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Kerry Aims to Counter Impact of Criticism
NewsMax Wires
Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004 WASHINGTON - The Democratic Party launched a costly round of ads Friday to buttress John Kerry (news - web sites)'s credentials to be commander in chief as the White House accused the Massachusetts senator of "losing his cool" over attacks on his war record.

"John Kerry is a fighter and he doesn't tolerate lies from others," shot back spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter.

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The unusual late-August maneuvering highlighted the closeness of the race for the White House and came as polls offered the first hint that the questioning of Kerry's medal-winning service in the Vietnam War — allegations that he strongly condemned this week as lies — were taking a political toll.

One poll found that more than half the voters questioned had seen or heard of an ad by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that accuses Kerry of lying about events that earned him five medals in Vietnam a generation ago. The University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey also found that 44 percent of self-described independent voters found the ad very or somewhat believable.

Separately, a CBS poll found a sharp drop in Kerry's support among both veterans and a smaller erosion among independents since the end of the Democratic Convention.

Kerry's campaign scripted the convention, which ended three weeks ago, to establish him as a battle-tested veteran ready to assume command in an era of terrorism. Polls after the convention indicated he had made considerable progress toward that goal.

In a commercial that officials said was filmed on Thursday, the Democratic Party showed retired Air Force General Merrill A. McPeak saying he had endorsed Bush four years ago but was backing Kerry now.

"Nothing is more important to me than protecting America," says McPeak, a fighter pilot in Vietnam who rose to become Air Force chief of staff during the first Persian Gulf War (news - web sites) in 1991.

"John Kerry has the strength and common sense we need in a commander in chief," he says in the ad.

That message is sharply at odds with the image portrayed in the anti-Kerry ad — the one the Massachusetts senator denounced on Thursday when he said Bush was relying on front groups to "do his dirty work."

Lost His Cool

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said several times that the senator's comments showed he had lost his cool, a suggestion that Bush's rival lacked presidential temperament.

"I do think that Senator Kerry losing his cool should not be an excuse for him to lash out at the president with false and baseless attacks," the spokesman told reporters in Crawford, Texas.

"We've already said we weren't involved in any way in these ads," he said. "We've made that clear."

Cutter sought to turn the argument over presidential readiness back on the White House. "Mr. McClellan needs to understand that John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and read `My Pet Goat' to a group of second graders while America is under attack," she said.

That was a reference to Sept. 11, 2001, when Bush remained in an elementary school classroom for several minutes after being informed by an aide that the World Trade Center had been hit.

Asked about the relationship between Bob Perry, a financial supporter of the anti-Kerry group that paid for the ad, and Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, McClellan said, "I mean, they know each other. I know that."

But, he quickly added, "that still shouldn't be used to draw any connection there, because we have not been involved in this ad whatsoever."

McClellan also accused the Kerry campaign of sanctioning the same type of attack ads by outside groups that it is accusing the president of approving.

"I mean, where has the Kerry campaign been for the last year while more than $62 million in funding through these shadowy groups have been used to negatively attack the president?" he asked. Outside groups funded by Bush's opponents have spent millions on commercials that criticize the president.

The ad that drew Kerry's angry response on Thursday aired in only three states at a cost of well under $1 million. It features several Vietnam veterans who accuse Kerry of lying about the circumstances surrounding events for which he won his medals. Kerry received three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star while in Vietnam.

Even so, the Annenberg survey said "more than half the country has heard about or seen" the commercial — the result of widespread coverage on cable television and talk radio as well as the Internet.

Beliefs about the ad had a lot to do with the partisan inclinations of those questioned, the survey sponsors said. "Seventy percent of those with favorable opinions of Bush find the advertisement somewhat or very believable while 19 percent of those with favorable opinions of Kerry find it believable."

Independent voters were nearly split over whether they found the ad believable.

The poll was taken Aug. 9-16 among 2,209 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The CBS survey said Bush led Kerry by a margin of 55-37 among veterans, compared with a 46-46 tie after the Democratic Convention. Among independents, Kerry held a 44-39 advantage, compared with an edge of 50-33 in an earlier survey.

The new CBS poll was conducted Aug. 15-18 of 1,009 adults, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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