Posted on 08/20/2004 11:55:53 AM PDT by Pokey78
WASHINGTON - A retired U.S. Air Force general who endorsed President Bush four years ago says in a new television ad by the Democratic Party that this year he will vote for John Kerry because the Democrat has "a real strategy to make America safer."
The ad featuring Merrill A. McPeak was released by an arm of the Democratic National Committee a day after Kerry lashed back against allegations by a veterans group that he exaggerated his combat record in Vietnam.
McPeak, Air Force chief of staff during the first Persian Gulf War, claims in the ad that Kerry "has the strength and common sense we need in a commander in chief. And, something more: a real strategy to make America safer."
The ad could help deflect criticism about Kerry's Vietnam war service.
Ellen Moran, head of the DNC ad effort, said the ad simply is intended to highlight Kerry's "strengths on terror and homeland security issues" and show voters the kind of "military brass" backing the Massachusetts senator.
The party's independent expenditure office, which can't legally coordinate with Kerry's campaign, will run the ad starting Saturday on national cable networks and in local media markets in 20 competitive states where it has been on the air since early this month. The spot also will air in Arkansas, where Kerry had run commercials earlier this summer before pulling them to redistribute resources to other states.
Bush has been on the air alone in the state that he won in 2000 by 8 percentage points. Kerry and DNC officials say they've noticed in their polling that since the Democratic convention that Arkansas has become more competitive, and the party is taking another shot at the state. Also, a Democratic presence on the airwaves would counter Bush's ads.
The DNC is filling in for Kerry this month while he stays off the air to save money for a tight election fight. The group has spent at least $20 million in TV and radio commercials since first going on the air earlier this month, and just committed another $8 million or so to TV and radio ads for next week.
The new ad will rotate with a previously released DNC spot comparing Kerry and Bush on the issue of health care.
The Ultimate Perfumed Prince.
I'd take one of the "real guy" Swift Vets over ten thousand of his type.
So, what is it? Or is this plan secret, too?
Did John Kerry disclose his secret plan that he keeps in his magic hat to McPeak. ? Because if Kerry has a strategy to make America safer he hasnt divulged to the rest of us.
I don't have to read the article. I assume the General has been offered some kind of cushy job in the Kerry Administration.
Gee...when can we expect the "mainstream" [sic] press to attack this guy and impugn his reputation and honor?
Oh...right...never.
Is he guessing or did Kerry show McPeak his secret plans? Sure hasn't shown the public.
The Kerry campaign is based on ghosts and innuendos. Often candidates rely on these to attack opponents. Kerry relies on them for his own policy plank!
We in the AF were so ashamed when this yahoo embarrassed us as Chief of Staff. LOSER endorsing a loser.
Creator or the "US AIR" Uniforms...
Wrote a paper on National Defense that included LHA LPH as aircraft carriers.
McPeak has always been a problem. He was a loose cannon when he was Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
My husband is in the AF, and doesn't have a very high opinion of Gen. McPeak. Never has, although I don't know why, he won't say.
I know McPeak backed Democrat Howard Dean in the 2004 race for president.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
No offense, but he's Air Force ... 'nuff said ...
Their plan is to issue each soldier a purple heart every week to boost morale.
Kerry says it worked for him.
If America hopes to win the war in Iraq, it must double its force size and be ready to remain there for up to a century, said a retired general who led the U.S. Air Force during the first war against Iraq.
Retired Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak said President Bush vastly underestimated the troop needs of the war, adding that Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry is not likely to make the same mistake.
"Kerry's squared away on security matters," McPeak said.
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/08/09/b2.or.mcpeak.0809.html
In sign of the Kerry campaign's determination to rebut the criticism, it also issued a statement signed by 10 former senior military officials, including McPeak and Clark, denouncing Cheney's attacks as "gutter" politics.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61177-2004Aug12.html
Retired Air Force Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak said John Kerry has the potential to be "one of the great commanders in chief we've ever had." McPeak said he met with Kerry before endorsing him.
"I found that he's a very, very common sense guy (with) a deep understanding of these problems," McPeak said, adding that Kerry's father was a diplomat and the candidate spent a lot of time overseas. "He's not a novice in international affairs, these are not simple problems, they are complicated problems. They require a kind of nuanced thinking, a nuanced approach. And he's capable of that kind of intellectual depth."
http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=22433747&brk=1
Kerry does have a real plan. We just not sure it's going to last through the end of this week.
Hey, General, sir! What is Mr. Kerry's plan? Obviously, you must know what it is if you think it will make us safer! What's the plan??
It wouldn't happen to be this, would it?
But did Mcpeak serve ON Kerry's boat? /sarcasm off
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