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BushCheney2004
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
What Am I Doing Tonight?
Just sitting in my recliner and watching mindless TV.
For some reason I thought this would be a good post. You see, so many of us have worked our butts off for months, for free with the sole purpose of getting information out to help the President get re-elected. Every night and day, many of us would scour the web for any news story we thought needed to be blasted across the Internet. Many of you sent us tips. Many others gave great ideas in the comments sections. "Posters" came and went, each one picking up the slack as each of our careers got in the way.
My job when this began was at Goldman Sachs in lower Mantattan and my office (47th floor of 1 New York Plaza -- a few blocks away from the old twin towers) could look into the pit that is ground zero. My co-workers were all there that day (I didn't work there at that time and was in San Francisco on 9/11). No one ever talked about ANYTHING other than the most tangential things they did that day or what they saw (the 2nd plane flew right over their building and into the 2nd tower). When I began blogging well before the election, I would blog about the war on terror and regularly felt I was blogging for them. Someone needed to set right what the tragedy of 9/11 changed in so many of these people. Clearly George Bush was that man. So my blogging more and more was about supporting him in any way possible. Although Goldman NEVER explicitly condoned my blogging, they all supported me. I started the unofficial Bush-Cheney 2004 blog when the President announced he was running for re-election. I was thrilled with the immediate publicity (ABC News picked up on it on day one!) but knew I lacked the techical expertise to match the DeanforAmerica types (hey, I had a real job!). Anyway, thanks to an unnamed friend (who deserves more credit than any post could ever give him) he hooked me up with Matt Margolis who had picked up the mantle and started this group blog at BlogsforBush and we took off like a rocket.
Unfortunately when I switched jobs, my blogging became sporadic at best. The demands on my time from 7am to 7pm was constant. I still snuck in a blog post here and there but there was no way I could blog like I had much earlier in the Democratic primaries. My boss kinda knew what I was doing but he was a big Bush guy so he turned a blind eye -- I just couldn't go to the well too often or he'd get pissed. We sit on a trading floor for one of those huge global banks so we can see what each other is doing at all times. My job also precluded me from ANY publicity and I had to turn down many interviews and "pundit" opportunities since my real job has potential conflicts of interest with little know companies . . . like say . . . Halliburton! My lack of blogging made me feel guilty as I wanted to make sure I had done everything to get people to volunteer or write letters to the editor (the end of that weekly post by me nagged at me every single damn Friday) or do whatever is needed to help the President. I got to meet many of you and found everyone to be fabulously enthusiastic, talented and devoted to the cause. I met celebrities, TV pundits and politicians of all levels thanks to this blogging and each time it energized me more and more (anecdotal point to blow any credibility I may have, I had had a number of drinks when I posted the original "Web of Connections" post that Saturday evening...)
We fought the good fight and we won. And last night at about 2:45am when I popped the champagne bottle on the main stage and sprayed the crowd at the NYC Election Watch party, it was more than a release of the pressurized alcohol. It was a release of all my emotions, obsessions and hopes for the last 18 months. I really hope Scott or Gail got a good photo of it :).
After thousands upon thousands of e-mails and a couple thousand blog posts, it is all over, and I am exhausted.
So I am sitting in my recliner.
And I am happy.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Step Aside Mr. Kerry
Scenes from the Campaign Trail (from our friends at "Noted Now":
THE OTHER GUY IS STILL PREZ: Kerry is held on Milwaukee tarmac until Bush's motorcade, excluding press and extraneous vehicles, arrives at Air Force One. Kerry's motorcade was then allowed to depart as Bush's press corps was held at the entrance to the airport, ABC News' Ed O'Keefe reports.And here are other Photos from the campaign trail:
1) Everyone wants a piece of the President
2) Republicans are sexy! (damn stright!)
3) Herbert Walker Bush telling "fish" stories...
DNC Deputy Chair Attacks President's Daughters
As if it wasn't bad enough that John Kerry brought up the sexuality of Dick Cheney's daughter (thinking it would slander her), Ben Johnson, the Deputy Chair of the DNC attacks Barbara and Jenna Bush in a discussion about social issues in todays' campaign on a New York City radio show:
Suddenly Johnson got personal, telling co-hosts Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter:They are clearly desperate and have absolutely no principles. Get out and vote and then get everyone you know to vote for Bush. We can't let the Democrats get away with this.
"Let me say this. No one has a monopoly on morality in this country. If you want to talk about morality, I mean, look at George Bush's daughters. If he was such a heck of a father, why couldn't he keep those girls straight? They were out there ..."
At that point Malzberg interrupted to tell Johnson his attack was out of line. But rather than withdraw the comments, the DNC honcho insisted, "It's a fact, it's a fact."
Before joining the DNC, Johnson served for eight years as director of President Clinton's Initiative for One America program.
Widespread Voter Fraud in Philadelphia
Here is an exclusive from a Duquesne Law School correspondant:
REGISTRATION FRAUD: Philly Fiasco In Kerry's Key CountyIf Republicans question invalid registrations and addresses in urban area, that is voter suppression, but if Democrats abuse the hell out of voter regisatration in urban areas, they are just expressing their freedom to vote?
Over 10,000 Registrations Appear Invalid, Polling Places Include Senator Vince Fumo's (D) Office And Vacant Funeral Home, Illegal Convicted Felon Absentee Voting, Military Ballots Controversy, And More...
Don't let them get away with this. Volunteer at your polling places. Record Democrats attempts to intimidate GOP supporters. Do whatever you can.
The American Insurgency Continues . . .
Looks like the Left is resorting to physical violence these days in Colorado:
Fort Lewis College student Mark O'Donnell experienced an unwanted lesson in hardball politics when he was kicked for wearing a cheeky FLC College Republicans sweatshirt.The ridiculousness of the Left's positions and animosity grows.
The GOP shirt, emblazoned across the back with: "Join us now … or work for us later," drew the ire of a woman who saw O' Donnell clad in it at Gazpacho New Mexican Restaurant.
While talking with friends, a girl at his table asked to see the sweatshirt, O'Donnell said. After showing his table the back of the shirt and the phrase, people at a neighboring table asked to see it. O'Donnell said he knew someone sitting at the other table. While modeling for the other table, he said, a woman, later identified as Spero, approached from behind and kicked him in the calf.
O'Donnell did not know Spero, and the kick caught him by surprise. Not one to mind a good political argument, O'Donnell nevertheless said, "To physically take that out on someone because you disagree with them, that is completely wrong."
After the blow, O'Donnell said, "She said she should have kicked me harder and higher."
Hat tip: Karol Sheinin at alarmingnews.com.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Is Osama One of the "World Leaders" John Kerry Meant
when he said world leaders are telling him they want him to win?
Hat tip: The Corner.
The Kerry Campaign Summed Up in One Word: Desperation
A while back, would-be first lady Theresa Heinz, said anyone who didn't agree with John Kerry was an idiot. Pinking up on that line of thinking John Kerry is worried that the only reason George W. Bush could win this election is that America is "sleeping" and needs to "wake up" to the truth that is the brilliance of his 8,000,000,000 billion different opinions on all issues and how he is offering absoutely NOTHING in term of specifics on Iraq, he can fight the war on terror better than George Bush:
"Wake up America, wake up. ... You have a choice," he said.What is startling to me is for about the last year or so I always thought this election would be remniscent of 1996's campaign and not the obvious (and wrong) comparison of trying to paint GWB's re-election as analogous to GHWB's re-election.
Check out this quote from Bob Dole in the waning days of the 1996 campaign:
Where is the outrage in America? Where is the outrage in America? Where has the media gone in America? Where is the outrage in America?Kinda eerie, don't ya think?
Update: Does John Podhoretz read Blogs for Bush? Maybe. We did meet him during the convention and he was a regular in "Bloggers Corner." Looks like the influence of B4B is spreading!
The American Insurgency Continues . . .
In Miami, Democrats try to intimidate Republicans and shout down their press conference . . . validating nearly everything the Republican press conference was alleging:
Outside the Miami-Dade Government Center, Democratic demonstrators tried to shout-down Republican party officials and legislators who had called a news conference to make allegations of voter fraud and voter intimidation by supporters of Sen. John Kerry.Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Take A Look At This Slideshow Of The Confrontation
When the demonstrators backed off, Republican Party Chairman Ed Gillespie accused Democratic operatives of forging registrations and insulting Bush supporters.
"I would like to encourage the Kerry campaign and the Democratic Party to urge their supporters not to engage in these kinds of tactics so that we can have fair and honest election in Florida," Gillespie said.
Will This Make Front Page News Like the Trumped Up Allegations
So what really happened to the "supposed" missing munitions in Iraq?
Um, sounds like they were removed as planned:
A U.S. Army officer came forward Friday to say a team from his 3rd Infantry Division took about 250 tons of munitions and other material from the Al-Qaqaa arms-storage facility soon after Saddam Hussein's regime fell in April 2003.I wonder how big the media will report this?
Explosives were part of the load taken by the team, but Major Austin Pearson was unable to say what percentage they accounted for.
The Pentagon believes the disclosure helps explain what happened to 377 tons of high explosives that the International Atomic Energy Agency said disappeared after the U.S.-led invasion.
Needless to say I'm being sarcastic...I know they will bury this beneath some other fabricated charge in an effort to influence the election against Bush.
Luckily we're here to make sure that doesn't happen. Please do your part in your neighborhood by volunteering today!
Who Is Surging as We Head for the Finish Line?
If Internet rankings of visitors, page views etc. is any indicator, more people are heading towards George W. Bush!
Check out Alexa's Web Rankings in comparing W's site to Kerry's:
GDP = 3.7%; What Was Bill Clinton's at Same Point in '96? 3.4%
Robust growth in the economy continues despite media spin, Wall Street estimates, and John Kerry talking down anything that is good in America today. And don't forget that for the last few months ALL revisons to reported numbers have been substantial improvements in economic performance.
Wall Street seems to initailly agree as markets are up as of 10:08am (and that is far more telling than any "futures" speculation -- Maybe we can get Hillary to give us some tips on the futures markets! lol)
So how has life been the last year and a half?
| 2nd Quarter '95 | 0.7% | 2nd Quarter '03 | 4.0% | |
| 3rd Quarter '95 | 3.3% | 3rd Quarter '03 | 7.4% | |
| 4th Quarter '95 | 3.0% | 4th Quarter '03 | 4.2% | |
| 1st Quarter '96 | 2.9% | 1st Quarter '04 | 4.5% | |
| 2nd Quarter'96 | 6.7% | 2nd Quarter'04 | 3.3% | |
| 3rd Quarter '96 | 3.4% | 3rd Quarter '04 | 3.7% | |
| Average GDP Growth: | 3.3% | Average GDP Growth: | 4.5% | |
"Steadfast and Strong" vs "Waffled and Weaseled"
Here is a great post from a blogger who would know the President quite well -- his cousin!
Bush for PresidentI'll drink to that!
Someone asked me the other day why I supported President Bush, "aside from the family thing" as he put it. I said I was supporting him because I thought he understood The Issue at stake better than anyone alive. And because he cared about that issue completely. And that he was on the right side of that issue from day one and every day thereafter. And that he was devoted to committing this nation to a course of offensive engagement with the terror apparatus that might, just might, save us all here in the United States. The issue, of course, is the fight against Al Qaeda, its associates, enablers and like-mindeds.
The President Bush I read about in the papers and the newsweeklies and the blogs bears almost no resemblance to the President Bush I know and visit with from time to time. (I've never seen media as blatantly dishonest and biased as we have all seen this year.) The man I know is smart, extraordinarily disciplined, enormously hard-working, open to new ideas and approaches, decisive, shrewd and gifted with a keen sense of the possible. He is decent and honest and true, which cannot be said of many of his critics.
Has he made mistakes? Yes he has. Do they warrant his retirement. I don't think so. Because over-riding everything is the issue and on this issue President Bush has been steadfast and strong and right as rain, while his opponent has rambled and waffled and weaseled every which way.
Our enemies will brace for four more years of hell if Bush is re-elected. They will celebrate if Senator Kerry wins.
Here's to four more years of hell.
Bush Uses Doctored Crowd to Fake Support? Hardly
CNN (the "Communist News Network" among my friends) has been going gaga over the Bush campaign running an advertisement with computer enhanced crowds -- implying that the whole Ad must be a lie if the crowd is "doctored."
Joe Lockhart (not exactly the most honest person these days) has been calling for the ad to be pulled. Why? Because it's fraudulant? No, the doctoring was simply to remove the president to have a clearer crowd shot (but you had to fill in the space the President had occupied, hence the "doctoring"). Lockhart wants it pulled because it's damn effective. And the absolutely partisan media is running with it like a chicken with its head cut off without any diligence and journalistic professionalism.
Well, not so fast my friend. As this AP story points out, it was done for style purposes and adds little to the ad. Therefore BC04 are re-cutting the Advertisement:
The photo of Bush addressing a group of soldiers was edited to remove both the president and the podium where he was standing. A group of soldiers in the crowd was electronically copied to fill in the space, aides say.Where is the controversy? I can't wait to see what the MSM comes up with when there is not time left on the clock to rebut their continued partisan attacks in an effort to influence the elections.
"There was no need to do that," said Mark McKinnon, head of Bush's advertising team who shouldered the blame. "Everyone technically works for me so I accept the responsibility."
They are like the terrorists trying to influence elections -- admittedly without the killing . . . although their surrogates are getting awfully close.
John Kerry: Lifelong Red Sox Fan? Hardly
John Kerry has acted as if he is your everyday "Joe" in his fan support of the Red Sox and other local sports teams while he is on the stump. But as we have reported when he called the home of the Packers "Lambert Field", and when Peter Gammons reported on the time Kerry said his favorite player was Ned Yost (who never played for the Red Sox), or when he recently referred to the Sox best hitter Manny Ramirez as Manny Ortez, you see an unfolding picture of a man who doesn't know squat about sports but can't even pander well. Thankfully, a couple enterprising Fantasy Sports fans registered as a 527 Organization and stated their own website to track Kerry's flubs: Football Fans for Truth.
Here is a quick excerpt:
Last month, John Kerry lauded "Lambert Field" during a visit to Wisconsin. He has yet to acknowledge Lambeau Field, the historic home of the Green Bay Packers.And there is so much more! Check it out for yourself as these guys reveal what regular readers of Blogs for Bush already know: John Kerry is a big, dorky phony.
John Kerry also praised the Ohio State Buckeyes football team--during a visit to Michigan.
John Kerry throws a football like a girl.
In the first presidential debate, John Kerry said, "As president, I'll never take my eye off that ball. " Football Fans for Truth has collected reams of evidence casting doubt on his ability to do so.
The American Insurgency Continues . . .
The intimidation has progressed far beyond stealing yard signs. Yesterday, a man was arrested for trying to run over campaigners in Florida, the AP is reporting that volunteers found chalk outlines of two bodies in the parking lot of the Bush-Cheney campaign office in Knoxville Tennessee:
Three weeks after glass doors were shot out at a Bush-Cheney campaign office, volunteers have discovered chalk outlines of two bodies in the parking lot.Although some say this is more a prank than an effort at political inimidation, seeing how the vitriolic rhetoric of the Kerry campaign has inspired shootings and inspired a man to express his political voice by trying to run down Republicans in Florida, I don't think this can be so easily dismissed.
The drawings, similar to what might be found at a crime scene, were found Monday evening at the campaign office in Kingston Pike Shopping Center.
"We had someone come in and ask if there had been an accident," Peggy McDaniel said. "We think it has something to do with us."
McDaniel and fellow Bush volunteer Carol Knaffl said the tracings were first done in tape but were later redrawn in chalk.
The American Insurgency Continues ...
The vitriolic rhetoric of the Kerry campaign is firing up their base to continually physically harm Bush-Cheney supports and break into their buildings. The latest is a guy who was "exercising my political expression" by driving his car onto a sidewalk to intimidate supporters of Republican Katherine Harris in Florida:
Police in Sarasota, Florida, arrested a man accused of trying to run down Rep. Katherine Harris and her supporters with a car Tuesday, a police spokesman said.The hate-mongering of the Kerry campaign keeps dialing up the stakes. They should be embarrassed but they have no shame. Thankfully this only emboldens the rest of us.
A silver Cadillac "swerved off the road and drove up the sidewalk" heading "straight towards Ms. Harris," according to the police arrest report.
4 MORE YEARS!
Thanks to Jonathan's brother Oren for the tip.
Check out this Ad Regarding John Kerry Weakening Our Defense
Just click on the link and check out the ad "The Stakes Are High" from "Americans for Peace Through Strength".
Hat tip, K.Lo.
Bush Smarter Than Kerry According to the New York Times
We all know the New York Times is no longer simply biased, they are outright partisan these days (as is ABC, NBC and CBS). But this had to be the most painful thing for their writers, editors, and readers to see in their beloved newspaper:
To Bush-bashers, it may be the most infuriating revelation yet from the military records of the two presidential candidates: the young George W. Bush probably had a higher I.Q. than did the young John Kerry.At least the most painful thing until their November 3rd headline: "Bush Wins Re-Election!" ...
Slap the Candidates!
Although this site is bi-partisan (you can slap Bush as well), I thoroughly enjoyed slapping John Kerry repeatedly (what does that say about me? ed. -- don't answer that).
Anyway, there are some neat things about the site. Namely keep slapping until you get a "10" slap on Kerry.
Thanks to the reader "Moni Mac" in the comments section below who alerted me to the site.
The photo of John Kerry and Tom Hayden is especially appropriate with all the furor over his post-Vietnam abandonment of his "Band of Brothers" being galvanized by the release of "Stolen Honor." Also notice over 300,000 more slaps have been levied on John Kerry than George Bush ... hehe
Watch "Stolen Honor" for Free on the Internet
The makers of Stoeln Honor have released their documentary for free over the Internet. Watch it and judge for yourself.
See it here.
Or here.
Or here.
Jews for the GOP
Always expanding the party of the "Big Tent," the LA Times takes a look at the growing number of Jews voting for President Bush this year:
Joseph Lubeck is a neurologist in this suburban Philadelphia town who has supported Democratic presidential candidates since, as an 18-year-old in 1972, he "relished the ability to vote for George McGovern."While John Kerry is willing to tell any lie to any constinuent, George Bush's record of achievement continues to draw voters from all demographics.
Now he is wondering what his liberal neighbors would think if he were to put a sign on his lawn signaling his choice in this year's race: President Bush.
Herb Denenberg is a 74-year-old Democrat in nearby Radnor, Pa., who was appointed state insurance commissioner by a Democratic governor and almost won the party's nomination for Senate in 1974. This year, he too plans to vote for Bush.
Encouraged by signs that Lubeck and Denenberg may be part of a trend, Republicans are making a strong play for one of the nation's most reliably liberal and Democratic constituencies: Jewish voters.
Marc Felgoise has no such qualms. A 39-year-old commercial real estate broker with a long record of raising money for candidates of both parties who support Israel, Felgoise recently sparred with one of his mother's colleagues at her law office about Bush's domestic policies.
"Of course, I wish President Bush would increase funds for stem cell research," he said. "But if Israel is not safe and secure, what do I care about abortion and fresh air?"
Check out the Jewish coalition for Bush here.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Did John Kerry Insult Another Ally? -- This Time the Italians
Apparently Italy is "abuzzing" today because HBO in Italy aired John Kerry saying that the condistions of the Iraqi Army were so bad that even the Italian Army could "kick their asses."
I don't know Italian, and I can't confirm this, but Michael Ledeen over at NRO has the scoop.
Ron Suskind, Simon & Schuster and The Midas Touch
How many lucky breaks can one man get?
Ron Suskind must thank his lucky stars for the Bush Administration and its mishaps. It seems that any time the Bush team goes off message or one of its members is ready to bad-mouth the President, Ron Suskind is the lucky beneficiary of the scoop.
First there was University of Pennsylvania Professor John DiIulio, who briefly advised Bush in the early months of his administration. After DiIulio wrote an unflattering memo (one he later backed off from), who was there with the scoop? Ron Suskind.
Next there was the disasterous tenure of Paul O'Neill -- someone who was shown far more loyalty from Bush than he EVER showed the Administration. Once O'Neill "resigned" (as anyone knows, O'Neill was forced out due to his general incompetence), who happend to be the lucky author of his anti-Bush book? Ron Suskind.
Who aired the "damning" excepts of O'Neill's 'revelations' (subsequently refuted by anyone and everyone)? CBS who was hawking the Simon & Schuster book. Conflict on interest between CBS and S&S? nah, they're just owned by the same company and CBS would never let their politics cloud their journalistic integrity . . . over and over again
Now, guess who has the "Drudge Exclusive" quote from President Bush (designed to embarrass the President) at a private luncheon from over a month ago? Why Ron Suskind, of course!
Talk about a hot streak. Either this guy is the luckiest "investigative" journalist alive . . . or there is something fishy about all the anti-Bush "scoops" that happen to fall into his lap.
Remember to Vote for "Blogs for Bush"
This is your final reminder to vote for "Blogs for Bush" in the Washington Post poll. The polls close at Noon EST this Friday.
Matt has provided a great service here and has never asked for money (something I told him to do when he had a shot at meeting and getting his photo with the Bush twins in Boton!). He is up against professional journalists like National Review Online (people we like but would like to beat in our ONE category -- they are nominated in NINE!).
Please take a few minutes out of you day and vote for "Blogs for Bush." It would be a great way to close out the election for someone who has given so much time (and his own money) towards providing a forum for grassroots supporters of the President to air their views and build a community around that support.
Click here to vote!
Be Sure to Cast Your Illegal Ballots in Colorado
We have seen below about how the Democrats continue to try and intimidate the Republicans through violence. However, the brazeness of the actions in Colorado is beyond belief.
Not only are there 6,000 felons on Colorado election lists (part of individuals' punishment for committing a felony is loss of the right to vote), but the Secretary of State, Donetta Davidson, is publically saying to let the felons vote anyway!
Secretary of State Donetta Davidson is asking Colorado counties not to turn felons away from the polls, but to let them cast emergency ballots that likely won't count on Election Day.Unlike the backdoor cheating so prevelant by Democrats in most inner-cities, I guess at least she is being upfront about her desire to sneak illegal votes into the final tally?
"The goal is not to disenfranchise anyone needlessly or accidentally," she said at an emergency meeting held Monday, a legal holiday.
Davidson convened the state's 64 county clerks after The Denver Post reported Sunday that Colorado's registration rolls include as many as 6,000 state prisoners and parolees who should be ineligible to vote.
Records show state prisoners and parolees have voted as recently as the August primary, despite a law forbidding it. Since she took office overseeing state elections in 1999, Davidson has failed to prevent felons from registering or casting ballots. She blames Department of Corrections officials for not sending her the information.
Meanwhile Monday, the man who runs the Denver County Jail acknowledged that he allowed activists to register inmates to vote without requiring that anyone check their eligibility.
Update: More election fraud uncovered in Colorado.
Monday, October 11, 2004
John Kerry: 9/11 Changed Nothing
I think everyone is a bit dumbfounded that John Kerry said that the tragic events changed nothing about his view of the world and terrorism. Rudy Giuliani, who rose to national prominence for his brilliant leadership during those dark hours, puts Kerry's recent disasterous pronouncement that we need to get back to treating terrorism as a nuisance in proper perspective:
For some time, and including when I spoke at the Republican Convention, I’ve wondered exactly what John Kerry’s approach would be to terrorism and I’ve wondered whether he had the conviction, the determination, and the focus, and the correct worldview to conduct a successful war against terrorism. And his quotations in the New York Times yesterday make it clear that he lacks that kind of committed view of the world. In fact, his comments are kind of extraordinary, particularly since he thinks we used to before September 11 live in a relatively safe world. He says we have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they’re a nuisance.There can be no starker contrast between the two choices on November 2nd after reading this entire transcript.
I’m wondering exactly when Senator Kerry thought they were just a nuisance. Maybe when they attacked the USS Cole? Or when they attacked the World Trade Center in 1993? Or when they slaughtered the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972? Or killed Leon Klinghoffer by throwing him overboard? Or the innumerable number of terrorist acts that they committed in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s, leading up to September 11?
This is so different from the President’s view and my own, which is in those days, when we were fooling ourselves about the danger of terrorism, we were actually in the greatest danger. When you don’t confront correctly and view realistically the danger that you face, that’s when you’re at the greatest risk. When you at least realize the danger and you begin to confront it, then you begin to become safer. And for him to say that in the good old days – I’m assuming he means the 90s and the 80s and the 70s -- they were just a nuisance, this really begins to explain a lot of his inconsistent positions on how to deal with it because he’s not defining it correctly.
Firing Up The Ground Game -- Iowa in Focus
With only a few weeks left before election day, both campaigns are focusing on those key states left that are still up for grabs. Iowa -- an Al Gore state in 2000 -- is one of those within the grasp of the Bush campaign:
Together with Minnesota and Wisconsin, Iowa makes up part of a trio of upper midwestern states where Democratic strength has been weakened in the past four years and where the Bush campaign sees the chance to defeat Kerry...A Bush victory here would be devastating to the Kerry campaign, so Iowans do your part today for the Bush campaign.
For Kerry, Iowa remains a troublesome battleground.
The Iraq war, terrorism and the economy are the principal issues here, as elsewhere. The farm economy is booming and the unemployment rate is well below the national average...
The race here is so evenly balanced that both sides believe the outcome will be decided by an old-fashioned ground war.
Bush is counting on strong support in rural and suburban areas to overcome Kerry's advantage in cities. Four years ago, Gore came out of the Des Moines area (Polk County and seven surrounding counties) with a margin of 7,000 votes out of 300,000 cast. Bush wiped that out and then some in rural Sioux County, which he carried by 10,000 votes out of 14,000 cast.
Bush advisers count on the passionate support he enjoys among Republicans to turn out a big vote, and his hopes for victory may rest in part on Christian conservatives...
Bush supporters are organizing through churches in the state, and the Christian Coalition of Iowa and the Iowa Right to Life Committee are working to build a sizable vote on Nov. 2.
Catholics Not Welcome by Kerry/Edwards Campaign
John Kerry likes to use the fact that he was raised Catholic as a prop for political purposes when the reality is he is about as Catholic as I am a Martian. But you don't have to be any specific faith to get a sense of the hostility of the Kerry/Edwards campaign towards religous people. Check out what happens when a group of seminarians try to attend a Kerry/Edwards debate watch event in St. Louis:
After a longer wait a young lady claiming to be a staff member of the Kerry/Edwards campaign approached. She asked to see the signs, so we showed them to her. As soon as she realized that the signs said things such as "You CANT be Catholic and pro-choice. She said that we would be unable to enter with the signs. I produced a document from the ACLU that said otherwise. At this point we began to be accosted by various Kerry supporters. They were right up in my face, screaming and yelling. With their arms flailing they informed me that I was not welcome there. Others screamed "Who are you to tell me that my daughter who was raped cannot have an abortion." We remained calm and prayerful.But it didn't end there. Even after the seminarians agreed not to bring any signs into event (despite their legal right to do so), they were denied entrance to the event for no explainable reason:
They sent the same woman who I had discussed the sign issue with. She informed me that since the Kerry/Edwards campaign had rented the America's Center they had every right to deny anyone that they deemed likely to cause a disruption of to be a threat to the safety of the Senator. I told her that we would leave our signs outside. She said no. I told her that we would say nothing, and that we were not there to cause a disruption or harm to the Senator, and that if we did cause a disruption they could remove us. She said no. I asked her what evidence they had that we were going to cause a disruption, at which time she fell silent because there was no evidence. Up until this time the only disruptions were those cause by the Kerry supporters themselves, all we did was stand silently in prayer. I pressed her on this issue, but she could not give an adequate answer. They had no grounds for expelling us other than the fact that we were wearing roman collars. They knew our very presence would challenge Senator Kerry’s position on Life issues and the wanted to avoid that, even if it meant squelching our freedom of speech and freedom of expression. So much for the Democratic Party being a party of understanding and diversity.Good to see the Democrats so open and welcoming to all walks of life, huh?
At this point the Kerry people left and I was whisked away for a meeting with the police. They informed me that I had two options. To be escorted out peacefully or forcefully. I told them that we would leave peacefully since we did not come to cause problems only to provide a silent and prayerful witness to the sanctity of human life. I told the officers that I had only one request before we left; I wanted to know the reason we were being denied entrance. Clearly, as the police conceded, we were not a security threat, and there was no evidence that we were going to be disruptive. They asked the Kerry/Edwards people who said they would no longer speak to us about anything. Thus we were escorted out amid jeer and cheering from those still standing in line. But this is not the end of the story...
Be sure to check out what happened when the seminarians continued their silent and prayerful protest outside the area.
Although Bush Did Fine, There Were Missed Opportunities
Below, I scored the debate a tie and I stand by that more than ever. However, an e-mail from Stephen Savas, scored it a tie but with what I believe are important caveats. Most of any disappointments in Bush's performance voiced by Bush supporters can be summed up as "missed opportunities."
Here are the excerpts from his e-mail:
Bush didn't do anything so wrong, otherwise it wouldn't have been a tie. But there were so many missed opportunities for the clear touchdowns against a weak, flip-flopping opponent, and those points weren't scored. Here are some missed opportunities that would have sealed the deal:
1) "Senator Kerry applauds the efforts of our President 12 yrs ago that assembled the UN and a large coalition to go to war vs Saddam; to him this was a right and just war. Only problem is Mr. Kerry voted against that war. The wrong vote at the wrong time..."
2) "Of course Senator Kerry would immediately stop work on our most advance weapons development, like bunker-busting tactical nukes; that is the only place he's been consistent on foreign policy -- for 20 years he's voted against virtually every advanced weapon system that we now use to save our soldiers lives and civilian lives -- from the stealth fighters and bombers, to the patriot missile, and so on."
3) "I agree with Senator Kerry's concern for Russia's nuclear weapons, but he acts as if the problem just surfaced 3 years ago. In fact, if he were so concerned, he was a Senator of the United States for 10 years after the Cold War ended, before I took office. Where was his leadership in talking about this threat? Did you hear speeches or policy proposals by him urging our former President take action? No you didn't, because that takes leadership that hasn't existed. The only major legislation Senator Kerry proposed in the last 15 years related to security was to reduce the intelligence budget by $6 billion dollars, and that was after the first World Trade Center bombing."
4) "Senator Kerry just said he misspoke about the $87B dollars. Clever, but he didn't just misspeak, he voted against it. I know how to mix up some words occasionally, and this is different. He voted against the funds necessary to support our troops; that's not a slip of the tongue, that's a judgement error and inconsistency."
5) "Mr. Kerry says we didn't have a plan in Iraq, but that's just silly. We did have a plan and many parts of it have worked to startling success, from preservation of the oil fields pundits claimed would be ablaze for years, to minimal civilian casualties, to no outbreak of religious wars, to tens of thousands of Iraqis willing to risk their lives to fight for freedom. Of course parts haven't worked as well as we expected either – that is the nature of any war, and we've made some adjustments along the way. That's adjustments in tactics, but not one second of change in our strategy, our beliefs or our resolve. Nobody likes a Monday morning quarterback, and Mr. Kerry is abusing the advantage of hindsight."
6) "Mr. Kerry has fine character, but his wavering on the most important issue to our security is not a character flaw, it's just bad leadership. It's no secret that Howard Dean and I disagree on the need for war on terrorism in Iraq, but I admire Governor Dean's consistency -- that's an important leadership quality and one Mr. Kerry lacks..."
7) "Senator Kerry says we rushed to war without giving inspectors enough time. First, I'd like to remind us all that inspectors were only back in Iraq due to my leadership. That same judgement that got us in there, led me to believe the same thing John Kerry said about Iraq 3 years ago; he said Saddam was going to endlessly play a game of cat and mouse with the inspectors and that there was only an outside chance inspections would work. That John Kerry was right; this John Kerry is wrong."
Although this e-mail was written with the advantage of hindsight, these criticisms of missing too many easy opportunities is fair. I hope the Bush campaign is on top of this.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
10 Impressions From the Debate
1. I score it a tie on substance -- Bush performed better in the 1st half, Kerry in the 2nd half. But this was an overall win for Bush because absent a credible plan from Kerry on Iraq, he is not fit to be Commander-In-Chief. As posted on the Corner, the Conventional Wisdom was that this was Kerry's last chance to make his case, and he lost because one week from today no one will remember anything Kerry said because nothing he said was memorable.
UPDATE: Looks like Kerry's campaign agrees with my score of a draw!
2. I doubt Kerry won the expectations game with the general public, but he certainly won the expectations game with the media. By sheer fact that Kerry didn't wet his pants on stage with the President, they are saying he gave the public a viable alternative to the President.
3. The questions from Jim Lehrer had everything to do with Bush's record and nothing to do with Kerry's. Do you think Lehrer was "in the bag" with the media mantra that 'if this election is about Bush, then Kerry wins; but if this election is about Kerry, then Bush wins'? Looks like his questions were designed to address exactly this strategy.
4. The bulk of the questions were on Iraq and Kerry has yet to offer a differentiated plan from Bush, will the media ever report this?
5. Bush was solid on his message of strength in bringing the fight to the terrorists. Kerry repeatedly turned the foreign policy debate into a domestic debate. How can we elect a man who ducks the most pressing issue of our time?
6. Kerry appealed to the same "chattering classes" he socializes with on the coasts of America -- the 'elites' at cocktail parties. Bush appealed to middle-America -- those who love their country and treasure their faith. Does anyone want to hazard a guess where the swing states are?
7. Kerry will pay in swing states for saying he would apply a "global test" for pre-emptive acts against terrorists. That is "permission slip" politics letting others decide what is in our best interests in defending this country. Yet he says he won't let the UN or France hold sway over national defense decisions? As usual, something doesn't add up. Just like when he said "Saddam was a threat" but we shouldn't take him out.
8. The following statements from Kerry will come back and bite him:
Tonight he said to our troops "help is on the way" yet previously he "voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it."
Tonight he said removing Saddam "was not a mistake" yet this was the "wrong war, wrong time, wrong place."
Tonight he said he has "no long term plans for Iraq" yet that clearly signals to terrorists to bide their time, drag this out, and Kerry doesn't have the will to see this through.
9. The evolving consensus at 12:08am EST from the media is that Kerry won this debate on style and that it will take longer to see who won on substance. SO basically, their headlines will scream a BIG Kerry victory but I'd bet by next week any bump in the polls should evaporate (see point #1 above).
10. I wish Vegas would have given me odds on my pre-Debate prediction because this media blowjob is pathetic.
Pre-Debate Prediction
Short of something catastrophic either way, the media will all read from the same talking points that say:
1) John Kerry has found his voice and has lit a fire in his campaign
2) He was Presidential gave the American public a clear option in this election
3) The Bush campaign has to be worried because they have enjoyed great success the last 2 months beating John Kerry down without giving the public a good reason to vote for Bush. Now they must make that argument.
4) Ladies and gentlemen, we have a horserace on our hands.
There are many reasons why this is their script. Glenn Reynolds touched on it earlier.
I personally think they are simply too far "in the bag" to pull back now. Too much of their time and reputations have been invested to back out now. Well, up the ante all you want, the bloggers have arrived and mainstream media's best days are behind them.
Coming Up... Live Blogging The Debate
This week, Matt over at Blogs for Bush asked Bush bloggers to let us know who was live-blogging the debate tonight... Here are all the blogs who plan to cover the debate:
- Pardon My English
- Jennifer of All Things Jennifer
- The Templar Pundit
- Conservative Eyes
- The Kerry Fairy
- Reality Hammer Blog
- Opinion Paper
- Viewpoint Journal
- Alamo Nation
- The (vast) Right Wing Conspiracy
- Blogs of War
- Dummocrats.com
- A Black Man for Bush
- The House Of Wheels
- Look Both Ways
- Viking Pundit
- Overtaken by Events
- Weapons of Mass Discussion
- Intellectual Intercourse
- PoliPundit
- Redford Outpost
- Lime Shurbet
- Blogging For Bush
- Scary Kerry for Dictator 2004
- Double Toothpicks
- Secure Liberty
- The Politicker
And of course... Blogs For Bush...
Blogs For Bush will be doing something unique tonight. At the start of the debate, we will be doing a live blog "Round Table" featuring Matt, and Blogs For Bush writers Mark Noonan and yours truly. The three of us will all contribute to a live blog entry, giving our thoughts on the progress of the debate. It should be very fun and interesting!
45 minutes to go ...
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Signs The Kerry Campaign is Ready to Complete the Death Spiral
I have seen a lot of people discuss the various "election trading" services (hey, I work on Wall Street so that stuff is of interest to me) and how the spread between George Bush and John Kerry is comically wide -- quantifying a Kerry downward spiral.
A couple of must-read posts have chronicled the nearly daily self-sabotage of the Kerry campaign in August and September.
When you get a chance to see the Kerry people live, it gets even worse. Two examples from today stood out to me.
First, Lynn Cheney had some playful fun at Kerry's expense (as did most everyone else, apparently) regarding his "sudden" and "natural" tan:
As a group of volunteers moved into the crowd with microphones for a question-and-answer period, the vice president told supporters to look for the people with dark orange shirts.Lighten up, Francis. They weren't making his face color an issue. It was a lighthearted joke and the Kerry campaign had a hissy fit. Rather sensitive these days, I guess.
When Cheney paused as if searching to describe the shade of orange, Lynne Cheney said: "How about John Kerry's suntan?"
The remark drew a big laugh from the crowd and the vice president. The Kerry campaign responded quickly.
"Is Mrs. Cheney jealous considering how hard it is to get sun in the undisclosed location with her husband Dick? Or is she distracted over how red-in-the-face George Bush should be considering his failed presidency?" spokesman Bill Burton said.
Second, and even more disturbing (or laughable), was former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke's appearance on Chris Matthews' "Hardball". He was asked reasonable, issue-oriented questions by Matthews and Nora O'Donnell, to which Holbrooke's reply was non-responsive, antagonistic, and insulting (transcript not up at the time of this post). His behavior made even H. Ross Perot at his WORST "Larry King Live" moments look downright diplomatic and solicitous! If that is the state of mind of a "short list" Secretary of State in a Kerry Administration on the eve of Kerry's last great chance to get in this race, the climate within that campaign must be insufferable.
If Kerry comes close to performing nearly as bad as Holbrooke did tonight, I may put the champagne on ice tomorrow!
You Called Down the Thunder -- Well Now You Got It!!!
John Kerry was rather bold and forceful on one point during his primary days when he looked square into the cameras and challenged George W. Bush to "Bring it on!"
Well, many people, including us at BlogsforBush were happy to meet his challenge. As the campaign season continued John Kerry's mantra changed from a challenge of "Bring it on!" to "Make it Stop!" as his very own "band of brothers" challenged him on dozens of points and alleged many improprieties neither the Kerry campaign nor mainstream media has been able to refute.
Well, now John Kerry's own tactics, statements and soundbites have called into question his own fitness as commander-in-chief and John Kerry wants it all to stop:
Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry appealed for an end to the TV advertising war that has marked his election battle against President George W. Bush.You know, he is correct, these ads run by the Bush campaign ought to scare voters. Unfortunately when you watch the ads, all you see is John Kerry in action . . . flipping and flopping and flipping and Flopping . . .
Kerry said the avalanche of negative television spots and attacks being shown on US screens was scaring off voters.
"I'm calling them 'misleadisments,'" Kerry said of the adverts. "It's all scare tactics ... because (Bush) has no record to run on."
The rest of the news item is equally laughable:
Kerry said America's middle classes had suffered from the huge tax cuts that Bush had presided over ... [ed. -- BWAHAHAHA, giving money back to the people that earned it really made us suffer . . . BWAHAHAHAHA, I can't contain myself]No wonder the Bush campaign agreed to 3 debates. The more the public sees of John Kerry, the bigger George Bush's lead will grow.
"He doesn't care, he's out of touch," said Kerry. [ed. -- who says this guy isn't hilarious? He should do stand-up!]
Kerry also launched a new attack Bush's campaign in Iraq, a topic where Republicans have accused him of continually changing position.
"I've been right on Iraq all along," said Kerry. "I said yes, we ought to hold him (Saddam Hussein) accountable, but let's do it the right way, and I showed what it was, step by step. And step-by-step the president chose the wrong way." [ed. -- No wonder he wants to silence those scary ads of John Kerry taking every position possible on Iraq!]
Kerry Abandons Red Sox; Ties Self to Perennial "Winners" -- The New York Yankees
In another pathetic effort at pandering (at least he got the local team right this time), John Kerry -- avid Red Sox fan (not!) -- visits New York and announces his support for the Jets, Giants and YANKEES???:
On Monday afternoon, Kerry and Bush circled each other in a three-block radius in midtown Manhattan. Kerry taped his appearance on the David Letterman show, one block from a hotel where Bush held a fundraiser. Kerry then held his own fundraiser one block over from Bush's hotel.He'll say anything to anyone at anytime. Just check his record.
At the fundraiser, Kerry reflected on his reborn self. He praised the triple victories of the Jets, Giants and Yankees and said: "I came here to bask in your glory, came here to grab onto that winning streak."
Mainstream Media Coordinating With Kerry Campaign?
Republican National Committee communications director, Jim Dyke, responds to the growing firestorm regarding the coordination between Burkett, Cleland, CBS and the Kerry Campaign:
Bill Burkett, Democrat activist and Kerry campaign supporter, passes information to the DNC; Kerry campaign surrogate Max Cleland discusses "valuable" information with Bill Burkett; Bill Burkett talks to "senior" Kerry campaign officials; an apparently unsuspecting news organization uses faked forged memos and an interview with Ben Barnes at the same time the Democratic National Committee launched Operation Fortunate Son; and Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill was among the first to call Ben Barnes and congratulate him after his interview. The trail of connections is becoming increasingly clear.And I guess it is just a coincidence that right after Kerry launches an attack ad against Vice-President Cheney and Halliburton, the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post independantly thought this "beating a dead horse" strategy noteworthy enough to run frontpage stories on this tactic? The depths to which Mainstream Media (MSM) will sink continues to find new lows.
UPDATE: The AP has it now:
AUSTIN, Texas - A retired Texas National Guard official mentioned as a possible source for disputed documents about President Bush's service in the Guard said he passed along information to a former senator working with John Kerry's campaign...
...The retired Guard official, Bill Burkett, said in an Aug. 21 e-mail to a list of Texas Democrats that after getting through "seven layers of bureaucratic kids" in the Democrat's campaign, he talked with former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland about information that would counter criticism of Kerry's Vietnam War service. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the e-mail Saturday.
"I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. (Cleland) said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with," Burkett wrote.
Forged Memos Get Closer to Kerry Campaign
The Washington Post today breaks new information about Retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett and how these forged documents may have been passed on to the Kerry campaign before 60 Minutes got them:
In e-mail messages to a Yahoo discussion group for Texas Democrats, Burkett laid out a rationale for using what he termed "down and dirty" tactics against Bush. He said that he had passed his ideas to the Democratic National Committee but that the DNC seemed "afraid to do what I suggest."It would make sense that Rather would run with a story based on documents he would get from the Kerry campaign rather than from Burkett. Cleland is correct about getting "this information tens of times a day" on Capitol Hill. There are all kinds of conspiratorial crazies who just appear on Capitol Hill with file folders of all kinds of stuff claiming to be evidence to some great crime, espionage or whatever. So, if Burkett is one of "these" guys (as it would seem), I would be surprised if Rather would run with that kind of evidence.
...
In an Aug. 21 posting, Burkett referred to a conversation with former
senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.) about the need to counteract Republican tactics: "I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. He said counterattack. So I gave them the information to do it with. But none of them have called me back."
Cleland confirmed that he had a two- or three-minute conversation by cell phone with a Texan named Burkett in mid-August while he was on a car ride. He remembers Burkett saying that he had "valuable" information about Bush, and asking what he should with it. "I told him to contact the [Kerry] campaign," Cleland said. "You get this information tens of times a day, and you don't know if it is legit or not."
However, if Burkett passed these to the Kerry campaign and the Kerry campaign -- presented with something too good to be true but desperate for anything to change Bush's surging poll numbers -- rubber stamped these to their buddies at CBS, you could see Rather et al. salivating at the thought of their "scoop" to such an extent that they failed to heed the red flags that began cropping up with their "experts." You can almost see Rather, biased to believe the content without evidence, emboldened by the "source" of the document (friends in the Kerry camp), and over-anxious to get out a "hit job" on the 'evil genius' George Bush. In the end, any coordination between CBS, 60 Minutes, Dan Rather and the Kerry campaign has obviously blown up in their face and will likely mortally wound everyone involved.
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of unethical people.
Update: Paul Lewis, one of our esteemed writers, pointed out in our comments section, an intriguing development in the biased journalism of CBS/Rather/etc. It would appear Mary Mapes "went into journalism with an axe to grind" and her own father is revealing her nefarious plot:
In an interview with Talon News, Don Mapes said his suspicion was because that he believed, "Dan Rather and she have been working on this ever since Bush was elected."This isn't even the first time a direct family member is accusing their own family of lying to attack the President!!! How desperate (pathetic?) are these people?
In commenting on the Wednesday's 60 Minutes show, he said, "It was a farce, it was fraud. I'm sorry as a father that my daughter was the producer of it."
Update on Kerry Supporter Harrassing 3-Year Old Girl
Most people saw Matt's post below regarding the Kerry supporter driving the 3-year old girl to tears for holding a Bush-Cheney sign. Although the Left tried to discredit the authenticity, Michelle Malkin did better diligence than CBS to disprove the allegations of faking the incident.
Well it looks like this situation has reached as high as the White House, as President Bush reached out to comfort this little girl:
If the picture of little 3-year-old Sophia Parlock crying after some Kerry-Edwards supporters tore up her Bush-Cheney poster got to you, well, you weren't the only one. President Bush and even first pup Barney were dismayed too, we hear. It happened at a West Virginia rally last week for Democratic running mate Sen. John Edwards, to which Phil Parlock brought his daughter. After seeing the picture of the tearful Sophia on her dad's shoulders, aides said the president was sending her a little note Friday along with a signed campaign poster and an autographed photo of the prez and his dog. "Dear Sophia," Bush penned, "Thank you for supporting my campaign. I understand someone tore up your sign. So I am sending you a new sign and a signed picture. Please give my best to your family. Sincerely, George W. Bush." And on the picture, he inked: "To Sophia, Best wishes from me and Barney." Phil Parlock tells us it really wasn't necessary. "He already said 'Thank you' when he hugged her" at a previous Bush rally they attended, he says. "She bragged for days."This isn't the first time the President has rallied to comfort a young supporter on the campaign trail.
Alleged Document Forgerer Compares Bush to Hitler
It looks worse and worse for Dan Rather, John Kerry and Democrats. The emerging candidate responsible for the forged memos has a long history of fabricating negative stories about Bush and comparing President Bush to Hitler:
Bill Burkett, who has emerged as a possible CBS source for disputed memos about President Bush's Guard service, has a long history of making charges against Bush and the Texas National Guard.You'll note in the article they quote David Van Os who is Burkett's attorney. Anyone know other high profile clients of Mr. Van Os?
But Burkett's allegations have changed over the years, and have been dismissed as baseless by former Guard colleagues, state legislators and others.
Even Burkett has admitted some of his allegations are false.
Burkett wrote a long indictment against Bush for a Web site in 2003 in which he said he personally was ordered to "alter personnel records of George W. Bush." In that article, Burkett said that when he refused he was sent to Panama as punishment, where he contracted a disabling disease.
But when asked about that charge by the Houston Chronicle in February, Burkett said, "That statement was not accurate, that is overstated."
Friday, September 17, 2004
Dan Rather's Web of Connections?
OK, so Dan Rather, CBS and 60 Minutes keep digging their heels in claiming that the likely forged documents are authentic. And even if they are fake, the content is still true.
As critics, we have given Rather at al the benefit of the doubt and said at first, maybe he was duped and then later that he was sloppy in not heeding the warning signs that these documents' authenticity should be questioned.
Well, what if it is much worse for Rather and it was his own circle of friends that did him in?
(FULL DISCLOSURE: I "borrowed" the above graphic from a poster, rocklobster11, at FreeRepublic -- could not get in contact with him/her)
Ben Barnes and Dan Rather are tied to Bill Burkett's lawyer, David Van Os, through the Travis County Democratic Party. Van Os was its former chairman, Ben Barnes was on its "Finance Council" of big contributors as recently as 2003. And Dan Rather has made fundraising appearances for them. Ben Barnes own daughter is calling her father a liar:
I love my father very much, but he's doing this for purely political reasons. He is a big Kerry fund-raiser and he is writing a book also. And [the Bush story] is what he's leading the book off with. ... He denied this to me in 2000 that he did get Bush out [of Vietnam service]. Now he's saying he did.
Will Wynn, then a city councilman, hosted a Democratic Party fundraiser in 2001 with Rather as the 'star attraction':
Rather said he agreed to discuss election coverage at the invitation of an old friend, Austin City Council member Will Wynn, who drew 150 people to the event in his back yard. He was not paid for his appearance. Other hosts included Scott Ozmun, the county Democratic chairman, and Robin Rather, the anchor's daughter and a Texas environmentalist and marketing executive.
Wynn is now the mayor of Austin and almost certainly knows Barnes as a member of the political establishment. In this link, a former Wynn aide and still confidant, Mark Nathan, uses Barnes to validate someone he is endorsing.
Both Wynn and Barnes are also high-level donors to the same youth baseball league, suggesting they might run in similar social circles.
Former CBS correspondent Bernard Goldberg (who witnessed the Bias of Dan Rather up close and personal) has an op-ed today exploring the very idea that Rather, at best, was taken in by one of his own:
[The forged memo source] might indeed turn out to be a "partisan political force" himself. And this is precisely Dan's problem. This is why, I suspect, he isn't coming clean, despite the damage to his reputation. Because Dan Rather may be protecting not just his source, but himself; because, if the source turns out to be a partisan, then Dan wasn't just taken for a ride, but may have been a willing passenger.The deeper this thing goes, the more it stinks.
Gallup Has Bush Up 14 Points?
Now let's be careful out there. I want to celebrate as much as the next person. But this election is too far away (47 days to be exact) to get too happy with ourselves. The Kerry campaign will try every dirty trick in the book before its over so while the following should embolden us, be sure to keep our focus and campaign as much as possible from now through election day:
The Pew poll found the race at 46-46 among registered voters, and 47-46 Bush among likely voters. A Gallup poll being released Friday has Bush up 54-40 in a three-way matchup, with Ralph Nader at 3 percent.As Han Solo would say, "Great kid, don't get cocky."
Economy and Jobs Continue Improving
John Kerry was to tell you that everything is wrong with the US's foreign policy, domestic agenda and its economy. However, the ever increasing evidence points in a very different direction than John Kerry sees:
Claims rose by 16,000 to 333,000, the Labor Department said in Washington. In the prior week, initial applications plunged to a two-month low because of a decline in the number of Floridians filing in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. So far this year, initial filings have averaged almost 344,000, down from 402,000 in 2003.Maybe John Kerry can resurrect his contrived "Middle-Class Misery Index" and figure out that we are all doing OK and getting better.
``This is completely consistent with what we've expected at this stage of the economic recovery,'' Timothy Rogers, chief economist at Briefing.com in Boston, said before the report. ``That is, layoffs have died off and demand for labor certainly has increased.''
The numbers reinforce expectations that the economy is pulling out of the mid-year lull, helped by gains in factory production and consumer spending. Increased employment will help take the place of tax breaks and mortgage refinancing as sources of income to sustain the recovery.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Who Better Understands the Average American?
Last night, National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, took in one of her favorite activities by watching the Monday Night Football game between the Carolina Pathers and Green Bay Packers. Maybe if John Kerry spent more time with the possible future commissioner of the NFL, he would have known that the visiting Packers hail from the famous frozen tundra of "Lambeau" Field:
JOHN KERRY may have lost Wisconsin last Wednesday. Lambeau Field is arguably the most historic sporting venue in the United States. Opposing players long for the opportunity to play there. It's the Mecca of American football. Every American male over the age of 4 can finish the description of the field made famous by the pseudo-thunderous voice of ESPN's Chris Berman: "The Frooooooozen Tunnnnnnnndra of . . . "But I guess his gaffes are forgivable since he spends most of his time participating is those other "middle-America" mainstays of kitesurfing and windsurfing.
Lambert Field?
That's what John Kerry called it during a stop last week in Green Bay. Lambert Field.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
527 Web of Connections Update -- Forged Documents Version!
The firestorm and potentially career-ending saga over CBS' use of forged documents in a "hit piece" against President Bush continues to expand the "Web of Connections" between the Kerry campaign and the 527 organizations. To make matters worse, CBS is digging in its heels and repeating any untruth in to claim that the documents are authentic. How many staffers at CBS have to be thinking (but of course not saying -- they'd get fired for that) "The Emperor has no clothes?"!
(click on the image for a larger PDF version)
And if it turns out that Kerry's campaign is directly responsible for these forgeries, then Democrats would probably wish they could pull a "Torricelli" and swap out their sure loser for another candidate.
Monday, September 06, 2004
OK, This is News, But I Found it Funny
From ABCNews' Noted Now:
CHENEY ON EDWARDS' "TWO AMERICAS" THEME: "If you start out with that basic assumption, it's really a misperception of the way our country works or should work" ... it "harkens back to some sort of class system, class warfare" ... "To some extent it's mutual -- because some times Americans see two John Kerrys," Vice President Cheney says in St. Paul, MN.It's as if Kerry tees them up, and Cheney is just taking batting practice. It shouldn't be this easy.
CURTAINS CLOSED: Sen. John Kerry is wheels up from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania en route to Charleston, West Virginia with the curtains between the press and staff cabins closed for the first time ever, ABC News' Ed O'Keefe reports.
KERRY ON TROOPS: "I will get our troops home. I think the President made a catastrophic decision in Iraq, not a catastrophic success," Kerry says in satellite interview with local Nevada station.
CHENEY REAX: "When it comes to diplomacy, Sen. Kerry should stick to windsurfing," said Vice President Cheney in Clear Lake, IA, reports Karen Travers.
Oh, That Unbiased Media
In the article below discussing the hiring of the former Clinton aides by the Kerry campaign, there was a juicy little nugget that has gone unnoticed by many:
Mr. Begala, who said he would remain a CNN commentator, said he was delighted with the changes.Oh really? The Kerry campaign has a paid slot on CNN to get their message out. Now that's fair, isn't it. As Ramesh Ponnuru notes:
Perhaps CNN could hire Ken Mehlman to do some political commentary this fall too?Well, how about the Wall Street Journal bringing back Peggy Noonan who took a leave of absence to join the Bush campaign because:
My colleagues at the Journal ... appropriately decided I cannot write for them during this time even now and then, because it is not the business of The Wall Street Journal to employ Republican or Democratic operatives.Too bad journalistic ethics only exists on the Right . . . but who's noticing?
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Ohio Bucks John Kerry
K-Lo (who doesn't seem to like me -- just thought you'd like to know) has a great e-mail correspondent who attended a Kerry rally when he visited overwhelmingly Democratic Steubenville, OH:
The Kerry campaign first scheduled a visit to Steubenville two weeks ago but "scheduling conflicts" came up at the last minute. Oh, and did I mention that Kerry wanted to use a local gun range as a campaign stop, but the owner turned him down? And that the Fire Department Union President told the Kerry campaign that not only would he not organize the union to support Kerry at the rally, but that he was supporting President Bush! The Kerry campaign took for granted that this area was sown up. Mistake number one. So they rescheduled the campaign trip when Franciscan University was back in session. Mistake number two.Keep the momentum going. Bush's lead is likely not as high as the polls are reporting so we need to capitalize on the palpable energy coming out of the Convention.
Before Kerry arrived there was a huge pro-life march led by Franciscan University students, 500 strong. "You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion", read some of their signs. Students and members of local Catholic parishes were full of energy and FoxNews reported that this was the largest protest against Kerry outside of the Democratic Convention. Just picture 500 pro-lifers marching from their college campus to meet Kerry. Where else but in Steubenville, Ohio!
….The Kerry campaign not only made a mistake in their timing, but they also chose to hold the rally in a public park which should be open to all the public. Mistake number three. The police chief, sheriff, and mayor all agreed with me that protesters and their signs would be allowed inside the Kerry rally site. Freedom of speech is alive and well here in Ohio. The Kerry campaign flipped out!
So, now add another 500 local Bush supporters to the Kerry rally. They tried to turn up the music but they could not drown us out. According to the Herald Star (local press), "The crowd, estimated by officials as 3,500 strong, was almost split in half with people for and against the Massachusetts senator." John Kerry must know he has a problem when over 15% of his audience was booing him.
Kerry was visibly shaken when he received boos from the audience. You may not see this outside of FoxNews, and the AP is falsely reporting that only a few dozen protesters met Kerry.
Captain Ed Delivers the Goods
Tonight, 60 minutes will have an extensive hit job against President Bush showing that political strings were pulled (although acknowleging the Bush family never asked for them) to put George W. Bush in the National Guard instead of going to Vietnam.
Captain Ed does the heavy lifting so the New York Times can have their Monday morning, front-page chart and expose on Ben Barnes ready so all their readers are informed of any biased links between the testimony of the former Lt. Governor of Texas and John Kerry's campaign:
Certainly the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have been tarred with the contributions of Bob Perry, who gave them $200,000 in contributions. That led to all sorts of Rube Goldberg charting at the New York Times, trying to tie Republican policymakers to the Swiftvets. It began to resemble a boring game of Six Degrees of Separation.And if you think I believe the New York Times will actually give 1/1,000,000th the coverage of Barnes' bias as they did the Swift Boat Veterans, you need to check your sarcasm meter.
Fortunately, we don't have to go six degrees with Ben Barnes. Capital Eye, which tracks political contributions to candidates, finds that Ben Barnes is a lot closer to Kerry than that. Take a look at the top three individual fundraisers for John Kerry between 1999-2003:
Contributor.......Total 1999-2002...........2004 Cycle
Alan Solomont........$612,327......................$82,500
Orin Kramer............$425,835......................$83,500
Ben Barnes.............$389,750......................$74,500
If the Swiftees are less credible because they took a contribution from a common contributor to Republicans, then Ben Barnes' status as the third largest contributor to John Kerry's campaigns should render any testimony from him completely invalid.
George Bush Delivers the Goods
The dean of newspaper columnists, David Broder, has some grand compliments for President Bush and his main speechwriters, Micheal Gerson and Karen Hughes:
It demonstrates how much confidence Karl Rove has in his candidate that he left so much of the necessary work of the Republican National Convention to be accomplished by President Bush's acceptance speech on the final night in Madison Square Garden.Any surprise Karen Hughes comes back in mid-August and Bush has done nothing but surge since than? I think not.
The confidence was not misplaced. Bush did almost everything he could on Thursday night, with a major assist from speechwriters Michael Gerson and Karen Hughes, who can write circles around their counterparts in John Kerry's campaign.
Given his shaky ratings on both Iraq and the economy, Bush could not afford to be morning-talk-show cheerful, but he had to demonstrate confidence in what the next four years might bring.
By the end of an hour, he had done almost all those things to greater or lesser degree, while getting in a few above-the-belt shots at his opponent and reminding voters why they were drawn to him when they were first getting to know him -- his parents, his foibles and his lack of self-importance.
The weakest link in Bush's speech was his bland assurance that the economy has recovered well enough to provide more and better jobs. But Friday morning's announcement of much better job statistics did what Bush himself could not do.
So it was back to terrorism for Bush and a touching evocation of the emotions of Sept. 11, the only time when he really was the president of all the people. It is, in my view, pointless for Democrats to argue that Bush's actions after that tragedy were no different from what Al Gore or anyone else would have done. The fact is that Bush was the one who rallied the country in those first critical days, and he benefits from the bonds then established.
The words he speaks on that subject come from Gerson and Hughes, but the emotion is his own, and its authenticity lifts even a partisan political speech such as this one into another and higher realm.
Kerry Campaign Strategy -- Cede National Security to GOP
Not all that different than the way John Kerry would cede domestic securitiy to the UN/France/etc, apparently his campaign is conceding that George Bush and Republicans are better at national security than him and his cronies:
With 59 days to go until the presidential election, the campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. — trailing by double-digits in two recent national polls — has made a shift in strategy.Is this really someone who should be Commander-in-Chief in a post-9/11 world? I think not.
While decrying Republican attacks on Kerry's military service and fitness for office as unfair and personal, the Kerry campaign is also attacking the military service and fitness for office of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. At the same time, the campaign almost seemed to be ceding the national security issue to the president as Kerry focuses on domestic issues.
Saturday, September 04, 2004
More People Watched The Republican Convention
With the GOP putting its best foot forward last week, it is heartening to know that more people watched the GOP convention than watched the DNC's Vietnam-fest:
Although the election is not until November, President Bush and his Republican party have bested John Kerry and the Democrats as far as U.S. television ratings are concerned, research showed on Friday.So more people watched a better convention dealing with the most pressing issues facing Americans today. What could result from that?
Nearly 28 million Americans -- more than a quarter of them watching cable's Fox News Channel alone -- tuned in to see Bush accept his nomination for a second term at the climax of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Bush's national TV audience topped Kerry's speech at the Democratic convention in July by just over 3 million viewers, among those watching Big Three commercial networks ABC, CBS and NBC and the three leading cable news outlets -- Fox, CNN and MSNBC.
The Republican meeting as a whole also drew bigger audiences than the Democrats, averaging 22.6 million viewers over four nights at New York City's Madison Square Garden, compared with 20.4 million mustered by Kerry and his party in Boston in July.
Another Poll -- Another Bush Lead
Yesterday, Time magazine released a poll taken of likely voters before George W. Bush accepted the nomination and gave his stirring acceptance speech.
Newsweek released its poll of registered voters taken after Bush had given his speech and the President has an 11 point lead, 54% - 43%
UPDATE: Wizbang discovers some fuzzy math by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Bush Visits Ohio
President Bush takes his momentum gathering campaign to Ohio today and reaches out for votes from Democrats and Independants who voted against him in 2000:
Northeast Ohio's blue-collar cities overwhelmingly voted against Bush in the 2000 presidential campaign. But many suburbs are controlled by Republicans, as are fast-growing "outer-ring" suburban counties.Do your part and become a volunteer, make sure your George Bush supporting friends are registered to vote, donate to the Republican party, or do what I am doing and vote early!
Bush's visit Saturday hits two of those locations - the Cleveland suburb of Broadview Heights, where he took 55 percent of the vote in 2000, and conservative Lake County northeast of the city.
David Tryon, 45, attending the Bush rally in his hometown of Broadview Heights, said he understands the importance of Bush winning Ohio and doing well in heavily Democratic Cuyahoga County.
"I think that all of Cuyahoga County should vote for George Bush, including the inner city to be free from the tyranny of the Democrats who have destroyed the inner city of America," he said.
Ralph Peters Has a Question for the Protestors
In a very politically incorrect column (it's about time someone says it out loud) Ralph Peters closes with a devastating line:
A final thought: Did any of those protesters who came to Manhattan to denounce our liberation of 50 million Muslims stay an extra day to protest the massacre in Russia? Of course not.Be sure to read everything he says before that "final thought". Just devastatiing.
The protesters no more care for dead Russian children than they care for dead Kurds or for the hundreds of thousands of Arabs that Saddam Hussein executed. Or for the ongoing Arab-Muslim slaughter of blacks in Sudan. Nothing's a crime to those protesters unless the deed was committed by America.
The butchery in Russia was a crime against humanity. In every respect. Was any war ever more necessary or just than the War on Terror?
And what will terror's apologists say when the killers come for their own children?
View from the Convention
Here are my quick thoughts on Bush's acceptance speech.
He rose to the occasion and did just about everything right. Not saying it was a speech for the centuries, but he laid out his domestic agenda (blunting criticism that this convention was about nothing other than 9/11 and contrasting Kerry's convention that was about nothing other than Vietnam) and strengthened his resolve to win any battle and take it to the jihadists in their backyards so we are not fighting this in our backyards. His campaign is a well-oiled machine so Kerry will have to do a lot to take Bush down, but there are plenty of pitfalls over the next 60 days so nothing is certain. Needless to say, from my partisan standpoint I am pleased.
Kerry's impotent stunt last night coupled with improving jobs numbers this morning only add to the growing wind in Bush's sails.
So fasten your seatbelts 'cause it is going to be a wild ride!
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Andrew Jackson Speaks
If you have been reading the pundits and blogosphere, you no doubt have heard reference to the links between the founder of the Democratic Party, former President Andrew Jackson, and possibly its last torch bearer in Democratic Senator Zell Miller. Michael Barone has an absolutely must read on this phenomenon:
Until Wednesday night, I was under the impression that Andrew Jackson had died in 1845. But on Wednesday night he appeared at the podium of the Republican National Convention under the guise of Georgia Senator and former Governor Zell Miller. In the accents of the mountain South, with a directness that left his sentiments unmistakable, with a hatred for what he considers betrayal of America and out of a fierce love of family and country Miller delivered the keynote for this Republican convention in the same place as he had delivered one of the keynotes for Bill Clinton’s convention in New York 12 years before.Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.
The 1992 speech was real good. The 2004 speech was electrifying. Zell Miller was a United States Marine—“no better friend, no worse enemy.” You know which side of Zell Miller you want to be on.
And if you are unsure of all the meaning behind all of the Jacksonian references, here is a great summary compliments of Instapundit:
Short summary: "[The idea is]: "Don't bother with people abroad, unless they bother you. But if they attack you, then do everything you can. . . . When somebody attacks the hive, you come swarming out of the hive and you sting them to death. And Jacksonians, when it comes to war, don't believe in limited wars. They don't believe, particularly, in the laws of war. War is about fighting, killing, and winning with as few casualties as possible on your side. But you don't worry about casualties on the other side. That's their problem. They shouldn't have started the war if they didn't want casualties."That foreign policy suits me just about right.
Quotes of the Night
Obviously there are too many to choose from. Matt had some choice ones below. But I really got a kick out of these two:
Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric. Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are. How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside.It was great fun being in the Convention last night, the place was electric -- no late night partying though, still recovering from Monday night ;).
-- Senator Zell Miller (D-GA)
Senator Kerry says he sees two Americas. And that makes the whole thing mutual — America sees two John Kerrys.
-- Vice-President, Dick Cheney
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Meeting Angie Harmon
I thought I should share with you some brief comments regarding meeting Angie Harmon (see picture below):
She was gracious, charming and quite conversational. Her stunning beauty only added to her allure. As a celebrity, this party had enough firepower that she could have reasonably expected to not have to do the "fan" thing and endulge us in photos or similar. She was generous to a fault and engaged the many attendees in conversation as much as they engaged her. It would have been impossible to come away from that event without a growing respect and admiration for a woman whose beauty is only surpassed by her intellect and graciousness. After meeting her, I am unendingly proud to share membership with her in our Republican Party.
Priorities
OK, so I have been fortunate enough to attend a few parties this week, but last night I was at a special reception for Rudy Giuliani (who needs no introduction) and got to shake his hand and thank him for all he has done. I met Bernard Kerik who risked his life throughout his career keeping the streets of New York safe and then starting from scratch the new Iraqi police force. And I met many others. But whose photo was the only one I remembered to ask for?
The lovely and beautiful Angie Harmon. Having missed so many others, this one seemed to keep me sated for the night.
However, I did finally come down from my school-boy crush long enough to snap a few photos of some others in the room.
Former House member and now MSNBC host, Joe Scarborough
Pollster Frank Luntz
and my good friend Eric Beach and me pimping well into the night.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Blogging the NRO Gathering at Turtle Bay
First we have me and my old fraternity brother Rich Lowry. Next I saw Kate O'Beirne sitting next to John Miller chatting with some Cornerites (sorry for the glare)
(I am only kidding about Rich Lowry. I met him for the first time tonight but the photo looks like two old frat brothers getting back together)
It was neat to bump into Senator Rick Santorum there as well.
Many more photos from Turtle Bay to come.
Right now I am supposed to meet up for cigars with Mator Rudy Guiliani, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Governor George Pataki among others. Hopefully they will let me take some photos!!!!
Photo Blogging the Parties Around the Convention
Last night I was at "R the Party" hosted by the Bush twins. Here is a photo of some of the young, hip Republicans: Brian, Krista and Violet
Next is Isiah, me and Lindsay from "Rock the Vote"
And the last photo I have (so far) is Katie from Toronto representing "Republicans Abroad" and me
We have many other to come!
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Kerry Supporters get Violent in Washington State
Check out the video CJ mentioned in the comments section of my post below. The peaceful Bush protestor is assaulted by the Kerry supporter in clear view of the camera and then the cops move in an arrest the thug.
As we at Blogs for Bush know all to well, from personal experiences, violent responses by Kerry supporters happens all too often.
But we're the "war mongers" . . . yeah right.
Inside the Kerry Campaign Playbook – Don’t let the Truth Get in the Way
Often campaigns have to be in so many places at so many times that the casual political observer may question a campaign’s tactics or statements. The one thing I grudgingly admit, though, is when the casual observer has these concerns they usually don’t understand the tactics and methodologies these sophisiticated campaigns employ to achieve their goals (the "method to the madness", if you will).
I think, however, that I have uncovered one of the Kerry campaign’s bedrock strategies that is apparently driving the comments, actions and policies of its principal and surrogates: The truth is irrelevant, when there is an expedient political point to score.
Check out John Kerry in Florida on his voting record (can you freaking believe he actually brought that up! Lol) regarding relations with Cuba:
John Kerry had just pumped up a huge crowd in downtown West Palm Beach, promising to make the state a battleground for his quest to oust President Bush, when a local television journalist posed the question that any candidate with Florida ambitions should expect:Now that is just a little, inconvenient fact that shouldn’t get in the way of the Kerry campaign, now should it?
What will you do about Cuba?
As the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kerry was ready with the bravado appropriate for a challenger who knows that every answer carries magnified importance in the state that put President Bush into office by just 537 votes.
"I'm pretty tough on Castro, because I think he's running one of the last vestiges of a Stalinist secret police government in the world," Kerry told WPLG-ABC 10 reporter Michael Putney in an interview to be aired at 11:30 this morning.
Then, reaching back eight years to one of the more significant efforts to toughen sanctions on the communist island, Kerry volunteered: "And I voted for the Helms-Burton legislation to be tough on companies that deal with him."
It seemed the correct answer in a year in which Democratic strategists think they can make a play for at least a portion of the important Cuban-American vote -- as they did in 1996 when more than three in 10 backed President Clinton's reelection after he signed the sanctions measure written by Sen. Jesse Helms and Rep. Dan Burton.
There is only one problem: Kerry voted against it.
Of course, the “nuanced” politician left it to his surrogates to explain that he actually supported the legislation before he voted against it. So I guess the take-away is, if you want a commander-in-chief who will give you lip service support but then leave you high and dry when he has to vote on it, John Kerry is your man. Not only have we heard this before ("I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it" which was to fund our troops in Iraq) but the Kerry-Cuba lie has been furthered by Kerry for months! Check out this post from March of 2004 that exhaustively blows away Kerry's lie.
But this "lie so long as its expediant" tactic also applies to surrogates like former Democrat TX Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes. He has come out trying to boost the claim that Bush used political connections to avoid service in Vietnam. Per Associated Press:
"I got a young man named George W. Bush into the National Guard when I was lieutenant governor of Texas" - former Democrat TX Lt. Gov. Ben BarnesJust one TEENY problem with Barnes' claim for the Kerry campaign..... George Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard in May, 1968 and Barnes was not elected Lt. Governor until 1969. Bush's enlistment in 1968 per MSNBC and here is Barnes' bio (Barnes is coincidentally a long-time Dem activist and one of Kerry's top fund-raisers).
And per CNN there were waiting lists for some positions in the TANG, but no waiting list for F-102 pilots, only "a handful of applicants willing and qualified" for those slots:
...while Bush's unit in Texas had a waiting list for many spots, he was accepted because he was one of a handful of applicants willing and qualified to spend more than a year in active training flying F-102 jets.The truth is irrelevant, when there is an expedient political point to score.
Update: Here is the video of Barnes stating he got Bush into the NG "when I was lieutenant governor of Texas" (elected 1969, Bush signed up in 1968)
Kerry's Doctored Medals Raising Questions
Ralph Peters wrote a great op-ed a few days ago that seems awfully prescient in opining that people of true accomplishment and valor let their actions speak for themselves in his (not Bush friendly) column titled, "Real Hereos Don't Shout":
There are three big problems with Kerry from the standpoint of those who are proud of their military service. And one of those reservations has been overlooked entirely by the parade of talking heads, so few of whom have served in uniform themselves.There is a growing "uneasy" feeling many independant voters have watching Kerry "report for duty!" knowing there is something 'just-not-right' about Kerry's version of things.
John Kerry lied. Without remorse. To advance his budding political career. He tarnished the reputation of his comrades when the military was out of vogue.
Now, three decades later, camouflage is back in the fall fashion line-up. Suddenly, Kerry's proud of his service, portraying himself as a war hero.
But it doesn't work that way. You can't trash those who served in front of Congress and the American people, spend your senatorial career voting against our nation's security interests, then expect vets to love you when you abruptly change your tune.
...
Finally — and this is the one the pundits have trouble grasping, given the self-promoting nature of today's culture — real heroes don't call themselves heroes. Honorable soldiers or sailors don't brag. They let their deeds speak for themselves. Some of the most off-putting words any veteran can utter are "I'm a war hero."
Real heroes (and I've been honored to know some) never portray their service in grandiose terms, telling TV cameras that they're reporting for duty. Real heroes may be proud of the sacrifices they offered, but they don't shout for attention.
This is so profoundly a part of the military code of behavior that it cannot be over-emphasized. The rule is that those who brag about being heroes usually aren't heroes at all. Bragging is for drunks at the end of the bar, not for real vets. And certainly not for anyone who wishes to trade on his service to become our commander-in-chief.
Bit by bit as independant groups (even our own biased media!) are beginning to question Kerry's official records and the doctoring of his medals, Kerry's shouting to anyone who would listen that he was a war hero is beginning to unravel as he has apparently gamed the system with the self-inflicted wound for the first Purple Heart, doctored his Silver Star to serve his "I'm better than you" persona:
[A]n official Defense Department document summarizing Kerry's military career posted on johnkerry.com, includes a "Silver Star with combat V."Who knows what else in the hundreds of pages Kerry has yet to release from his Navy records? All I know, is I agree with Ralph Peters that heroes don't shout and John Kerry has been "shouting" about his supposed valor for decades after spitting on true men and women of valor after he came back from Vietnam.
But according to a U.S. Navy spokesman, "Kerry's record is incorrect. The Navy has never issued a 'combat V' to anyone for a Silver Star."
Naval regulations do not allow for the use of a "combat V" for the Silver Star, the third-highest decoration the Navy awards. None of the other services has ever granted a Silver Star "combat V," either.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Let The Convention Begin!
The influx of Republican Convention Bloggers has begun. Matt Margolis has landed safely in Manhattan and Scott Sala from Slant Point has popped over to my place for a beverage and some good pre-Convention fun. Check out the photo of these three handsome guys (L to R: Kevin Patrick, Scott Sala and Matt Margolis at my apartment):
If you would like to join in any of our fun this convention week, feel free to e-mail me at kevin at blogsforbush.com (Obviously substitute @ for "at"). Matt and Scott are credentialed bloggers and I will be participating in most of the official and unofficial events. Tonight we are catching the 10:30pm "Capital Steps" show at BB Kings.
Monday evening, we are going to the post convention "W is for Women" party at Pressure.
There will be many other events so feel free to join us!
Imitation: The Sincerest Form of Flattery
John Kerry's official campaign blog has taken a page right out of 'Blogs for Bush'. Be sure to click on the PDF link and look at all of the contortions the Kerry campaign must do to connect George W. Bush to the Swift Boat Vterans. Notice also, how many of their "connections" dead-end before reaching the SBVfT or start without being linked too closely with Bush.
The Kerry campaign has gotten more and more desperate by the day. Yesterday was the sophomoric stunt of sending Max Cleland (a brave man, but a bad Senator -- check his voting record, that's what the GOP ran against) down to Crawford, TX for the Bush-league (pun intended) stunt of calling for an end to the SBVfT's ads that are hammering the Kerry campaign.
Today Kerry called for weekly debates, clearly evidencing that he sees Bush pulling ahead and has to try and get as many bites at the apple as he can before the campaign is too far gone. The Bush campaign puts that request properly in perspective:
"There will be a time for debates after the convention, and during the next few weeks, John Kerry should take the time to finish the debates with himself," responded Bush-Cheney spokesman Steve Schmidt.These are not actions from a candidate in a position of strength but of a candidate in a position of weakness and Kerry's campaign knows it.
"This election presents a clear choice to the American people between a president who is moving America forward and a senator who has taken every side of almost every issue," he said.
20 Questions for John Kerry
Be sure to check out Peter Kirsanow's great column on questions John Kerry should be asked (if we had a responsible press):
Here are only a few of the questions Kerry hasn't adequately addressed. They don't even have anything to do with swift boats. There are no "gotcha" questions. They're posed in a respectful manner. In fact, many are softballs.And 18 others of equal weight that john Kerry hasn't been asked by our "issues-focused" press. Be sure to read the whole thing.
1. The Bush campaign maintains that you spent 20 years in the Senate with no signature legislative achievements. What do you consider to be the five most important pieces of legislation that you've authored?
a. What's the most important piece of legislation regarding intelligence you've authored?
b. What's the most important piece of antiterrorism legislation you've authored?
c. What's the most important piece of health-care legislation you've authored?
d. What's the most important piece of education legislation you've authored?
2. You'd agree that on paper, Dick Cheney's experience and qualifications dwarf those of your running mate. Why would John Edwards make a better president during the war on terror than Dick Cheney?
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Did the Kerry Campaign Just Reference This Blog?
ABC News' Noted Now provides the Kerry campaign's reaction to the resignation of Bush's campaign attorney Ben Ginsberg:
KERRY CAMPAIGN REACTS: "The sudden resignation of Bush's top lawyer doesn't end the extensive web of connections between George Bush and the group trying to smear John Kerry's military record. In fact, it only confirms the extent of those connections," Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill says in statement.Feudian slip? Maybe, maybe not. I report, you decide.
And in the linked piece above is a unique section you don't see to much reported about (unless you are reading blogs):
The Kerry campaign used the same lawyer as America Coming Together, an independent political group that has been running attack ads against Bush, the New York Times said.But the log in the Kerry campaign is being conveniently ignored due to the splinter in the Bush campaign's eye.
The lawyer cited by the Times, Robert Bauer of the Washington law firm Perkins Coie, had ``a limited role'' in the campaign during the primaries and doesn't work for it now, Kerry spokesman Phil Singer. Singer said he didn't know when Bauer stopped working for the campaign. Bauer didn't return calls to his office.
In addition, attorney Joe Sandler said he works for both the Democratic National Committee and MoveOn.org., a group running advertisements criticizing Bush. Sandler declined to discuss his dual role, referring questions to the DNC.
Monday, August 23, 2004
Kerry's Blog Shows More Links Between His Campaign and MoveOn.org
You can't make these things up. Check out John Kerry's own blog for the latest in links to this tangled web they weaved in their effort to deceive:
The East Bay for Kerry/MoveOn House party on December 7th combined the forces of two grass-roots organizations based in San Francisco East Bay Area. We had 200 guests eating, drinking, and watching the MoveOn Documentary “Uncovered” featuring Joseph Wilson and Rand Beers from the Kerry campaign.
When Teresa Heinz-Kerry arrived, she handed me a pin that read in the center: “Asses of Evil” with “Bush”, “Cheney”, “Rumsfeld” and “Ashcroft” surrounding it.
[John Kerry] also spoke about the recent Bush Thanksgiving visit to our military in Iraq, carrying a platter laden down with a fake turkey, smiling for a photo op.
What ever happened to Joseph Wilson's association with the Kerry campaign?
Also they mention a PBS producer working on that documentary. Shouldn't the publically funded PBS be non-partisan and does anyone want to check to see if this producer use PBS equipment for this partisan effort?
Maybe even Kerry's own blog is part of the evil Republican attack machine?
UPDATE: The DNC is boasting about partnering with these 527s (scroll to the bottom of the link, just above Quote of the Week):
The Democratic Party is partnering with MoveOn.org, People for the American Way, Campaign for America's Future, and dozens of other groups representing millions of Americans to organize a massive public mobilization. On Wednesday, May 14, join us by calling and emailing your representatives in Congress to let them know that the majority of Americans oppose more irresponsible tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the wealthiest sliver of Americans.Look now before they doctor their website like they did restorehonesty.com...
Update II: Jay Caruso adds more color to the 527 connection in the above graphic and the Cracker Barrel Philosopher over at the Country Store finds a nice photo of MoveOn.org's Zack Exley with Democratic Senator Frank Leahy and the DNC's Chief Operating Officer Josh Wachs. Of course they "only" coordinated on the petition drive, not any campaign activity for Kerry (wink, wink)... Of course, it was only a few months later that Exley officially joined the Kerry campaign, but I'd bet he never coordinates his efforts with his former organization. (sarcasm meter off).
Update III: OK, 67 trackbacks deserves an update. (Great job everyone!). Many fellow bloggers have done the diligence we used to trust traditional media to perform. Here is a great sampling:
» The Templar Pundit itemizes individuals directly related to the Kerry campaign and active (with over $77 million for these alone) in the anti-Bush 527s.
» N.Z. Bear at The Truth Laid Bear had a prescient post on 527s sharing lawyers with both campaigns -- even though most press led with damning headlines against the Bush campaign and either didn't mention Kerry's connections or buried deep in the story.
» Kevin Patrick (hey, that's me!) digs up some nice photos (compliments of the DNC) showing MoveOn.org's arm-in-arm coordination with the Kerry campaign as far back as December 2003.
» Lynxx Pherrett of Assume the Position shows John Kerry trying to have it both ways in his misdirection of accusations regarding his links to 527s.
» Captain Ed over at Captain's Quarters has his usual thorough research on Kerry's links to the 527s
You can also check out the "Blogs for Bush" Kerry 527 connections or check out any of the amazing trackbacks from the original post!
Please Nominate "Blogs For Bush" for Best Republican Party Coverage Blog
The Washington Post is soliciting nominations for best blogs in a variety of categories.
"Blogs for Bush" has done remarkable things in such a short time and I would like to ask everyone to nominate this blog as the Best Republican Party Coverage blog (or nominate us in any category you'd like) in the Washington Post's survey.
As an unaffiliated blog, there is no bankroll like the professionals, or full-time bloggers (all of us actually have full-time jobs NOT related to journalism -- as a point of reference, I am a corporate bond analyst on Wall Street).
The many services provided by this blog like Carnival of the Bush Bloggers, Wictory Wednesday, the DNQ Watch during the Convention in Boston, Letters to the Editor Friday (what ever happened to that guy?) and so much more.
Please help promote Matt's phenomenal effort by nominating "Blogs for Bush" today! Thanks in advance.
Blow-by-Blow -- The Kerry Campaign's Month of Incompetence
This is the post of the day.
Chris Lynch goes through the August calendar itemizing the daily mis-steps in the Kerry campaign. It is an absoutlely fantastic post that juxtaposes the Drudge-like headline bombshells we see in the New York Times versus how these headlines panned out upon further scrutiny.
Glenn Reynolds likes the August 12th entry. I love the August 2, 5, 6 (both entries), 10, 17 and 22 entries. Check out the link and choose your own!
Be sure to read the whole thing. Hat tip, Instapundit.
Revising History -- John Kerry Style (Part II)
Early I posted about the selective editing on the John Kerry Website regarding restorehonesty.com and his ever changing story about event after event of his service in Vietnam THAT NEVER REALLY HAPPENED (At his current rate of ammending history, by election day we may find out John Kerry was never actually IN Vietnam! lol).
Well, Kevin McCullough at WorldNetDaily picked up on the fact that the Kerry campaign is now pre-emptively editing their website:
I went to the Kerry website to look at the transcript of the speech. The only problem was, much of what appeared had been altered, and significant passages of things Kerry said were missing.Why would the Kerry campaign selectively edit these comments? Could it be the absolute POUNDING they would receive if the public was aware of Kerry's comments today about his faithful adherence to the bond of his band of brothers versus what that band of brothers is saying about him?
Because I had the audio, it was easy enough for me to go pull out what I felt was the most egregious quote of the day:
"Let me make this clear ... for 35 years I have stood up, and fought, and kept faith with my fellow veterans ... as president I will stand with you to complete that mission."
But the astounding aspect of all of this is that Kerry's website is scared to put up his exact comments.
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Web of Connections -- UPDATED GRAPHIC
John Kerry decries the attenuated connections between the Swift Boat Veterans and Republican interests. Well, Kerry's campaign has numerous DIRECT connections to the far better funded and truth-eluding 527s supporting his candidacy. Check out the below graphic that diagrams it explicitly:
(click on the graphic for the larger image)
Let's see how aggressively the New York Times and Washington Post investigate these OBVIOUS and DIRECT connections to the Kerry campaign.
I dare any of these organizations to prove me wrong.
UPDATE: The DNC is boasting about partnering with these 527s (scroll to the bottom of the link, just above Quote of the Week):
The Democratic Party is partnering with MoveOn.org, People for the American Way, Campaign for America's Future, and dozens of other groups representing millions of Americans to organize a massive public mobilization. On Wednesday, May 14, join us by calling and emailing your representatives in Congress to let them know that the majority of Americans oppose more irresponsible tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the wealthiest sliver of Americans.Look now before they doctor their website like they did restorehonesty.com...
Update II: Jay Caruso adds more color to the 527 connection in the above graphic and the Cracker Barrel Philosopher over at the Country Store finds a nice photo of MoveOn.org's Zack Exley with Democratic Senator Frank Leahy and the DNC's Chief Operating Officer Josh Wachs. Of course they "only" coordinated on the petition drive, not any campaign activity for Kerry (wink, wink)... Of course, it was only a few months later that Exley officially joined the Kerry campaign, but I'd bet he never coordinates his efforts with his former organization. (sarcasm meter off).
Kerry Campaign Contributions Lack Disclosure
OpenSecrets.org shows that the Kerry-Edwards campaign has a 76% compliance rate with FEC disclosure provisions for campaign contributions, compared to 91% on average for congressional campaigns, and 93% for the Bush-Cheney campaign. The OpenSecrets folks track the “quality of disclosure” associated with campaign contributions, described as follows:
“BEST EFFORTS” RULES: When making solicitations, candidates, PACs and party committees must make “best efforts” to obtain and report the name, address, occupation and employer of each contributor who gives more than $200 in a calendar year. In order to show that the committee has made “best efforts,” solicitations must specifically request that information and inform contributors that the committee is required by law to use its best efforts to collect and report it.According to the current OpenSecrets data, Bush’s stats are:
Most members of Congress fully identify the great majority of their donors’ occupations and employers — an important point, if voters are to see the economic interests giving to their representative’s campaign.
In the 2000 elections, the average member of Congress fully identified 91% of their contributors’ occupations and employers. Seven percent of the occupations were left blank, and the rest were incomplete.
Full Disclosure: $156,147,934 (93.0%)
Incomplete: $2,378,738 (1.4%)
No Disclosure: $9,309,250(5.5%)
Kerry’s, on the other hand, are:
Full Disclosure: $85,533,842 (76.4%)
Incomplete: $762,427 (0.7%)
No Disclosure: $25,619,547 (22.9%)
Bush’s 93% compliance seems quite in line with OpenSecrets’ 91% average from past Congressional campaigns, but Kerry’s number, at 76%, is wildly out of wack.
Here are the ‘Full Disclosure’ stats for the other candidates in this year’s race:
Dennis Kucinich: 91.2 %
Lyndon H. Larouche Jr: 91.0 %
Ralph Nader: 90.3 %
Al Sharpton: 91.2 %
Carol Moseley Braun: 92.5 %
Wesley Clark: 70.8 %
Howard Dean: 92.6 %
John Edwards: 87.8 %
Dick Gephardt: 89.2 %
Bob Graham: 87.1 %
Joe Lieberman: 92.5 %
(You can see a single page which compares each candidate’s disclosure statistics here.)
So other than Wes Clark, Kerry’s campaign is significantly below (by over 10%) any other candidate (even the less-than-serious-ones) in this year’s race.
I’m not a campaign finance expert, so I don’t really know what to make of this. Since the data comes from contributors themselves it isn’t clear to me whether you can really fault the Kerry campaign for the deficiency —- unless they are supposed to refuse contributions that don’t provide adequate disclosure. Campaign finance experts, please chime in here anytime…
Originally posted at The Truth Laid Bear.
Revising History -- John Kerry Style
With all of the blogosphere (and reluctantly traditional media) buzzing about John Kerry's ever changing story regarding the seared image of his illegal Christmas in Cambodia, it is helpful to look back at one of Kerry's earlier revisions. In a Boston Globe story, dated April 24, 2004 touting the wounds John Kerry received for his 2nd Purple Heart, there is a curious paragraph regarding John Kerry's revising his service record in Vietnam:
The Kerry campaign removed a 20-page batch of documents yesterday from its website after The Boston Globe quoted a Navy officer who said the documents wrongly portrayed Kerry's service. Edward Peck had said he -- not Kerry -- was the skipper of Navy boat No. 94 at a time when the Kerry campaign website credited the senator with serving on the boat. The website had described Kerry's boat as being hit by rockets and said a crewmate was injured in an attack. But Peck said those events happened when he was the skipper. The campaign did not respond to a request to explain why the records were removed.In this same report, the last paragraph mentions that the Kerry campaign was to release all his militray records, only to change their mind. However, the final sentence says that once again, the Kerry campaign reversed itself and will subsequently release the records. That was April 24, 2004. We're still waiting.
Be sure to check out the Boston Globe's helpful, Attack/Counterattack on John Kerry's military service record and the ever increasing questions regarding the truth of his medals.
Anti-Bush 527s Dominate the Airwaves
It is quite ridiculous that John Kerry gets BOFFO news coverage from the LA Times (twice!), New York Times (twice!), Boston Globe, AP news' biggest gun, Washington Post, USA Today (twice!), New York Daily News, Columbus Dispatch, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Knight Ridder among many others as he launches his rebuttal to the Swift Boat Verterans for Truth. Instead of investigating the very real and accurate charges made initially, these news outlets do PR work for the Kerry campaign and thoroughly investigate the accusers!
So all this time and money is spent trying to discredit an anti-Kerry group who indirectly have ties to the Bush campaign while the anti-Bush organizations who are better funded and have direct links to the Kerry campaign are given a free pass. Here is a look at the Ad traffic summary for this past week (compliments of The Note):
Here's what's on the air right nowSo, higher mathematics tells me the current ad environment has 5 ads that can be aligned with Republicans/Bush and 15 ads that can be aligned with Democrats/Kerry. But the media linked above carry water for Kerry's rebuttal and leave unchallenged the more than dozen anti-Bush ads.
· 4 BC04 ads: 3 positive ads on ownership, homeland security, and the Olympics; and 1 slamming Kerry on his record
· 1 KE04 ad biting back at the SBVfT
· 1 (brand new!) anti-Kerry ad by the SBVfT
· 3 pro-Kerry DNC ads including a new one on health care
· 1 (old and re-released) anti-Bush ad by MoveOn.org's PAC contrasting Kerry and Bush's wartime service
· 6 anti-Bush ads by the Media Fund in battleground states
· 4 ads by the New Democrat Network in selected markets promoting Hispanic support for Democrats
And to think, some idiots think there is a pro-Kerry bias in the media...
Thursday, August 19, 2004
What Media Bias?
The Blogfather, Glenn Reynolds, posts a great "anonymous" e-mail (Glenn says its from a journalist we'd recognize, but respects the author's desire for anonymity) regarding the self-inflicted wounds the media is incurring with its political coverage this election year:
Glenn- I completely agree with your observations about the threat this election presents to the credibility of the Fourth Estate. Too much of my own energy has been spent trying to convince colleagues of the danger -- my point being that if the public loses faith in our capacity for basic objectivity and fairness, the public will find/create other means of collecting information. (My own impression from the inside, by the way, is that the media aren't "liberal" so much as simply partisan. Think of it like a sporting event where folks desperately want one team to win and the other to lose.)Thankfully Internet poineers like Marc Andreesen helped to create a medium that leveled the playing field of information dissemination to counteract the growing unreliability of traditional media.
If Walter Cronkite doesn't like the wild west nature of the blogosphere, he ought turn his attention to the mainstream outlets that violate the trust of their readers/viewers and thereby drive many to the Web for their news. The Swift Boat matter provides one clear example. The Post ignored the story, and then addressed it only in the context of seeking to refute it; most of the paper's regular readers probably had no idea that the accusations (from the Swift Boat Vets) existed in the first place. Here's another example that popped out at me today: The NYT has a story on Democrats launching a massive effort to disqualify Nader petitions in the states. Somehow, in reporting this, they could find only one person (a Nader lawyer, at that) to call this effort antidemocratic -- and that was in the second-to-last paragraph. (The last paragraph had an official from the anti-Nader effort disputing this contention.)
Now, of course, invalid signatures on petitions should be disqualified. But are these the same folks who hollered "Count all the votes" in 2000? Who wailed about voters being disenfranchised? Who disdained the Bush campaign for seeking to have ex-cons scratched (as the law requires) from the voter rolls? Are these the same folks who are dispatching lawyers to the states this year in order to ensure that REPUBLICANS don't deny voters their franchise? My point is, there IS something undemocratic (though not entirely unjustifiable...) about seeking to limit the options provided to voters. And using the arbitrary, arcane and sometimes ridiculous state laws to do so is weaselly, to say the least. And Kerry's campaign really condones this? Chutzpah!
Although, maybe we should thank someone else?
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Wisconsin On My Mind (Again)
Looking at the very real demographic shifts in population and voter make-up, President Bush is again taking his bus tour to the great state of Wisconsin:
President Bush is trying to capitalize on what some analysts see as a political realignment in northwestern Wisconsin that could put the state in the president's column in November.Make sure everyone in these areas is out there supporting our great President!!!
Bush rolls out Wednesday on his third bus tour of the state since May, when he campaigned in the Mississippi River farmlands that eluded him in the 2000 election. He lost the state by fewer than 6,000 votes.
Bush stops first Wednesday in Chippewa Falls, an area he won by 700 votes four years ago. His second stop is in an area that includes Hudson, the fastest-growing city in the state and where voters narrowly endorsed him four years ago.
The presidential race between Bush and Democrat John Kerry is close in Wisconsin and Minnesota, which Bush also planned to visit Wednesday. He was scheduled to speak at a rally in St. Paul.
The trip will be Bush's fifth of the year to Wisconsin and fourth to Minnesota, matching Kerry's count.
3rd Party Confirms Accuracy John Kerry's Absenteeism from Intelligence Committee
John Kerry often touts his 4 months in Vietnam (I think that is near Cambodia), occasionally his 20 years in the Senate and more specifically his service on the Senate Intelligence Committee in an effort to demonstrate that he is fit for office and credentials as Commander-in-Chief. Well, the Bush campaign put out a devastating ad ("Intel") pointing out that John Kerry rarely ever showed up for Senate Intelligence Committee meetings at a time when the United States desperately needed a watchful eye on our deteriorating Intelligdence services (as detailed in the 9/11 Commission's report). Kerry's campaign has called the Bush ad "misleading" but the people at FactCheck.org come to a very different conclusion:
A Bush-Cheney '04 ad released Aug. 13 accuses Kerry of being absent for 76% of the Senate Intelligence Committee's public hearings during the time he served there. The Kerry campaign calls the ad "misleading," so we checked, and Bush is right.Like John Kerry's clandestine and illegal operations in Cambodia, according to FactCheck.org it looks like it is John Kerry who is "misleading" the public.
...
Kerry often touts his eight years on the Senate Intelligence Committee as a prime qualification for office. The Bush ad takes that on, describing Kerry as a no-show for most of the committee's public meetings. If anything, the ad understates Kerry's lack of attendance.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
The Bush Campaign Leaves No Stone Unturned
I know that many of us who have toiled away in our own little corner of the universe on behalf of Bush-Cheney 2004 may sometimes wonder if the "professionals" share our willingness to sacrifice and do whatever it takes to get the job done. Well, this story shows that all of your passion, drive and hard work toiling away in your local community is shared by the official campaign as they leave no stone unturned in reaching every available voter:
Team Bush is hoping to win over gym rats and armchair athletes with a targeted ad released yesterday that links feel-good Olympic imagery to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Well, it looks like this viral marketing effort is getting results as the BC04 campaign has received its record breaking 2,000,000 contribution! Way to go everyone.
The 30-second spot will air the next two weeks on national cable channels during Olympic and sports programming and, in a first-of-its-kind move, also on ClubCom, a specialized TV network seen in about 250 fitness centers in New York and Washington, as well as eight battleground states. (emphasis added)
Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said of the ad, "People get information from lots of different sources. Their time at the gym when they're working out is when they are paying attention."
The "First Lady" of Campaign Communications is Back!
One of President Bush's most talented and trusted advisors is back from her time away from the White House:
The most important woman in President Bush's political life is back on the payroll as of today.Welcome back Karen!
Longtime adviser and friend Karen Hughes traveled with Bush on the campaign trail this past week for the first time in the current election cycle.
Hughes is not ruling out an eventual return to the White House if there is a second Bush term. Her son Robert will be a high school senior this year.
Hughes and her husband, Jerry, prefer Austin — including their friends, church and and what she calls their "newly remodeled home" there — to Washington.
"That said, anytime the president wants to ask you to consider serving in his administration you have to listen and consider," she said.
Bush Campaign Reaches Out to Indian-Americans
Touting his strengthening relationship with the country of India, the Bush campaign is getting some good press for reaching out to one of the world's largest nations and its growing American population:
Republicans are your best bet: That's the crux of a long e-mail message from the Bush-Cheney team to the 1.7 million strong Indian American community as the campaign warms up for the November elections.In more and more ways, the GOP exemplifies the party of the "Big Tent" and this is only one of the latest examples.
"Because President Bush understands India's potential to become one of the great democratic powers of the 21st century, he has worked to transform the US-India relationship," says the e-mail message put out by Marc Racicot, chairman of the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign.
It terms as "historic" the current phase of Indo-US relations, saying this level of cooperation was "unthinkable" just five years ago. It highlights the turnaround in defence and security relations and makes a special mention of the "Next Steps in Strategic Partnership" to advance civilian nuclear and space cooperation and high-technology trade.
Monday, August 16, 2004
John Kerry Gets Al Gore Disease (Part II)
It seems the truth about the defining moment in John Kerry's life from Vietnam (although once "seared" into his memory) was just a big lie to falsify his angst over trusting the government and augment his ever-increasingly shaky credentials as Commander-in-Chief:
Why is any of this important? Mr. Kerry has made his Vietnam experiences the focal point in his campaign. Indeed, the candidate wants voters to judge his Vietnam service as reflecting the qualities needed in a commander in chief. It is not Mr. Kerry's detractors who have placed Vietnam at the forefront of the campaign, it is Mr. Kerry himself. As such, his testimonials both during and after his tour should be subject to verification and debate.The blogosphere has kept this alive during the questionable (and completely accidental?) "media blackout" and they are finally catching on. Be sure to keep up the pressure.
John Kerry Gets Al Gore Disease
During the 2000 campaign, Al Gore got busted many times for lying about his exploits (and I don't just mean his claim he invented the internet). Well John Kerry seems to let his mouth get in the way of the truth when it comes to the Bush health care reform:
NEXT TIME John Kerry accuses President Bush of misleading the American people, remember Mary Ann Knowles.The truth is out there Senator Kerry, maybe someday you will find it.
Knowles is the Hudson woman whose battle with breast cancer Kerry has turned into a campaign anecdote. Here is what Kerry said about Knowles during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on July 29:
?What does it mean when Mary Ann Knowles, a woman with breast cancer I met in New Hampshire, had to keep working day after day right through her chemotherapy, no matter how sick she felt, because she was terrified of losing her family?s health insurance? America can do better. And help is on the way.?
What it means is that John Kerry is fibbing. As Union Leader correspondent Scott Brooks reported on Sunday, Mary Ann Knowles did not have to work through her chemotherapy for fear of losing her health insurance. Employed by Elderhostel, the Boston-based non-profit travel organization for people 55 and older, Mary Ann had 26 weeks of paid disability at her disposal. More was available for a long-term illness. She did not have to work through her chemotherapy. She chose to.
George Bush Doing Some Strong Campaigning in the Heartland!
The Washington Post (not exactly a friendly paper to the Bush campaign) has a nice write-up on the growing strength of the Bush campaign:
SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- President Bush has formidable obstacles to reelection, but he served a reminder last week that he is a politician with formidable strengths.Don't let the disproportionately pro-Kerry coverage of biased media get you down, W is doing fine and the battle has just begun.
Anyone who doubts it should spend some time watching the shirtsleeves campaign. In five days of energetic campaigning through five swing states, Bush looked and sounded like someone dropping by a neighbor's lawn party -- no coat, no tie, rolled-up sleeves, and conversational speeches in which he implored voters to "put a man in there who can get the job done."
In loosening his style, Bush tightened his message.
Please Nominate "Blogs For Bush" for Best Republican Party Coverage Blog
The Washington Post is soliciting nominations for best blogs in a variety of categories.
This site has done remarkable things in such a short time and I would like to ask everyone to nominate this blog as the Best Republican Party Coverage blog (or nominate us in any category you'd like) in the Washington Post's survey.
As an unaffiliated blog, there is no bankroll like the professionals, or full-time bloggers (all of us actually have full-time jobs NOT related to journalism -- as a point of reference, I am a corporate bond analyst on Wall Street).
The many services provided by this blog like Carnival of the Bush Bloggers, Wictory Wednesday, the DNQ Watch during the Convention in Boston, Letters to the Editor Friday (what ever happened to that guy?) and so much more.
Please help promote Matt's phenomenal effort by nominating "Blogs for Bush" today! Thanks in advance.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Send This to Every Football Fan in Michigan
(compliments of the Kerry Spot)
FOOTBALL JOKES [08/03 11:13 AM]
A reader points to this item from our friends at the American Spectator,
who notice that Kerry told a joke about how he loves Ohio football... in
Michigan. Whoops.
"I just came here from Bowling Green," Kerry told the crowd to subdued applause.
"I was smart enough not to pick a choice between the Falcons and the, well,
you know, all those other teams out there. I just go for Buckeye football,
that's where I'm coming from."
At that point, before all the boos began raining down upon him, Kerry seemed
to realize his error. In an attempt to silent the angry crowd of University
of Michigan supporters, Kerry said, "But that was while I was in Ohio. I
know I'm in the state of Michigan and you got a great big M and a powerhouse
of a team." Then his face, presumably, the Botox permitting, turned Big
Blue.
If the Bush campaign were smart, they would figure out how to get audio
or videotape of this gaffe to every University of Michigan student, alumni,
and fan in the state. Probably fans of Michigan state and even the Detroit
Lions, too.
Photos from Iraq
Bill Hobbs has some interesting photos from Iraq:
I was browsing the PBASE.com photo galleries and collected links on several Iraq war photo galleries. Here are 11 links, with no commentary. Just offering you the opportunity to view the war in Iraq through the eyes of the brave Americans who are fighting it. If a picture is worth a thousand words, here's several books worth of news from Iraq unlike most of what Big Media provides.Check them out here.
Friday, August 06, 2004
No surprise, I am traveling again (hence no entries). Blogging to recommence Monday.
For now, look closer at the jobs report. Non-farm payrolls' calculatation is an inherently flawed calculation and the "household" employment number was much stronger than forecasted. This report, while not good, was nowhere near as bad as the Kerry campaign (and the press) made it out to be.
Let Kerry and the liberal media have a moment in the sun at the expense of a statstical anomoly. If the Bush campaign sets forth the proper course for a better American and champions strong ideas over expediant rhetoric, we will all have the last laugh in November.
Have a great weekend.
Monday, August 02, 2004
Kevin Patrick (That's Me!) and This Blog in the Washington Post
Hey, I am not above a little self-promotion, but this blog made it into the Washington Post thanks to Cynthia Webb who writes the "Filter" column looking at the day's top technology news items for the Washington Post:
Yesterday's Filter column on blogging at the Democratic National Convention prompted some readers (and bloggers) to write in with tips on other sites to visit. Thanks to all who took the time to write in. Gabe, no last name given, plugged his site, memeorandum," which gives a peek at a sampling "of the most talked about news stories on politics-oriented blogs along with excerpts from the blogs." Another reader, Kevin Patrick, said the Blogs For Bush site will cover the upcoming GOP convention. The site also features a list of credentialed bloggers." For the sake of full disclosure, Patrick is a writer for the site and runs the BushCheney2004 blog.Who-HOOO!!!! That's me. Check it out.
This post is solely to make my readers know they haven't wasted their time sticking with me while my job takes over my life and prevents me from blogging nearly as much as I'd like.
Friday, July 30, 2004
For all of your John Kerry acceptance speech, check out Blogs for Bush.
I'll be in Vegas so blogging will be non-existent ;)
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Does the Kerry Campaign Know the Truth About Their Own Campaign? (cont.)
The story that won't die!
I blogged about this one earlier, but like many stories mainstream media ignores, the blogosphere has kept the fires burning with this one and traditional media is catching on:
The "bunny suit" pictures of Sen. John Kerry climbing around inside the shuttle Discovery earlier this week disappeared from NASA's Web site for several hours today, but the bizarre political flap surrounding them will not go away.But it doesn't end there!
NASA's lawyers advised the agency to delete from its Internet sites the pictures of Kerry and three current and former senators, including legend John Glenn, getting an exclusive tour of Kennedy Space Center and the shuttle during a campaign swing through here Monday. Later in the day, after a legal review, NASA decided to put the photos back online.
Not to be outdone, the lawyers (aka John Edwards' pre-Senate professional peers) got involved and tried to get the photos removed (by claiming this technicality only wonks like me knew or understand -- hey, I grew up in the DC area) but compromised by having these ridiculous photos appear on the NASA site:
But WAIT! There's more! The lawyers have once again enetered the fray and cleared the photos for posting by NASA! (scroll to 4pm update) Yea! Lawyers saved the day...
... Or was it the teletubbies?
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Does the Kerry Campaign Know the Truth About Their Own Campaign? Part II
After their previous gaffe was called a "dirty trick" and wrongly blamed on Republicans, you would think the Donkeys would get their stories straight before assigning blame, wouldn't you? If so, you'd be wrong:
Ever since voters began telling Teresa Heinz Kerry that they didn't think much of the pumpkin spice cookie recipe her office had submitted to Family Circle's presidential cookie bake-off, an aide said, Mrs. Heinz Kerry, the wife of the about-to-be Democratic nominee, has been thinking how she could tell America the truth: the recipe isn't hers.So who is at fault for this bad recipe? Why, "sombody" with an ulterior motive:
Mrs. Heinz Kerry said: "Somebody at my office gave that recipe out and, in fact, I think somebody really made it on purpose to give a nasty recipe. I never made pumpkin cookies; I don't like pumpkin spice cookies."But the kicker is this:
Ms. Romash would not say why Mrs. Heinz Kerry would think an aide would want to harm her.Um, maybe the answer is Mrs. Heinz has been reading the Kerry campaign's talking points for responding to embarrassing gaffes?
As I keep saying, you can't make this stuff up.
Winning the War on Terror: Afghanistan Update
Following Bill Clinton's speech Monday night, many Democrats would like to forget the truth about the false sense of security American's felt as Clinton left office. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan with a murderous iron fist and harbored the most nototorious terroriust in the world in Osama bin Laden. Well, a lot has changed since reality shook the world on 9/11 and it seems Afghanistan and millions of others are a lot better off for it:
The first-ever public opinion poll in Afghanistan shows that people there are optimistic about the future and excited about upcoming elections. . . .Hat tip Instapundit.
Afghanistan has a constitution, is registering voters and is moving toward holding a presidential election in October. And the survey of 804 randomly selected male and female Afghan citizens, commissioned by the Asia Foundation notes that:
* 64 percent say the country is heading in the right direction.
* 81 percent say that they plan to vote in the October election.
* 77 percent say they believe the elections will "make a difference."
* 64 percent say they rarely or never worry about their personal safety, while under the Taliban only 36 percent felt that way.
* 62 percent rate President Hamid Karzai's performance as either good or excellent.
This was no pro-Bush put-up job. The polling firm, Charney Research, is a partisan Democratic polling firm. And superstar Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, who's read the study — and who has worked on similar polling in developing countries — calls it "very reliable."
Misrepresenting the Truth: Democrat's Convention on Stem Cell Research
A lot of hoopla was made over Ron Reagan Jr's "non-partisan" speech (and if you believe it was non-partisan I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you). Well, it turns out this "independant" commentator plays with the truth as much as the Democrats he so loves:
There was also some discussion of embryonic stem cell research last night. The Bush Administration is actually the first in history to provide Federal funding for this research, as this chart shows:The Democrat's misleading information is laughable and more and more obvious to any diligent reader.
At the same time stem cell research is dramatically expanded, the President's policy recognizes an important ethical principle: that our government should not sanction the destruction of a human embryo.
