August 25, 2004
I WAS PROMISED EMERGENCE:
Tests of a Smear Campaign (E. J. Dionne Jr., August 24, 2004, Washington Post)
You would have thought that if the issue of who served under fire during the Vietnam War became a big deal at this point in the presidential campaign, it would be a major advantage to John Kerry. [...]This episode is a great test of how politics work in our country. It is, first, a test of George W. Bush.
Bush claims that his highest priority is uniting the country in the war against terrorism. A president who would be a uniter and not a divider knows that cheap-shot politics can only further rend our nation and weaken his own ability to lead.
At this point we should probably expect folks like Mr. Dionne--who expected the imminent return of liberalism to power in America--to stop making sense for awhile, but this is especially sill. Did anyone who knows anything about politics really think Vietnam was going to be a helpful issue for the Senator? Even better, does Mr. Dionne think that when the President says he wants to unite the country he doesn't mean unite it behind his own leadership?
Posted by Orrin Judd at August 25, 2004 11:35 PM
Did anyone who knows anything about politics really think Vietnam was going to be a helpful issue for the Senator?
I figure it went something like this: Dean was too weird, and Bush's pro-military stance, even during a war, is distasteful to hardcore Dems but not to the centrists who usually decide elections. Kerry and the Dems had only his military service and medals to wave as talismans to neutralize Bush's major advantage. It was cynical and ham-handed because they don't really believe in all that flag-waving patriotism stuff, but what else did they have to offer? Class envy? Hillarycare? Attacks by 527s funded by Soros and Bing?
Now, of course, comes the reaping. The Kerry "band of brothers" thing backfired because in his case it was (in important ways) fake, and other vets there at the time knew it and spoke up. Kerry is now trapped into talking about Vietnam, and the deeper that goes, the worse he looks. Dems are reduce to attacking SBVFT on weak grounds, all of which apply far more strongly to MoveOn.org. Their incompetent responses make Kerry look guilty and evasive. The mainstream media is fighting hard to ignore/deflect/defend, but book will soon be a #1 bestseller and they'll be forced to deal with it on its own terms.
Posted by: PapayaSF at August 26, 2004 2:21 AMMr. Judd;
Obviously Kerry and a few thousand of his advisors thought it was a helpful issue.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at August 26, 2004 9:01 AMOJ:
And check out this:
This is also a test for the media. We see here a fascinating and ugly development in the politics of annihilation. A supposedly outside group raises money from close Bush supporters, staffs itself with political operatives close to Bush and the Republicans, and then puts up several hundred thousand dollars worth of television ads. This is, as one operative with years of experience in Republican campaigns put it, "a professional hit." Suddenly, questions about Kerry's service that were asked and answered months ago become big news again.
As you've said, the Democrats thought those 527s were just great until they got bit in the behind.
And exactly what questions were "asked and answered"? This Cambodia thing sure looks interesting. And if Dionne thinks 80% of Kerry's senior leadership ganging up against him is simply a sign of Republican malfeasance and not a major story, should he really be offering advice to the media?
Posted by: Matt Murphy at August 26, 2004 12:14 PMGeez, _every_ liberal pundit seems to be having a meltdown this week. Dionne, Kinsley, Tina Brown (to name just three of the most prominent examples)...we couldn't pay the Swifties to come back and do this sort of thing every year from now on, could we?
Posted by: Joe at August 26, 2004 8:03 PM