Posted on 08/05/2004 12:44:11 PM PDT by truthandlife
Q Do you -- does the President repudiate this 527 ad that calls Kerry a liar on Vietnam?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President deplores all the unregulated soft money activity. We have been very clear in stating that, you know, we will not -- and we have not and we will not question Senator Kerry's service in Vietnam. I think that this is another example of the problem with the unregulated soft money activity that is going on. The President thought he put an end -- or the President thought he got rid of this kind of unregulated soft money when he signed the bipartisan campaign finance reforms into law.
And, you know, the President has been on the receiving end of more than $62 million in negative attacks from shadowy groups. The President is calling for an immediate cessation to all the unregulated soft money activity. He believes that it should all be stopped. The unregulated soft money activity that is going on does nothing to elevate the discourse. We hope the Kerry campaign will join us in calling for an end to all the unregulated soft money ads and activity.
Q So the President joins McCain in criticizing this particular ad?
MR. McCLELLAN: We hope the Kerry campaign will join us in calling for an end to all the unregulated soft money ads and activity that are going on. Again, the President has been on the receiving end of more than $62 million in negative attacks from shadowy groups. And the President thought he got rid of this kind of activity when he signed the bipartisan campaign finance reforms into law. This campaign should be about the issues and it should be about the records.
Q Scott, more specifically, though, will the President or the campaign ask this particular group to pull this particular ad off the air?
MR. McCLELLAN: We're calling for a cessation to all the unregulated soft money activity, and we hope that the Kerry campaign will join us.
Q Scott, during the primaries in 2000, or I guess during the Republican Presidential Primaries, an unregulated ad was run against John McCain. At the time, the governor said, "We don't have anything to do with it." Can you give us a sense of the evolution, what's changed from, we don't have anything to do with it, to, let's all stop it.
MR. McCLELLAN: The President supported the bipartisan campaign finance reforms that were passed, and he felt that they improved the system. And that's why he signed them into law. We should have a level playing field for candidates and parties. You have, right now, a problem with these unregulated soft money groups. These were loopholes that we thought were closed when the President signed the campaign finance reforms into law. And so the President believes that all the unregulated soft money activity should stop. We hope the Kerry campaign will join us in calling for an end to all this kind of activity.
The President knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of more than $62 million in negative attacks from these kinds of shadowy groups.
Q Scott, today Senator Kerry was speaking at the Unity Conference, where President Bush will speak tomorrow. And he called America, "a house divided," and said that minorities in America still do not have enough civil rights, and that he would move to fix that. Is there any response from you guys?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think the campaign probably has already responded to some of those comments. I think they're familiar comments that we've heard. The President has a proven record of expanding opportunity for all Americans and has a strong record that he is proud of when it comes to improving the quality of life for all Americans. And we welcome the opportunity to talk about the records and the agendas that the candidates have. And you heard the President recently speak to the National Urban League. And the President is going to continue reaching out to all Americans, including the African American community and Hispanics -- and the Hispanic community, based on his record and his agenda for America. He believes that he will receive strong support from people from all walks of life.
Q Any idea what he is going to talk about in his speech tomorrow?
MR. McCLELLAN: Obviously, the President will talk about his record and his agenda going forward. I don't have any more to preview at this point, but he looks forward to going and speaking there tomorrow and taking some questions when he's there.
Q Scott, have you called previously for an end to these 527 ads?
MR. McCLELLAN: We're calling for an end to all these kind of activities today, and certainly we've spoken out against unregulated soft money.
Q Scott, going back to Kerry at the Unity Convention. Evidently, it seems to be the first time that he's actually criticized the President's handling on the morning of 9/11, when he was at that school in Florida and took those five to seven minutes to finish his reading to those children there. Kerry said how he would have handled it would have been to excuse himself, and said, I have matters to attend to. Is that a fair criticism of the President by Senator Kerry?
MR. McCLELLAN: Like I said, I haven't seen this conference. I would want to take a look at what he said, but it sounds just more like -- it sounds like more of the same kind of political attacks he's been engaging in, rather than trying to defend his record and discuss the issues, and the differences on those issues. But, again, I haven't seen those remarks. You might want to talk to the campaign about it. I'll be glad to take a look at them, as well.
All right, thanks.
He called for an end to ALL THESE ACTIVITUES.
That isn't cutting the SBV off at the knees. He's saying "Oh, can't we just stop all this negative campaigning?" knowing full well NOTHING will stop any of it right now.
McClellan is merely saying "Tut-tut, this is all so bad, can't we all just get along?" while the ads continue.
This is fabulous! I hope the WH sticks to this line of offense. It more or less side steps remarking on the 'Nam vets vs. Kerry controversy while highlighing the hypocrisy of the media & Dems.
Of course, the press secretary should have responded:
I will respond to this question as soon as you demonstrate that you asked John Kerry to repudiate Farenheit 9/11!
"The President supported the bipartisan campaign finance reforms that were passed, and he felt that they improved the system. And that's why he signed them into law."
The truth now comes out!
At the time he signed it the argument was that it was unconstitutional and would be struck down by the court!
They aren't CBS (See BS) for nothing....
It sounds to me like the White House handed a hatchet to the dnc and dared them to cut their own legs out from under themselves. At the same time, the White House has given the Swift Boat Veterans the front page and lead story for at least a day. Their ad will get more free airtime now and in many more markets. In addition to this, kerry's team comes out looking like the bad guy with all the sick lawyers ready for blood. This is a win-win for both President Bush and the Swift Boat Veterans. They get the attention they wanted applied to kerry's lies and President Bush gets an opportunity to take out a few of the 527s aiming at him.
I agree, Ron---I hate McCain-Feingold too. HOWEVER, given that it is the law of the land, and that Bush already made the boneheaded mistake of signing it, I think it was rather skillful maneuvering on the Bush administration's part to use the Swift Boat controversy to bring the issue back to soft money campaigning. It prevents them from having to come right out and condemn the vets, while at the same time putting healthy distance between the administration and the advertisement.
I mean, let's look at it clearly: there is no doubt whatsoever that MoveOn.org and other Dem 527's are violating the letter and spirit of the law---a law that MoveOn.Org's biggest sponsor George Soros pushed for! That man, and his petty little organization, deserves to be hoisted by its own petard.
CBS staffers must be hard of hearing.
I should add, I think it is important to express outrage at kerry and the media (and even the WH as you may wish to do). It lends some levity to the situation and draws the cameras in for a closer look, thereby building upon the frenzy.
Not necessarily. Its a nice way of saying "we won't condemn them until Kerry condemns moveon.org, Soros, etc." which ain't never gonna happen! So, the WH is on record calling for an end to all of these kinds of ads, but didn't question the credibility of the group or their accusations. Its political maneuvering - not as personally satisfying as saying "shove it," but in political terms its about the next best thing!
Not necessarily. Its a nice way of saying "we won't condemn them until Kerry condemns moveon.org, Soros, etc." which ain't never gonna happen! So, the WH is on record calling for an end to all of these kinds of ads, but didn't question the credibility of the group or their accusations. Its political maneuvering - not as personally satisfying as saying "shove it," but in political terms its about the next best thing!
You hit the nail right on the head. I vote to make you press spokesman!
MR. McCLELLAN: The President deplores all the unregulated soft money activity..................
Then why did the White House sign the McCainiac CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW REFORM ACT??????????????????????
Disagree with McClellan being replaced. The press can't stand him because he is boring and stays on message. You must be doing something right if the press does not like you.
The way the media is so anti-Bush you want a guy that will follow the script and not go off the reservation. The media would crucify Bush if he did.
You are being very selective in your choice of quotes. If you read the entire interview, you will see that McClellan went out of his way to avoid singling out the SwftVets group, refused to call for them to stop the ad, and instead, kept pointing out that the Dems have been doing this for months. Basically, he said, "We'll only stop if you do." This is exactly the right tone - distancing themselves from the ad itself, which is necessary to keep the ad from being portrayed as a Bush trick, while not denouncing the content of the ad or the group.
If Kerry was smart, he'd fire all of his campaign advisers and follow the advice that Rush gives to him daily on his show.
Perfect. Hopefully, now some will start asking whether these charges are true.
Frank Burns for president LOL
NFP
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