Posted on 08/05/2004 2:07:18 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
White House repudiates anti-Kerry ad
2 hours, 5 minutes ago Add Politics - AFP to My Yahoo!
COLUMBUS, United States (AFP) - The White House distanced itself from a commercial by a controversial veterans' group that accuses Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites) of lying about his service in Vietnam.
"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," spokesman Scott McClellan said as US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) made a campaign stop here.
The advertisement by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth accuses Kerry of exaggerating his bravery in the Vietnam War, lying about the first of his three Purple Hearts and lying to get his Bronze Star. Kerry was also awarded a Silver Star.
The group also charges that, by testifying against the war when he returned to the United States and alleging that US soldiers had committed wartime atrocities, Kerry betrayed US forces still in Vietnam.
With national security issues atop the agenda for the November 2 election, Kerry has been touting his service as the skipper of a patrol boat known as a "Swift Boat" in an implicit contrast to Bush, who did not go to Vietnam and faces questions about whether he completed his National Guard service.
His former crewmates have aggressively campaigned on his behalf, appearing at his side at political rallies and telling audiences stories about Kerry's exploits during the war.
Senator John McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war who challenged Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, has denounced the group.
And the Kerry campaign has branded the allegations as "garbage," noting that none of the men levelling the accusations served on Kerry's boat.
The group attacking Kerry does not have formal ties to Bush's reelection campaign, and benefits from a loophole in campaign finance restrictions that enables it to spend as much "soft money" as it wants on its political message.
The groups -- the best known of which, MoveOn.org, has fiercely attacked Bush -- are known as "527s," a reference to the tax-code provision that grants them special status.
McClellan coupled his comments about the ad to a broader call for closing the loophole that allows the groups, most of which are hostile to Bush, to operate.
"The president deplores all the unregulated soft money activity," he said, calling the ad "another example of the problem with the unregulated soft money activity that is going on."
"We hope the Kerry campaign will join us in calling for an end to all this kind of activity," said McClellan.
The group pulls no punches in its 60-second spot, which is running in the up-for-grabs states of Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin and features 13 veterans attacking the senator from Massachusetts.
One of the veterans says Kerry's "account of what happened and what actually happened are the difference between night and day."
Another says: "When the chips were down, you could not count on John Kerry."
Translation - IF the RATs can benefit from MoveOn's efforts, yet claim to not be involved, then turnaround is very much FAIR PLAY! We didn't pay for it, so we can't really do anything about it (wink-wink, snicker -snicker).
Pardon the caps, but WHAT A CRAP HEADLINE!!!!
The Whitehouse did NOT "repudiate" the ad. They merely said that this is what your campaign finance reform has wrought.
Media a**holes!!!
-Toonces
That's not a repudiation of the ad. It's an objection to all the ads not coming from the campaign or party.
Why doesn't Michael Moore make a documentary about this... hahahaha?
Nor should they. The only folks that can question his service are those who served with him. Edwards made it clear that we should ask those folks.
Huh? When? Where?
So....where's the part where the White House "repudiates" the ad?
Okay... someone help me here:
"White House repudiates" = "White House distanced itself" = "we will not question."
Ummmm.....
this might be a translation issue: but how many Americans know what the word repudiate means?
They did NOT single this one out.
The AFP title is pure BS.
More publicity for the ad.....Excellent!
Yeah, my take also.
Great response from White House. Misinterpreted by the press.
keep the ad on the air!
Conribute at:
https://coral.he.net/~swiftvet/swift/ccdonation.php?op=donate&site=SwiftVets
That's not repudiation of the ad.
A deceptive headline. They did not repudiate the ad at all, simply said that they were not going to question Senator Kerry's service in Viet Nam. They said nothing about the White House position on attacks made by others.
Basically, the Bush administration gave the Swiftvets the green light and stepped out of the way.
Nice try, liberal media, but you're not going to discourage conservatives.
> how many Americans know what the word repudiate means?
Not as many as I would have hoped...
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