BushCheney2004

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.
- posted by KP @ Thursday, September 30, 2004 |

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.

- posted by KP @ Thursday, September 30, 2004 |

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:

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 ...
- posted by KP @ Thursday, September 30, 2004 |

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.

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.

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.

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!
- posted by KP @ Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |

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.

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."

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 . . .

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]

"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!]

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.
- posted by KP @ Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |

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.

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."

He'll say anything to anyone at anytime. Just check his record.
- posted by KP @ Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |

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.

- posted by KP @ Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |

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."

...

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."

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.

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."

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."

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?
- posted by KP @ Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |

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.
- posted by KP @ Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |

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.

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."

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?
- posted by KP @ Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |

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?

View image

(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.
- posted by KP @ Friday, September 17, 2004 |

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."
- posted by KP @ Friday, September 17, 2004 |

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.

``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.

Maybe John Kerry can resurrect his contrived "Middle-Class Misery Index" and figure out that we are all doing OK and getting better.

- posted by KP @ Friday, September 17, 2004 |

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 . . . "

Lambert Field?

That's what John Kerry called it during a stop last week in Green Bay. Lambert Field.

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.

- posted by KP @ Tuesday, September 14, 2004 |

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.
- posted by KP @ Sunday, September 12, 2004 |

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.

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.

It's as if Kerry tees them up, and Cheney is just taking batting practice. It shouldn't be this easy.
- posted by KP @ Monday, September 06, 2004 |

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?
- posted by KP @ Monday, September 06, 2004 |

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.

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.

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.
- posted by KP @ Sunday, September 05, 2004 |

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.

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.

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.
- posted by KP @ Sunday, September 05, 2004 |

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.

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.

Any surprise Karen Hughes comes back in mid-August and Bush has done nothing but surge since than? I think not.
- posted by KP @ Sunday, September 05, 2004 |

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.

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.

Is this really someone who should be Commander-in-Chief in a post-9/11 world? I think not.
- posted by KP @ Sunday, September 05, 2004 |

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.

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.

So more people watched a better convention dealing with the most pressing issues facing Americans today. What could result from that?
- posted by KP @ Saturday, September 04, 2004 |

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.
- posted by KP @ Saturday, September 04, 2004 |

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.

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.

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!
- posted by KP @ Saturday, September 04, 2004 |

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.

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?

Be sure to read everything he says before that "final thought". Just devastatiing.
- posted by KP @ Saturday, September 04, 2004 |

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!
- posted by KP @ Saturday, September 04, 2004 |

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.

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.

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

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.

- posted by KP @ Thursday, September 02, 2004 |

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.

-- 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

It was great fun being in the Convention last night, the place was electric -- no late night partying though, still recovering from Monday night ;).

- posted by KP @ Thursday, September 02, 2004 |