 11:21:10 AM PDT by familyofman (and the first animal is jettisoned - legs furiously pumping)
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To: NutCrackerBoy

They were not embarrased.

They were frustrated their intentional ommisions were caught and so they called it "embarassment".

There are no journalists in the daily mass print media, only propaganidists.


18 posted on 07/14/2004 11:22:42 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: cyncooper

I hadn't picked up on that but you're right.


19 posted on 07/14/2004 11:22:49 AM PDT by Peach
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To: quidnunc

Heard Rush reading from this on today's show. He trusts this Slimes reporter.


20 posted on 07/14/2004 11:48:05 AM PDT by pookie18
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