August 21, 2004
HOIST BY THEIR OWN PETARD
Kerry Is Filing a Complaint Against Swift Boat Group (Glen Justice and Jim Rutenberg, NY Times, 8/21/04)
"We hope the F.E.C. will shut down these ads that are run on behalf of the Bush campaign,'' said Michael Meehan, a Kerry spokesman. He said the campaign planned to file its complaint on Monday.The only way this could get better would be if the FEC decided to shut down the 527s after everyone has seen the second Swift Boat ad, preferably during network news reports. Posted by David Cohen at August 21, 2004 9:23 PMSteve Schmidt, a spokesman for Mr. Bush, called the action frivolous and accused Mr. Kerry of his own violations involving Democratic-leaning groups like the Media Fund and America Coming Together, which have spent tens of millions of dollars to support Mr. Kerry and whose leaders have close ties with his campaign. The Bush campaign and the Republican Party have filed a complaint charging coordination between several groups and Mr. Kerry's campaign. . . .
Mr. Kerry's campaign argued that he was relating accusations made by others and that he had since described some of his past remarks as excessive. But some Democrats said privately they feared that this ad would have even more impact than the last, whose charges have not been substantiated.
"It's not something that can be easily or successfully discredited,'' said one party strategist, who requested anonymity because he did not want to be seen as undermining Mr. Kerry's campaign. "It's guys talking about how they felt and you can't discredit someone's description of his own feelings.''
Lord, this is hillareous! "Bring it on! Oh ho, he did, waah waaaah! Call me a lawyer!"
Posted by: Amos at August 21, 2004 9:43 PMHeh. The whole thing is a colossal waste of time. Team Kerry ought to know that (1) the FEC probably won't lift a finger and (2) even if they did, Team Bush would unleash an avalanche of complaints about pro-Kerry 527's like MoveOn.org, and (3) it doesn't matter anyway because the 527's have to shut down electioneering operations, including ads, on Friday after next (September 3). It's all grandstanding for the faithful.
Posted by: Joe at August 21, 2004 9:46 PMBy the way....MONDAY?
The Kerry campaign is waiting that long?! I thought they had filed their complaint _already_ (Friday)!! Who the devil is running things over there anyway? This gives the Swifties a whole weekend at the very least, including tomorrow when they'll be all over the talking-heads show, and I do mean all over.
Strictly from the standpoint of political tactics, the way Team Kerry is going about this makes me cringe in horror. Future political-science teachers will use this whole business as a textbook example of how _not_ to run a major campaign.
Posted by: Joe at August 21, 2004 9:49 PMThis article and others say that the SwiftBoat accusations in the first ad have been discredited. If they have I haven't seen it. The Cambodia story appears to be true and a few others seem to be leaning the SwiftBoat's way not Kerry's. So how have they been discredited?
Posted by: AWW at August 22, 2004 12:33 AMThere's 1 more ad to go, Winter Soldier.
Posted by: Sandy P at August 22, 2004 2:23 AM