SwiftVets.com

[gilliam]

From the Kerry Spot:
http://www.nationalreview.com/kerry/kerryspot.asp

PIECING TOGETHER THE KERRY TEAM'S REACTION [08/20 08:49 AM]

From the Los Angeles Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-swiftboat20aug20.story

Kerry reversed course Wednesday night after arriving in Boston from a campaign trip to Cincinnati. As his motorcade pulled up to his Beacon Hill townhouse, he asked senior advisor David Morehouse, communications director Stephanie Cutter and press secretary David Wade to come inside.
With campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill on the phone, Kerry told his aides, "I think it's time to go at this."

Aides hired a delivery service to drive through the night from Washington, D.C., to Boston with thick, bound copies of Kerry's naval records to distribute to reporters traveling with the candidate.

The campaign also cut a commercial overnight that features former Green Beret Jim Rassmann testifying about how Kerry pulled him from the river in the middle of battle.

The ad is set to air today in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin — the same states where the Swift boat group aired its spot. In airing it, the campaign reversed a decision to hold off on new TV ads until September.

Meanwhile, the campaign has hired Joe Lockhart, a Clinton White House spokesman, and Joel Johnson, a lobbyist who also worked for President Clinton, to help respond to attacks.

Cutter said that if charges about Kerry's service continued, the candidate would "talk comparatively" about his military record and that of Bush, who has been shadowed by questions about whether he fulfilled his service while in the Texas Air National Guard.

Kerry has reversed himself several times on whether he thinks it's appropriate to go after Bush's military service record.


From the Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/20/kerry_fires_back_on_his_vietnam_war_record?pg=2

But according to aides, Kerry was particularly incensed Wednesday when he heard reports that Bush donor Perry had written a second $100,000 check to continue financing the group and stayed up late that night writing eight new paragraphs to insert into the speech...
As part of a concerted counteroffensive, Kerry spokesman David Wade said the Democrat was "reactiviating" a team of veterans known as the "doghunters" who defended Kerry's service record since his first Senate race, in 1984. Four of these men joined a campaign news conference yesterday morning to criticize the anti-Kerry veterans for questioning whether Kerry's injuries and actions warranted medals.

"Every time they attack John's record, they attack my record," said Bill Zaladonis, who served on Kerry's boat. "They demean my medal, everyone who got a ribbon in Vietnan, it demeans their medals. I wish they'd stop."


Despite its clumsy appearance, apparently this is the deliberate and organized counterattack. Which makes one suspect we're never going to get the "sit-down-with-Russert and release all the files and all the diary entries and sort the whole thing out" approach.

Which suggests that Kerry doesn't think he could handle that kind of tough questioning, and what's unreleased in the files and diaries hurts his case.

[Dimsdale]

"Every time they attack John's record, they attack my record," said Bill Zaladonis, who served on Kerry's boat. "They demean my medal, everyone who got a ribbon in Vietnan, it demeans their medals. I wish they'd stop."

Actually, it is Kerry who demeaned and continues to demean the medals of those who earned them.

O'Neill and the Swifties have to keep pounding away at Kerry's refusal to release his FULL military record.

As for the Pres., Kerry and the DNC shot their wad eight months ago, and make the ANG issue "old news." They literally beat it to death, and cannot ressurect it now. The Pres., just has to say "my record is fully released and available. I was not witness to Sen. Kerry's wartime service and cannot comment on it. He should directly deal with the Swiftboat veterans making the charges." Issue gone.

[Polaris]

Agreed. Not only does the Guard story lack traction (it has been beat to death and debunked), but anyone but the most rabidly partisan would realize that Kerry is going after the wrong target.

And there is more: Because these are old attacks, attacks on President Bush's guard record will have little effect other than to increase Kerry's negatives. OTOH, Kerry's record has been unexamined until now....

It's sort of like punching the person to your right because the person to your left who punched you is out of reach. I.E. It is stupid.
_________________
-Polaris

Truth is Beauty