Posted on 11/21/2004 3:50:40 PM PST by Kitten Festival
Pundits have cast around for the reasons behind President Bush’s remarkable victory. Some have seized on moral values, or a poorly run Democratic campaign, even Kerry’s personality. One cause most overlooked in the mainstream media is a small group of Vietnam veterans, a bunch of political amateurs, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who redefined the central issue of the election.
The Swifties, as they call themselves, made the election a referendum on character. Their ads, and best-selling book Unfit for Command, said that Senator Kerry is a man who lacks the character to be Commander-in-Chief. He gamed the system to win medals under false pretenses, lied about aspects of his service (he never spent Christmas in Cambodia) and, above all, turned on his fellow soldiers, falsely accusing them of systematically engaging in war crimes while he met twice with the enemy in Paris in time of war.
Bush’s election architect, Karl Rove, was himself surprised at the group’s impact. On Fox News Sunday, he credited them with galvanizing Republican and veteran voters. “I was really surprised how strongly men and women who had served in Vietnam and in the Armed Forces felt about that,” Rove said.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Everytime the Dems kissed MM or screamed Bush was a deserter, I sent a little something to the Swifties--true heroes..
You are right. MM and kerry himself was all the motivation I needed to send my small part to the Swifties.
In my opinion Kerry was a bad candidate, and if the media hadn't let him slide, neigh if they hadn't flat out rooted for him, he would have lost big.
niegh=nay
The little somethings added up didn't they.
Not just the vets, but those of us who shared the college campuses in the late'60s and early '70s with the anti-war crowd. We saw first hand the mischief, and worse, they were up to...the flagrant lies, the destruction of property, the taunts and threats they made against returning vets.
I've never, ever, forgotten those times and what they meant to my country.
One of my proud possessions is a postcard from the Swifties that says "Dear Patriot, Thank you very much for your recent contribution o the SBVT, The only way we can get the truth out about John Kerry is with the help of Americans such as you.
"We are proud to gave you with us."
Some day I'll explain that with great pride to my grandchildren.
The demoncrats had the MSM working for them, so they didn't take kerry's lack of Character as a problem. Fortunately for Bush, and the world, their believed that Character was not a requirement did not sit well with most of the American voters.
There have been many "explanations" for kerry's loss. It is my opinion that real reason most voted for Bush was Character. They knew that Bush possessed a tremendous amount of Character and that kerry was a charlatan.
Bush's strong religious beliefs, refusal to back away from the Iraqi war, steadfast resolve in the challenges he faced were all a part of his Character. kerry's waffling, wishy-washy positions and constant negativity were all demonstrations of his lack of Character.
This whole election was a tribute to the passion and effort of committed voters. The Swifties organized themselves and ordinary people supported them. The bloggers spread important information and exposed the MSM's distortions and lies. And the volunteer get out the vote people beat the Unions and richly funded Dem 527 get out the vote groups like ACT at their own game.
A candidate who is chosen only because his party wants to appeal to the ABB crowd; who never fired up his own voters; never presented himself or his message as appealing can NEVER beat a candidate the people like with a message they endorse in the USA. Maybe in France you can buy yourself an election. Those days are gone here, if they ever existed. We can out- organize and out -communicate the networks the legacy media, the unions and whoever Soros funds.
We are, after all, can do Americans, the sons and daughters of liberty.
"Evil prospers when good men do nothing."
These Swifties were just plain old GOOD MEN who MADE A DIFFERENCE!
As is their norm.
Keryy, if he has any balls at all, should sue O'Neil, as he has hinted he would. If Kerry doesn't, we should form a citizens' group clamoring for Kerry to sue O'Neil.
I like that phrase!! will use as my tagline, if that's okay?
Be my guest..
The Swifties raised $25 million I think. $100 from me- glad to help.
One of my proudest possessions is now a thank you card from the Swifties for my contribution. It's addressed "Dear Patriot" and it ends with "We are proud to have you with us". And I am proud that I was able to contribute to these honorable VietNam vets to defeat Kerry. America owes you a huge "thank you for your service" - again.
But John Kerry the other day told everyone the reason he lost was because Karl Rove engineered the Bin Laden video release.
What a total putz, and a complete loser!
Good grief! I just posted such a similar post as yours and then scrolled down to find yours. Two great minds? But truly this is how I feel about these Swifties. And I hope someday that President Bush honors them because the Swifties surely helped enormously in his big win.
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