August 2004 - The Way It Was.. For Real

[sandnsea]

From the moment John Kerry became the clear winner of the Democratic primary, he led in the polls. He led in the polls in the early spring, through the selection of John Edwards as Vice President, through the convention, and through most of the month of August. Despite the media’s incessant claim that there was no convention bounce, Kerry was ahead in the polls in August from 1 to 8 points, across the board. Don’t believe me? It’s on the internets, take a look. Be sure and take a look at the Bush bounce as well, outside of the Time/Newsweek poll, Bush had the same 1 to 8 point lead after the RNC convention.

So what happened to that consistent lead? With the signing of Form 180 and the release of Kerry’s Navy records, many are giving credit to the lies and smears of the Swift Boat Vets. Despite the fact that John O’Neill hasn’t stopped making these outlandish statements since 1971, somehow people think that the release of the exact same Navy records that Kerry had on his web site would have appeased these weasels. Just today, the Boston Globe has repeated the canard that “Kerry’s failure to respond” damaged the campaign.

But is Kerry’s “failure to respond” any more accurate than the lack of a convention bounce? I don’t see it.

On August 4, the Swift Boat Vets released a new ad, after having been knocked down by the campaign in May. From Media Matters, “in an August 5 interview with the Associated Press, Senator John McCain (R-AZ), "a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called the ad criticizing John Kerry's military service 'dishonest and dishonorable' and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well."

Between August 4 and August 19, Cutter said the campaign relied on the news media, surrogates and 700 letters to the editor to discredit the charges, including Carville taking on O’Neill on Crossfire on August 12.

On August 19 at the IAFF convention, Kerry stated "They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know: he wants them to do his dirty work.” After noting the Navy records that awarded him his medals, he added "Thirty years ago, this was the plain truth. It still is. And I still carry the shrapnel in my leg from a wound in Vietnam.”

The campaign releases Rassmann ad, "All these Viet Cong were shooting at me. I expected I'd be shot. When he pulled me out of the river, he risked his life to save mine."

On August 21, the campaign released the internet ad “Old Tricks” along with this statement: “A front group for the Bush campaign called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" is continuing to spread their lies about John Kerry's military record. Their statements have been contradicted by official Navy records, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and every man who served under John Kerry -- yet George Bush refuses to condemn their tactics. Through his silence, George Bush is approving their action. And Bush campaign officials in Florida are even promoting events for this front group.

Enough is enough. No matter what these Bush campaign shills now say, John Kerry's commanders remarked in 1969 that, "In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, LTJG Kerry was unsurpassed." In fact, all of John Kerry's performance reports (available on our website) display an absolutely heroic record of service.”

On August 25, Max Cleland attempted to deliver a letter to George Bush asking “where is his shame to attack a fellow veteran who has distinguished himself in combat?"

So, why did Senator Kerry’s numbers begin to fall AFTER he launched his attack against the Swift Boat Vets. Interestingly, The American Enterprise magazine has this opinion “The media establishment finally took notice when Senator Kerry attacked you publicly on August 19.” O’Neill agreed.

I don’t know whether that’s true or not. I do know one thing though. As I was going through liberal blogs to find the references for this post, two things were noticeably missing. One was any reference to the agenda Kerry was laying out, which is a story for another day.

But the most important thing that was missing was gut level righteous indignation. What I should have seen was “We have sunk so low in this country that we are willing to denigrate a man’s war service, simply because he is a Democrat. Anybody who would do that isn’t worth the shrapnel in John Kerry’s ass.”

That’s all we should have heard then, that’s all we ought to hear now. Some things are sacred and a soldier’s honorable war service to our country is one of them.
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=1055

[karynnj]

1. Thank you so much for posting this

In real life, I have been arguing with people that Kerry and his team didn't completely ignore the SBVT for half a month, but had nothing but my memory to back it up.

I think the coverage of the Republican convention was more devastating - as the nastiness of the speakers and the purple heart band aids were not strongly (or in many cases, not at all) criticized. Instead, the story switched to how lame the Democratic convention was, even though the tone was praised 4 weeks before. In both these incidents, the media telegraphed the view that 1) Kerry deserved no respect for his service and there was something suspect about his wounds and 2) Kerry's nice convention showed he was weak because he didn't criticize Bush. (Kerry needed to introduce himself and describe his vision. He did make a case for the fact that Bush was taking us in the wrong direction. )

[sandnsea]

4. I'll look at that

It was right around the R convention that the numbers switched. I don't know what all might have contributed to that.

Also, personally, I missed the "values voters" bus tour. I didn't pay close enough attention to how well Bush's economic message was playing. Lots of little things that might have indicated we were in some trouble, things that had nothing to do with Kerry.

In the end, seems to me there's only a few possibilities. One is that they effectively made it "not cool" to support Kerry. Another is that maybe people vote for the guy who speaks for them, not the guy who is like them. Maybe people really don't want government health care, to sacrifice jobs for environment, public education, etc. Or at least enough people in those swing states to make the difference.

[Mass]

2. Thank you for posting that

[ginnyinWI]

3. This needs to be seen in GD

The whiners need to see it and stop believeing every RW talking point they hear.

[JI7]

5. thank you , it's how Kerry reacted to similar things against McCain

Bob Kerrey, Cleland etc. and that was far more powerful than any point by point refutation of the allegations which nobody really reads anyways.

there were some assholes who were even calling for Kerry to debate O'Neill. These fools act like the swift boat vets and the Republicans truly misunderstood and mistaken about Kerry's record and if you just showed them the facts they would stop. WHen that was never the case. Most of them know they are lying. They have an agenda and they will keep pushing it no matter what Kerry does. With every release kerry made during the campaign and even now they STILL haven't stopped with their lying. It didn't put an end to the the issue.

The whore media which made a huge deal about Kerry needing to release his records and sign that release form aren't reporting the results of the release so what good did that do. In fact they are reporting on the stupid grades which just takes more attention away from the things that matter.

[whometense]

6. Even in the UK!!

I read a column in the Guardian today which made all kinds of snarky references to the fact that everyone thought Kerry was more intellectual than *, but look at his grades, hohoho.

No, Kerry was right about the records. When you're not operating in reality the actual truth is meaningless.

[JI7]

7. and even then it's not very truthful

Kerry had great grades in high school. and even at Yale he did great in the areas he focused on which was his political clubs and debates and some other things.

and it seemed he did learn to focus more on his classes as he excelled when he went to naval college and then into the military itself. and later on in law school also.

Bush on the other hand sucked everywhere he went yet he kept on going.

[TayTay]

8. Let them have their fun

There is nothing you can do about it. Let it come out and sink in.

As someone said in one of the columns I read, I'd still put my money on Kerry in Jeopardy. Besides, his writings in his journals in Vietnam( as seen in Tour of Duty) reveal a very intelligent and well-read mind. Just because he didn't focus in freshman year on the grades doesn't make him a dummy. He is very far from that. Those journal writings are intense and, in some places, haunting. They reveal a sharp and introspective mind that absorbed a lot and questioned more. Anyone who jokes about the grades should also read the journal entries as a corollary. This guy has deep and intense pockets.

I think for most people, the grades are a one day diversion. Most human beings have off periods. It's just a brief chuckle, nothing more.