Cheney: Kerry Took Poll on Bin Laden Tape

[Bossy Monkey]

Oct 31, 4:27 PM EST

Cheney: Kerry Took Poll on Bin Laden Tape

By PETE YOST
Associated Press Writer

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that Sen. John Kerry's first response to Osama bin Laden's new videotape was to take a poll to find out what he should say about it.

A spokesman for Kerry's campaign did not deny polling on the bin Laden videotape, but suggested President Bush has done so. Bush's campaign strategist denied asking any poll questions about the al-Qaida terrorist.

"The thing that I find amazing about it is that John Kerry's first response was to go conduct a poll," Cheney told supporters in Iowa. "He went into the field ... to find out what he should say about this tape of Osama bin Laden."

"It's as though he doesn't know what he believes until he has to go and check the polls, his finger in the air, to see which way the wind is blowing and then he'll make a decision," said the vice president, who offered no evidence to back up his claim. "George Bush doesn't need a poll to know what he believes, especially about Osama bin Laden."
(more)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHENEY?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Now if you actually read the whole thing, you see that Lockhart points out the poll Cheney's talking about and that it has nothing to do with the Kerry campaign. Beneath contempt, both Cheney & Pete Yost, the writer.

Edit: Vote it down at Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041031/ap_on_el_pr/cheney_34

If you want to tell Pete about it, his email is most likely [e-mail] Anyway, that's the format for all the other AP email addresses, and my note to him hasn't bounced back yet. Be polite; we're trying to get him to change the slant on the story; nastygrams usually just get deleted.

[cubsfan forever]

1. Whores! n/t

Professor 2

[Democat]

2. Bush's people did polls before the tape was publicly released!

Kerry needs to hammer them back on this issue.

Bush does more polls that Clinton ever did according to previous articles.

Kerry should slam Bush hard and fast, like he has been doing!

[maddezmom]

3. Lie, spin, spin, spin, lie. spin, lie, spin...................

:eyes:

[Liberal Veteran]

4. Cheny is one of the few truly blackhearted evil men I have seen.

I loathe him.

[Edmond Dantes]

9. Hopefully, he will stand trial for war crimes (under federal law).

My personal fantasy is that we ship him to Iraq after BushCo loses.

Justifiably angry Muslims need a target. Better that it be Cheney than one of my innocent little nephews.

[bogey18]

37. I am in total agreement.

This guy with his 400,000 stock options in Halliburton, selling the country to the oil companies and counting his profits while thousands of innocent people are dying - how is it that he can just do this stuff right out in the open and people aren't mortified beyond belief?

[kokomo]

44. Halliburton closed Friday at $37.04 x 400,000=$14,816,000

Not a bad little package waiting for Dick when he retires in January.

[peacetalksforall]

5. Cheney - slime.

Yes, the rotten house knew early in the am.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. cheney - I'm praying for a blood clot

Or a crippling stroke.

I have no compassion about that son of a bitch.

[aquart]

22. Which is most painful?

Which feels like a limb being blown off by explosives?

Which feels like guts stitched back together but parts are missing?

[klook]

7. Cheney "offered no evidence to back up his claim"

Therefore, it's not newsworthy. If you're a real journalist, that is.

[sandnsea]

8. They called it "a little gift"

They didn't need a poll to know they didn't give a shit and were going to use it to terrorize people, that's what they always do. (Yes, I know this wasn't Kerry's poll anyway) Fuckers, I hate these rat bastards. Two more days. Just two more days.

[w4rma]

10. Yet another blatant lie. Sen. Kerry has been saying the exact same thing

for months about this misadministration turning their back on bin Laden to invade Iraq.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

11. There Goes That "Liberal" Media Again

Where are all the last-minute AP stories about Edwards' speeches?

:grr:

DTH

[Bossy Monkey]

18. Here's the one from yesterday, not quite so hot-button:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EDWARDS_SPEECH?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Oct 30, 2:31 PM EDT

Edwards Gives Voters a Choice in Voice

By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer

MARIETTA, Ohio (AP) -- Sen. John Edwards wants to be the voice inside voters' heads as they cast their ballots Tuesday. The Democratic vice presidential candidate implores people to picture themselves in voting booths asking themselves questions about President Bush's record. Then, Edwards crystalizes what he says is the choice voters face: "Four more years of the same. Or a fresh start for America."

The approach, part of a repackaged speech, is similar to one the first-term senator sometimes used in North Carolina courtrooms when he was a trial lawyer.

The gifted orator, for example, won a multimillion-dollar verdict after asking jurors to put themselves in the shoes of a child who would face challenges throughout her life because of injuries caused by a negligent company.

On the campaign trail, the Democrat has tried to make policy personal by showing voters how the decisions made in Washington affect their daily lives, rather than packing his speeches with statistics and Senate-speak.

(more; the next line is accusing Kerry of that Senate-speak)

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

12. desperation.

The key is that Cheney said this UNPROMPTED! It's now official: the Bushes are counting on 100% turnout from the wingnut wing and will attempt suppression of traditional GOP conservatives. Why else go into the gutter w/less than 48 hrs. to go?

[soundhead]

13. Bzzzz Bzzzz.....Bzzzzzz

Does Cheney have to plug himself into the mains each night to charge his dodgy ticker up? Imagine if there was a blackout? He must have an emergency generator out the back of his house (soon to be John Edwards house.)

He can't have long with a set-up like that. All the money in the world cannot buy life.

[ogradda]

14. cheney..

you are a moron...sorry a moran.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. I want this guy

in the docket at the Hauge on war crime charges. This shit is the very embodiment of evil. So's his wife.

[TexasSissy]

16. Is that all the VP had to say about the OBL tape? Interesting that he

isn't speaking about the tape, about OBL, or about the substance of the tape. Very interesting that all he talks about is continuing to bash Kerry. Bash Kerry all the time, all the time bash Kerry.

Interesting. I smell desperation.

[Blue Gardener]

19. Character assassination

Is all they have. They certainly don't have a record to brag about.

[crossroads]

17. I am livid with anger!

This creepshow of a human being tries to divert attention from mistakes in judgement he made in his puppet/puppeteer Bush and flip/flop the truth into a negative directed at Kerry is beyond lunacy! How transparant! Jeeesshh... they are like monsters covered with slime --- a real Halloween party!
:eyes:

[deadparrot]

20. And YOUR campaign, Dick, called a mass murderer who is

comfortable, free, and alive, a "little gift."

Shut the hell up, asshole.

[killbotfactory]

21. Do they have anything other than lies?

Sure as hell doesn't look like it.

[Zorra]

23. Cheney is a crook. The whole world knows it. His words don't mean

shit to anyone but Bu$h worshippers,`and some of them don't trust Dick either.

[ScrewyRabbit]

24. Shut the f up, evil doughboy

Your first response to any problem is to invade a country.

[StupidFOX]

25. New poll out! How many pants has Cheney made his listeners wet?

30% of his listeners wet themselves from fear.
20% wet themselves when they hear his very name.
50% know that Kerry and a better future are just around the bend. Pants bone-dry.

[Kellis]

27. hahaha

Don't be angry people.

Ths shrubies are desperate!They are frantic in the final hours of this campaign.Kerry has this in the bag and ol slick dick knows it.

We should celebrate this kind of fear talk from them!:kick:

[maddezmom]

34. and out of the 50% mentioned, 25% wet pants from "rotflmao"!!

[Gman]

26. Of course Bush did not poll on this... that's stupid to think so

Bush didn't need to poll immediately because Karl Rove had already run it past the focus groups a few weeks ago before he contacted Bin Laden and cut some kind of deal with OBL if he would do the video. So I doubt the GOP did any kind of immediate polling. They already had their response ready based on the focus group results from a few weeks ago. THIS was Karl Rove's October surprise that he alluded to a few weeks ago.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

28. Dick Cheney has diarrhea of the mouth

Just think of all that Haliburton money you're getting Dick. You'll need it to hire a good team of lawyers.

[Bossy Monkey]

29. Hey, Yost moved Lockhart's comments farther up in the story (update)

As AP's site is dynamic, you won't be able to tell, but Lockhart's comment that Cheney was referring to a poll having nothing to do with the Kerry campaign is now several paragraphs higher. The piece is still biased and its mere existence is grotesque considering that Cheney's charge is completely baseless, but I feel a molecule better that my email to Pete Yost may have had some slight effect. Hey, here's a thought; maybe more emails will get him to rewrite the story to stress that Cheney's talking out of his ass.

Edit: I was a trifle premature taking any credit. Turns out that it just became a bigger part of the story. With luck, by the time newspapers go to bed tonight, the story will be: Cheney makes another unfounded charge.

[maddezmom]

30. take some credit...I sent an email thanks to your post

:hugs:

[George_S]

35. V.P.: Oops again! Our Oct. Surprise backfired, and it's all Kerry's fault!

[2bfree]

31. I really hate Cheney.

What a dick.

[maddezmom]

32. Maddezmom: Cheney spinned WMD"s, to take the US to war in Iraq

[Blue_State_Elitist]

33. Don't we want a president that takes polls?

I want a president that takes polls before making policy decisions. This is a representative democracy, is it not?

[votedemocratic]

36. I am not surprised by a man who uses the word "asshole"

in the Senate chambers and has two dui convictions to pull such a sleazy tactic. Lets not even talk about possible criminal indictment regarding Halliburton.

When I viewed the Bin Laden tape, I saw a guy who was healthy and laughing at our country. Shrub hasn't captured this mofo in three years and Dick is talking about polling.

Let's show some resolve and forget dick head's remarks and volunteer and get out the vote in the next few days.

I really do hate rethuglicans.

[progressivebydesign]

38. Cheney is rotting from the inside..

..all that bile and vile is starting to show. What a pig.

[d_b]

39. all of them do that.

Idiots.

[cliss]

40. Whoa. Re-read Cheney quote:

"George Bush doesn't need a poll to know what he believes, especially about Osama Bin Laden".

Now, fast forward to the little audio clip of George Bush saying (about Bin Laden), "I don't know where he is". "Frankly, I don't care".

Jeez, talk about putting your big foot in your big mouth, Dick.

Dick is just grasping at straws. Like someone who's drowning, they'll grab onto anything to stay afloat.

[Art_from_Ark]

46. Fast forward a bit more to the debates

where bu$h sounded surprised to hear bin Laden's name in connection with 9-11

Paraphrasing,
"Bin Laden WHO? Oh, him..."

Which makes me all the more skeptical that bin Laden had much, if anything, to do with the attacks.

[DeadManInc]

41. Cheney

What a pile of puke. I bet his dad wished he would have had a son.

[Cocoa]

42. Knight-Ridder "THE KERRY CAMPAIGN HOTLY DENIED IT"

EMPHASIS MINE, TO EXPRESS MY DISGUST FOR PETE YOST, AND THE AP FOR HIRING HIS LYING ASS!!!!


http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/election2004/10065016.htm?1c


<snip>

The Kerry campaign hotly denied it. In fact, Kerry responded to the videotape publicly on Friday less than two hours after the bin Laden tape aired, and one day before the poll in question was taken.

more…

[partisan to truth]

43. and the plot thickens... great find cocoa

[PartyPooper]

45. This is rich coming from grandpa who pimps his grandkids

in front of the cameras covering a pre-selected crowd...selling himself and Bu$hco & Halliburton to Amerika.

This is sad. Very sad, indeed.

:-(

[trapper914]

47. A Few Days Before An Election...

...of course, Kerry's people would poll to find out what kind of reaction the bin Laden tape would have on the electorate. As we saw all weekend, the so-called pundits were falling all over themselves claiming the tape would somehow be good for Bush. If I'm Joe Lockhart, I want to know if that's really true so that my message in the final days can be properly focused.

John Kerry didn't need a poll to know what to say, but I bet * did. I imagine his people spent the entire day (after getting briefed on the tape several hours before Kerry) coming up with that milquetoast response * gave. I see Kerry getting HIS briefing at the 11th hour en route to a campaign stop, then jotting down a few notes on the back of an envelope before stepping out on the tarmac to speak.