Why did Kerry pull the McCain Ad?

[xrepub]

I understand that McCain asked Kerry to pull the ad that Kerry was running about Bush's smear of McCain in 2000. Kerry pulled it. That was one effective ad. Why would Kerry pull it?

This looks like an incredibly stupid move by Kerry's campaign.

[LearnedHand]

1. Maybe Kerry respects McCain's strategy?

Just a WAG on my part.

Oh, welcome to DU, exrepub! :hi: How long you been an ex-Repub?

[madinmaryland]

5. 42 posts away from 1K

congrats!

And congrats to all!:hi:

[LearnedHand]

15. [sigh] It's been a long...

...time coming. But this place has been a HAVEN for me! Thanks for the encouragement.

[madinmaryland]

18. i still have a long way to go

i don't get the chance to spend a lot of time doing this, but i am passionate about seeing JK become #44.

[xrepub]

20. Thanks for the welcome

I posted some here during the primaries. But I posted this question because it seems like such a stupid move for Kerry. I've spent a good deal of time and money supporting him, and I would not like to see him drop the ball.

I've been a Democrat for longer than most of the posters here have been alive, but I was once a Republican.

[madinmaryland]

2. Because it got the point across.

No point in belaboring the issue.

[Inland]

3. A 527 will pick up that or the exact same ad. Don't worry about it.

[Doosh]

4. perhaps they're saving it for a better time

[West Coast Democrat]

6. Why would Kerry keep the ad if McCain asked him to pull it?

Your reasoning is ridiculous. DO you think Kerry would want to get in some kind of battle with McCain about a TV ad?

[xrepub]

10. battling already

McCain is already supporting bush.

If you've seen the ad, you know it is great. If you've seen Kerry's other ads, you know that this one is way above the rest.

McCain is on the other side, why should we be afraid of making him mad?

[michigandem2]

14. Kerry respects McCain and it shows

he has some ethics..if McCain was uncomfortable with it..then he took it down..BESIDES...I believe it got LOTS more attention (little rather than NONE) since it was taken off..and it proves that IT CAN BE DONE--ads can be removed if you want them off the air they can be removed...it does a lot of things and many people have seen it...it did the deed I think...

[mbali]

7. Because Kerry made his point without running the ad

and got to come across as honorable and respectful toward a fellow veteran, unlike W.

[movonne]

8. Gee, it looks like Kerry has morals. bush has lost his and looks

like a stupid shit.

[MirrorAshes]

9. The ad has gotten more attention from being pulled than it did on its own

The ad served its purpose, and remember Kerry and McCain are longtime friends. Kerry made the right move.

[Jokinomx]

11. McCain is has been calling for * to condemn the SBV ads... Kerry

cannot take a chance of losing that kind of support. McCain has a broad support base which is bi-partisan .... and besides... Kerry and McCain are good friends and he surely wouldn't want to jepardize that...

Just my Humble Opinion...

:dem:

Welcome to the Underground...:toast:

[xrepub]

12. ?

The ad is not at all critical of McCain. Why would showing an ad of bush abusing McCain turn off McCains bipartisan support?

[Jokinomx]

16. The ad wouldn't...Not honoring McCain's request to pull the ad would...n/t

[DaveinMD]

13. the ad was pulled

because it was never intended to be on long. It was released for the publicity and has served its purpose. They will save the money for other ads. It will be time to get back to the issues quite soon.

[Catt03]

17. I wish Kerry and the campaign geniuses

would just cross McCain off.

This is ridiculous...using McCain as an example of Bush's hideous attacks. We have seen McCain up on stage kissing Bush. If he doesn't give a damn about Bush/Rove smear that his adopted child was due to an affair his wife had that he was a traitor for signing a statement for the Vietnamese, then he can go straight to hell.

McCain states he cares about the Republican party more than his own integrity. Why would anyone care anything about him when he doesn't even respect himself or his family.

Ditch him.

[xrepub]

21. the ad in question

used McCain. It showed bush smearing him in 2000 the same way he is smearing Kerry now. It made the point that bush was a man of no integrity. It was powerful, why did we give it up?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

19. It generated the publicity it was intended to.

Plus McCain and Kerry are friends. And Kerry is going to need McCain once he is president to build bridges to the more moderate Repubs so that he can actually get something done.

[IrishBloodEngHeart]

22. because he doesn't have the killer instinct we need to win this campaign

He is running an old school gentlemans campaing and if he continues, he's going to end up like Dukakis.

[xrepub]

26. most likely

I fear that you are right. There is nothing unethical about the ad. It replay a tape of McCain talking to Bush. It is not taken out of context. It does not denigrate McCain. It clearly shows bush's pattern of smears. Almost all my friends are dems, most are educated and intelligent. These smears have very little effect on them. But there are a substantial number of people who moved towards bush because of the smears. That has to be counteracted.

[Scorpious_Maximus]

23. Easy

By pulling the ad, Kerry takes the moral high ground and watches the pugs get altitude sickness.

Classy move. Respectful of McCain and Veterans.


You have to understand the silent communication between vets, especially Vietnam vets. The SwiftBoat boys are going to find that out.

[Scorpious_Maximus]

24. Additional Thought

The strategy involves making Kerry look "presidential" and shows "leadership", while contrasting Bush as a puppet running this Banana Republic we like to call the USA.

[gcomeau]

25. It shows Kerry has ethics... and contrasts him to Bush...

Not exactly an unfavorable contrast as Bush is still refusing to come straight out and specificaly condemn the swiftvet ads.

That's capital he can use later. The Bush campaign would love to say Kerry is playing using the same tactics they are, but Kerry's isn't going to make it easy for them to do.

Kerry's fighting a clean campaign. Bet on that becoming something they stress more heavily as the campaign progresses and they build more and more of a record of doing the right thing while the Shrub builds more and more of a record of smearing. Shrub can't even bring up Moveon anymore without getting smacked because Kerry spoke out against the ad they put out attacking *his* service.

Then of course, they can go ont to say "hey, we did our best to run a civil campaign, just look at the record... but since the Bush campaign insists on making this about attacks..."

:):):)

-Grant

[rocktivity]

27. Scorpious_Maximus and Gcomeau came closest to getting it right

And Xrepub did, too, by answering his/her own question: Kerry pulled the ad because it WAS so effective!

Four years ago, Bush was sliming McCain's military record AND family. Now McCain is all buddy-buddy with Bush as though nothing had happened? And why doesn't it bother him that Bush has not joined him in coming out against the Boat Liars For Bush? Did Bush promise him something in return for his support, or has he just run out of self-esteem?

As for Bush, the commerical establishes that for him, sliming is political business as usual. Any negative campaigning he does from now on will be greeted with skepticism. That is extra unfortunate for him since the Smear-Boaters have been confirmed as a hoax, and since he's publicly stated that he believes Kerry is telling the truth. If he does believe that, he MUST believe that the Smear-Boaters are the liars, so why not say so? Is it because they illegally coordinated their efforts with the Bush campagin?

Kerry ran that commerical precisely because he KNEW that McCain would have no choice but to ask him to pull it. It made McCain look hypocritical and gullible; it made Bush look morally bankrupt and egomanical. By pulling the commerical at the request of his "old friend," Kerry came out looking even-handed, loyal, and in command of his priorities. As a bonus, Kerry now has the option of attacking BUSH's military record as long as Bush has nothing to say about the Smear-Boaters!

The commericial did EXACTLY what it was supposed to do--mission accomplished!

:headbang:
rocknation

[mellowinman]

28. Because McCain asked him to.

Get it?

It's fucking BRILLIANT.

(I'm not kidding)

He ran the ad KNOWING McCain would ask him to pull it, and when McCain asked him to pull it, he DID.

This is fucking rocket science. Watch and learn.

Kerry is running the best Democratic campaign in many many years.

I'm not saying its better than Clinton's; but I'm saying its better than Dukakis, Mondale, Carter, Gore, McGovern...

Just about any of 'em.