Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Though unregulated money primarily fueled liberal causes during the first half of the presidential campaign, 527 groups supporting Republicans outspent those backing Democrats 3-to-1 in the final three weeks, campaign-watchdog groups said. In the decisive weeks of a neck-and-neck race, 527 organizations funded in part by wealthy Texans unleashed a nearly $30 million television ad blitz against Sen. John Kerry while Democrat-friendly groups spent $10.3 million in attack ads on President Bush during the same period, according to the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity. Though GOP analysts suggested the ad push in key swing states such as Ohio...

WASHINGTON - George Soros, the financier and philanthropist who has donated more than $12 million to prevent President Bush's re-election, said Tuesday he'll spend more of his fortune for his own political speaking tour in key states. "Bush's war in Iraq has done untold damage to the United States," Soros said at a news conference launching a $2 million speaking tour and ad campaign in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other closely contested states. "If we re-elect him now, we endorse the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive action ... and we will have to live with the consequences." Soros, 74, has spent...

"When John Kerry speaks before the National Guard today, he should apologize for the actions of his surrogates and demand that they take down their ad depicting a defeated American soldier. "John Kerry's campaign is rooted in the past, hollow with pessimism, and preaching defeat to the American people. "John Kerry's continually shifting positions on Iraq and his sinking rhetoric of a defeated America send a signal to our allies and our enemies that America is not willing to finish the job. This attitude undermines the great progress that the men and women in America's armed forces have made in...

Rhetoric  TRACY:  “I think George Bush is ignoring the health care needs in this country.” CHYRON: Since George Bush took office … Over 96,000 people lost their health insurance in Wisconsin; Source: U.S. Census Bureau; Tracy Suprise, Wisconsin Registered Nurse BRUCE: “I don’t think George Bush has done anything for health care, not that I can see.” CHYRON: Since George Bush took office … Health insurance premiums increased 41% in Wisconsin; Source: Agency for Healthcare Quality Research and Kaiser Family Foundation; Bruce Moore, Dane County Home Care Aide TRACY:  “George Bush has sided with the pharmaceutical industry on every issue with respect to...

A "grandchild" of Berkeley-based MoveOn.org will air a new television ad in swing states challenging President Bush's claims of service in the Air National Guard. Texans for Truth, a section 527 advocacy group, begins airing its 30-second "AWOL" spot Monday in battleground states that have suffered the highest casualties in Iraq, said Director Glenn W. Smith of Austin, Tex. Texans for Truth was created Aug. 31 by DriveDemocracy.org, a Web-based, Texas-focused grass-roots political organization; Smith co-directs that, too. DriveDemocracy.org is modeled upon MoveOn.org and got what its Web site calls "a generous start-up grant" from it -- money left over...

Bush/Cheney Lead Kerry/Edwards 54 to 43 Percent; in a Three-Way Trial Heat, Bush/Cheney Receive 13-Point Margin Bounce Bush Approval Rating Rises to 52 Percent; First Time Above 50 Since January; Majority (53%) Wants to See Him Re-Elected-Highest Since May 2003 27 Percent of Registered Voters Think Bush/Cheney Campaign Is Behind Swift Boat Ads NEW YORK, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire NEW YORK, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Immediately following the Republican National Convention in New York, the latest Newsweek Poll shows that, in a two-way presidential trial heat, the Bush/Cheney ticket would win over a Kerry/Edwards ticket by 54 percent vs. 43 percent...

Think you're getting unbiased, balanced coverage of politics? Or is there a double standard in the way the media treat Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives? My recent visit to the center of a media storm suggests there is. Consider this: A $500,000 ad buy made by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth brings searing media scrutiny and "proof" of illegal coordination based on a lawyer (me) representing both the Bush-Cheney campaign and the Swift Boat Veterans; on an accountant working for Tom DeLay's political action committee; and on a $200,000 contributor to the group who is not a major donor...

Americans are turning to the Internet for guidance as this year's presidential election heads toward the homestretch. Yet beyond providing President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry's campaigns with an extensive medium for presenting their platforms, the Internet also has become a deep well for campaign funding and partisan influence. Web surfers in the 17 states that could vote either Democratic or Republican in the upcoming presidential election, also known as "battleground" or "swing" states, are up to twice as likely to visit at least one of the candidate's election sites, says a report issued Wednesday by Hitwise Pty....

As the Republicans gather tonight, there's a cry from some quarters: Forget about Vietnam. Get to the real issues. To which I say, get real. More often than not, presidential elections turn not on policy but on personality. That's why the Swift boat debate isn't some sideshow. For the moment, it's the main event. Why? Because, fair or not, this hit on John Kerry's war record - and how he responds to it - tells us what stuff this Democratic challenger is made of. It's events like the Swift boat ambush that often make or break campaigns, not debates over...

While the debate rages on against free speech, one thing is certain — the 527 anti-Kerry group “Swift Boat Veteran for Truth” has succeeded in their campaign to cause voters to question John Kerry’s credibility. The reasons are fascinating and unconventional. Here’s the Page 2 Politics “Not Quite Top Ten List” of why the campaign is already a success. (Sorry-no humor, just my opinion) 9) The SwiftVets come across in interviews as calm and credible, especially next to James Carville, Susan Estrich and Chris Mathews who repeatedly called them liars. 8) John Kerry’s lame and non-answers at the front of...

Aug. 27 - Karl Rove makes Chuck Colson look like a girly man. Colson didn’t have the audacity to go after John Kerry’s military record when President Nixon was looking for dirt on antiwar leaders. After researching Kerry’s medals, Colson, who now heads a prison ministry program, backed off. “Maybe Chuck knew he was going to find Jesus back then because he had a degree of shame,” says a senior staffer to a Senate Republican. The Kerry campaign thinks it has succeeded in discrediting the scurrilous attack on Kerry’s military service, but Rove got what he wanted. Instead of talking...

Since January, George W. Bush has weathered an all-out assault by the Left (media, Hollywood, Democrats, etc.) that has not been seen since the last days of Richard Nixon's presidency. On the silver screen, the Bush Administration has been blasted overtly by the factually-challenged Michael Moore opus and "subliminally" through less obvious but every bit as adversarial portrayals in "The Day After Tomorrow" and "The Manchurian Candidate". Bruce Springsteen has declared a performers' intifada against the President, which is being supported by a number of his fellow musicians. The NAACP has resurrected its post-2000 election accusations that the Bush-Cheney ticket...

...........The Republican National Committee is circulating an edited video of Kerry's comments on Iraq, some of which show Kerry arguing that Iraq's efforts to obtain and use weapons of mass destruction and the potential of those weapons flowing from Iraq to terrorist organizations are a basis for removing Hussein. After months of attacking President Bush's motives and credibility during the Democrat presidential primary, going so far as to declare himself the anti-war candidate, John Kerry now says knowing what he knows now he would still have voted for the Iraq war," said Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie at a...

Stockton businessman Alex Spanos is among the top donors to a political group recently formed by backers of President Bush that has amassed a treasure chest of $35 million. The group plans a barrage of commercials criticizing Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry, even though the president this week denounced such outside organizations for running negative campaign ads. The Progress for America Voter Fund was launched in May after the Federal Election Commission refused to shut down a crop of well-funded liberal organizations that were going after the president. Those groups, known as 527s, had formed quickly and begun raising large...

What if both sides are right? That thought comes to mind repeatedly as I try to hash out the battle between veterans who attack John Kerry's Vietnam combat record and those who defend it. Out of the fog of war, politics and old memories, long ago events have become the focus of an ugly election year mud fight as a group of swift boat veterans and others contend that Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for various actions. Watching and reading the various conflicting accounts of what happened or didn't happen,...

..........McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was among the first to condemn the veterans group for challenging Kerry's combat record and spoke out against the ad throughout his 90-minute luncheon interview. But he also said Kerry had invited scrutiny of his record by putting so much emphasis on Vietnam at the Democratic National Convention in Boston last month. "His critics are saying, 'Look, you made it fair game,' " McCain said. "I mean, that's very legitimate, and I think there's a risk that he took when he made it such a centerpiece. He may be paying a very heavy...

After receiving no bounce from his own convention and after weeks of being slammed by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, John Kerry is now 3 point behind President Bush. The latest LA Times poll shows a very polarized race with Democrats strongly backing Kerry and Republicans strongly backing Bush. However, the race has always centered on who will garner the votes of the Independent "swing voters." Kerry has lost ground due to not only his convention performance, but also due to the attacks from the Swift Boat Veterans. At the convention, Kerry decided to focus on the his own...

As Republicans prepare to gather next week for their national convention in New York, most Americans probably realize that there won't be too much in the way of news. The voters have grasped a simple truth: The convention is not the start of anything - and they refuse to treat it with a seriousness it does not deserve. Unfortunately, the campaign finance laws haven't shown similar wisdom. They treat the conventions as they once were: The beginning of the race. This anachronistic way of viewing conventions as the firing of the starting gun is to President Bush (news - web...

Since we devoted an entire editorial Wednesday to denouncing a political ad aimed at Ken Salazar by the Virginia-based Americans for Job Security, permit us now to say a word on behalf of such independent advocacy groups. In just one week's time, their constitutional right to free speech will be curtailed by the single gravest assault on civil liberties approved by Congress during the past four years. No, not the Patriot Act. We refer to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, aka McCain-Feingold. After Sept. 2, believe it or not, Americans for Job Security will be barred from mentioning...

Politics: Campaign finance reform hasn't ended attack ads. It hasn't stopped MoveOn.org or the Swifties. Good. Let's hear it for loopholes that allow free speech. Both John Kerry and President Bush have done some play-acting in recent days on the issue of negative campaigning. Kerry, stung by ads by fellow Vietnam vets questioning his claims to be a war hero and reminding voters of his over-the-top antiwar rhetoric, says Bush should stop these attacks. As if Bush could. Kerry knows better. Bush, for his part, says he'd be glad to join Kerry in squelching all this nastiness being funded outside...