Dean Hits Kerry's Judgment, Raises 'Dirty Tricks'

[Cheswick2.0]

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=817423&tw=wn_wire_story
"John Kerry has gone out of his way to say how inexperienced I am in foreign policy," Dean told a town hall meeting in Nashua. "Let's talk about this. In 1991, I supported (President) George Bush the first ... because one of our allies had been attacked, there were Iraqi troops on the ground in Kuwait setting fire to oil wells, an environmental disaster, and John Kerry voted against the war."

"Where was John Kerry when (President) George (W.) Bush was handing out all this misinformation about Saddam had something to do with al Qaeda?" Dean asked. "He was voting in favor of the war and it turned out all the reasons the president gave us were not true."

Dean, who has acknowledged a foreign policy "gap" in his resume, argued that expertise in the international arena depended upon "patience and judgment."

"I question Sen. Kerry's judgment when he voted no in 1991 and yes ... I think it should be the other way around," Dean said.

<snip>

Dean did not elaborate, but aides said they included telephone calls at odd hours with scripts that questioned Dean's ability to be "president for everybody" when his wife and children were Jewish and another that was just a loud scream.

Dean spokesman Jay Carson also told reporters fake e-mails had been sent out looking like legitimate Dean e-mail but including offensive lines.

One offered internships, but contained a paragraph that said: "due to close sleeping quarters, homosexuals will not be considered for this position," Carson said. Another, headed "Christians for Dean," contained the line, "due to the constraints of this organization, Muslims and Jews are not welcome," Carson said.

[patricia92243]

1. Kerry is half-Jewish CNN said. Can HE be president to everybody?

[adadem]

9. I am part Jewish

ancestry but am a practicing Christian just like John Kerry...I consider myself a Christian because I do not practice the Jewish religion just like John Kerry.

If one of your ancestors was, say, Catholic, are you then a Catholic forever? How about Buddist...your great grandfather was a Buddist but you were raised a Muslim. Are you still a Buddist because some bigots believed that Buddism was a "dirty" religion? Just because my great grandpa or John Kerry's grandparents were Jewish does not make a Jew. Make sense of your post. Sounds like anti-semitism to me.

[JohnKleeb]

11. Kerry is a quarter Jewish right cheryl?

His grandfather Kohn who became Kerry. Hell I am Catholic, but who knows I could have some Jewish blood. It sounded to me like impling he would be biased towards Israel, yet I know of Jewish people who are the most fair balanced on that issue.

[adadem]

13. Yes

Hungarian/Czech and name changed upon immigration...married a Catholic woman.

Gee, sounds just like my ancestry. Prussian Jew marries Prussian Lutheran woman, converts religion and baptizes children in Lutheran faith, immigrates to US, changes name after 5 years because he and his children kept getting called a rude Polish slur even though he wasn't a Pole. But I (with John Kerry) am a "dirty" Jew forever according to some.

[emulatorloo]

19. I think these dirty tricks are *AIMED* at Kerry

The caller says something like

Did you know Dean was married to a Jew?
If you knew Dean was for Homosexual Marriage would you vote for Kerry?

I think that the caller's mission is trying to get people upset with Kerry. The questions are soooooo outrageous and Kerry has Jewish relatives and is for Civil Unions too.

I have nothing to base my theory on but a hunch. I just think that the caller's purpose is to anger people and make it seem that Kerry is behind it.

I think they are coming from repub group.

ON EDIT -- added theory about source

[emulatorloo]

2. Dean can't frame the argument right

He frames it as anti-war vs anti-war

Here's as simple as I can make it:

Gulf War I war for oil
Gulf War II Saddam has nukes and is going to kill us

Clark says he believed W and Rummy when they said Saddam had WMDs
There were secret briefings to senate that we never saw.

Gov Dean said he sees through it all, but he never saw the secret briefings. So he might have been fooled too. Who knows?

[liberalnurse]

6. Thats a diversion ......

Lets take a look at the issue of deception and silverspoon cheating tactics..... Where do these tricks arise?


Skull and Bones/Bonesman think alike and stick together as blood brothers.

Bush and Kerry.....bloodbrothers of the Skull and Bones.

[adadem]

10. And once again

Dean started the attacks but starts whining when they come his way. Childish. He better buck up and start taking what he is dishing out.

[progressivebydesign]

15. There is a difference to saying things about your opponents position..

.. and push polling. All the candidates have and will continue to distance themselves publicly. It's what they do in primaries. Remember Bush Sr. and Reagan? That was ugly! What Dean is speaking about is the dirty tricks... the push polling. That's wrong.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. Again, Dean has his facts wrong. Oil wells were NOT on fire.

that did not happen until after Desert Storm had commenced.

[Monte Carlo]

4. Dean can be a great Monday-morning quarterback.

He can nitpick Kerry's solid record for good litmus-test material, but hindsight is the luxury of historians.

[Cheswick2.0]

12. not true

there were fires before the war

[NewYorkerfromMass]

18. Show us

????

[liberalnurse]

5. If Kerry gets the nomination so be it.....

if it is truly the will of the people. Getting it through manipulation is so rovian......

Karma shall be his Waterloo.

[emulatorloo]

7. Hard evidence of Rovian Manipulation?

or just innuendo from Dean campaign?

Thanks!


On edit: sorry left out words

[Cheswick2.0]

8. Yup and Kerry would be aware of it regardless of his involvement

He should renounce the whole thing. He should come out and say it is wrong even if he is benefiting.

[emulatorloo]

14. How do you know Kerry is benefiting? Couldn't this be a really convoluted

dirty trick aimed at Kerry? How could he possibly benefit, given the extreme bizarreness of the questions. I admit that this is total speculation

But how do we know that these dirty tricks aren't aimed at Kerry rather than Dean by trying to associate Kerry w dirty tricks?

Midnight call from "Dean Campaign" and polls asking REALLY nutty questions about Dean and Homosexuals and Jews and then making references to Kerry. I mean the calls are really fantastic, and so totally out there,

So that Dean supporters get really upset and spread the word the Kerry is using dirty tricks on Dean. . .

So that basically Dean supporters are being manipulated to smear Kerry with it. . .

I think it is repugs, baseless as that may be.

[mzmolly]

16. Could be, but regardless there was push polling geared toward

Kerry. If Repugs are doing that, there are some serious questions to be answered as to why Kerry is a more desirable opponent *to them* than Dean is.

[emulatorloo]

17. No, my point was that it might be AIMED at Kerry, not Dean

and again, it is totally conspiracy theory on my part. My tinfoil hat is on!

So to clarify, The push polling is aimed to get Dean people made and blaming Kerry.

So that they scream about it and NH voters get mad at Kerry.

So Kerry is seen as a big bad guy who push polls.

I just think the extremism of the questions is designed to turn people called off on Kerry and make them symphathetic to Dean.

If Kerry is really sophisticated and slick as people say, wouldn't he come up with something less obvious than these questions? Homosexuals? Jews? The obviousness of it makes me theorize that the calls are aimed to make Kerry look bad.