This is a campaign worthy of trust.

[WilliamPitt]

There's been a lot of furrowed brows around here, mine definitely included. Serious concerns had arisen about the Swift Boat Vets ad, and the Kerry campaign reaction (or apparent lack thereof).

MoveOn does an ad in response, and the Kerry campaign distances themselves from it. Further the furrowed brows furrowed. A poll came out saying the ad had effect. Bad juju.

...and then...

The MoveOn creates a buzz and gets a response out there.

An FOIA request reveals conections between Bush and the Swift Boaters.

The story makes the front page of the Times and the Post, and then lots of other places.

Though the Kerry campaign doesn't say much, most of the mainstream news shows - along with an evisceration on the Daily Show the night Clinton was on, which lots of people saw - discredited the claims made by these guys.

The Bush campaign gets busted for campaign workers handing out Swift Boat flyers at a campaign rally.

The Kerry campaign openly accuses the Bush campaign of campaign spending violations. I don't think this was a frivolously-made charge; I think the FOIA request got them the goods. All the White House press office can do is accuse Kerry of being insane. Subtle, that.

The understanding that Kerry distanced himself from MoveOn purposefully, while thinking ahead a week strategically, to display the difference between his campaign and Bush's when it comes to 527s etc. Kerry can run his own campaign. Bush has nothing to campaign on, and so must go negative, but must use front-men to do it.

It was the MoveOn move that tells me this is not some accident or spasm. They've been sharpening these spears for days now. Give the Bushies enough rope.

And all on the doorstep of the Republican National Convention...

These guys and gals know what their doing, friends.

[rumguy]

1. Where's Dem Strategist when you need him/her?

[WilliamPitt]

2. Probably celebrating

[rumguy]

7. Celebratin' what?

[WilliamPitt]

9. Read the original post

It's a good night to be a Democrat.

[lancdem]

17. I wonder, too

if by tying Bush to this and proving how dirty Rove is up front, they can innoculate themselves from similar attacks after the convention.

[blondeatlast]

4. Nursing a headache from all the whining; here's hoping s/he will return. n

[Malva Zebrina]

3. trust is irrelevant

there is no other choice but to vote for Kerry in order to oust
Bush

[MichiganVote]

10. If trust is irrelevant, then distrust is also

[Malva Zebrina]

26. no,

trust or faith is magical thinking--without anything concrete to trust in, one does not necessarily advocate or indulge in distrust.

Distrust is not the opposite or the result of a lack of trust. It, the lack of trust, can simply be the lack of information.

[MichiganVote]

32. Then stay informed

[oasis]

5. They have my vote of confidence.

:thumbsup:

[A_Possum]

6. Kerry has faced this exact same bunch since the 70's

And all of this swiftsmear stuff has come out WAYYY too soon for Bush. It'll be long over, discredited and forgotten by the media before November.

If they had waited until two weeks before, it might have hurt him, but Rove left too much time for the facts to come out.

Next it will be "Kerry negotiated with North Vietnam." I presume he's ready for that one too.

[Beetwasher]

8. A Sweet Sweet Well Thought Out And Accomplished Maneuver

Like they didn't know this attack was coming.

They knew it and they're blowing it up bigger than Bushco. ever dreamed, so damn big all the disgusting, reeking filth of the seedy underbelly gets rammed down the throats of every one so there's no doubt about what's going on. Blow it up, bigger than life, a giant maggot for everyone to choke on. Everyone will know it for exactly what it is and will know exactly who's responsible.

Yup, he knows EXACTLY what he's doing. I have more faith than ever.

[katusha]

14. wow nice imagery

bloated maggots being shoved down the throats of the repugs. almost sounds like abu ghraib.

[KittyWampus]

11. This Is Great Political Theater!

People will be writing books about this one!

[lancdem]

12. Don't forget the Florida flyer about the joint

Bush/Cheney-Swift Boat Liars campaign rally. I wouldn't be surprised if the Kerry folks have more incriminating evidence that we'll see in the next few days.

[WilliamPitt]

13. Correct!

I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks, fixed.

[salinen]

15. The sense that Kerry & * are in a dogfight

must be registering with Nadarites. If in the end, election day comes and it looks like a dead heat or * ahead, the Nadarites will pull the Kerry lever. They'd be nuts not to.

[WilliamPitt]

16. It's a gutter war all of a sudden

But, Jesus, how do you run against a guy who doesn't have anything to campaign on? You try to raise the issues, he goes fgor your balls. Sooner or later you have to strap on a cup and a helmet and just wade in.

Kerry's folks appear to be quite good at it. Welcome, America, to Boston-style revenge politics. :)

[salinen]

18. Nothing against Boston

But for Nasty Politics, I pick Chicago.

[WilliamPitt]

19. Indeed

:)

[Padraig18]

20. WEe've forgotten more about nasty politics in Chicago than most will...

... ever learn.

:evilgrin:

[Sparkly]

36. haHA!!

That was just delightfully well-worded. :)

[TheDonkey]

21. I think Kerry's campaign still has more goods on Bush ties to this

mess of lies.

I'm sure Kerry hoped at first this smearboat scandal would have been discredited swiftly just like his supposed "affair". But the media ate this up probably because the wave of negative stories for Bush (and they were boring).

[creeksneakers2]

22. Dem Strategist has moved on and Kerry has bet it all

There's nothing left to do but have faith in Kerry. Its going to be so great when Bush gets caught with this one.

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. I still wish he'd be a little more quick with the rebuttals.

Time's winding down...and the wait and see mentality (at least as it appears) is a bit bothersome. Why let it blow up as big as they have let it?

[WilliamPitt]

24. Because it's all bad for Bush

and so the bigger the bang the better.

[ScreamingMeemie]

28. I still say the best anti-Bush campaign is Bush on the campaign

trail himself. :hi:

[David Dunham]

30. Excellent point.

[Zomby Woof]

25. pssst... grammar police here

"they're", not "their" in your closing sentence. :-)

A rare error, to be sure.

[WilliamPitt]

27. Oh hush

:)

[Zomby Woof]

29. on a point more relevant

I shouted down some Kerry campaign naysayers last week when the Swift Boat Vets story kept persisting, that you can ALWAYS count on the Republicans to overreach and fall to their own excesses. This isn't Dukakis Mach II, nor is Lee Atwater's ghost smiling benevolently upon Karl Rove.

Give 'em enough rope.

[blm]

31. Kerry changed the legacies of Nixon, Reagan and Bush1. He knows these

GOP goons and will permanently change Bush2's legacy in November.

[MikeG]

33. Good. When's the campaign getting back to the economy?

Where Kerry is strongest?

[Blue_Roses]

34. you know what's so damn funny

is while alot of us are running around here with our hair on fire screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" Kerry is weighing this with the patience and intellect needed to fight this with success. This is such an outstanding move. Like you said, Kerry must have known that with just enough rope this would hang itself as the crap that it is. He must have known that these liars would get careless, real careless when he wasn't responding.

This just reconfirms my belief that the right man won the nomination, 'cause he indeed is a fighter. wow...just wow...

[quaker bill]

35. I am still not so sure

The latest ad here is all about the meetings of the Senate Intelligence Committee meetings that Kerry did not attend. I have read the congressional record extensively and as I was posting last December, this sort of charge is fair and accurate. It may be non-substantive, but based on my reading, it will quite likely continue to hold water on further inspection.

On the other hand we have planted our flag in 5 combat decorations that Kerry threw over the fence both literally and figuratively 30 years ago. While the swift boat vets are surely thieving scum, they have both clouded the "war hero - man you can trust" theme of the convention and given Shrub a card he is trying to play for sympathy against our 527's.

While I am sure we have goods on them, I am also sure that Rove has quite a few more tricks up his sleeve.

This is going to come down to the wire. Kerry needs to sieze the initiative again, if we are going to win.

I think the only thing we have in the bank at this point is that Kerry should mop the floor with Bush at the debates. But you have to remember that the clear intellectual victor at these debates is not always the winner at the polls. Experience suggests that it is just as much if not more the image conveyed than it is the intellectual points scored at these events. Curiously, Bush seems to be able to sell his image even when his words make him out as a jerk.

I will trust this campaign when we have a victory in our pockets on November 3rd.

[DU GrovelBot]

## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v3.0
==================



This week is our third quarter 2004 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend almost entirely
on donations from our members to cover our costs. Thank you so much for
your support.

[rumguy]

37. All I know is that this thread right here was hilarious

The Dem Strat tried to calm us, teach us, whatever (I didn't follow it)...but I guess most are beyond that point now....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x641274#641280

I've never seen such an apparently ignominious exit before in my life. I read it and I crack up. This wide-eyed newbie wading into DU to help us and lead us and before you know it they're hightailin' it out of here duckin' the insults....

I think I'll bookmark it.

[eleny]

38. Ever since yesterday, I've been feeling the trust

...and confidence in Kerry's acumen. His timing and coming out with a very strong attitude but in control, I knew I could trust him. No wonder McClellan came out today trying to characterize him as a hothead. I know it's the opposite. His boss is the hothead and my candidate is in control of himself and his campaign.

Yesterday is when I got that very first, real sense that Kerry will win the election. Over time, this current Repub ploy is a self inflicted wound. The Bush campaign is off track out of control.

[Sugarbleus]

39. Good points Will...

I'm more behind Kerry than before! I have been troubled, however, with Moveon's stuff. I wish they were more to the points that align with Kerry's policies instead of personal attack ads.

Like showing people standing in unemployment lines, or foreclosure notices on homes, or showing people having to pack up their own equipment to be shipped off to another country where foreign workers will be taking over that job, or a receipt for a drug bill not covered by someone's insurance. Maybe show the charts they use in the House and Senate on the deficit over the last three presidents by comparison. Do something clever with those types of ads by using the swift ads in smoke blowing away across the ad as if to insinuate Bush's smoke screen tactics in avoidingthese topics et al... Something like that...Just a thought.

GO JOHN/JOHN :bounce: