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[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Not responding just to you on this, Bilmore, but posts like this were something I've devoted some more thought to.

It's positions like this one (and ones that Slave and Club posted a while back that I can't find at the moment) which essentially posit that dwelling on Swiftboats and Cambodia and God-knows-what-else we'll hear about between now and November is entirely justified because Kerry's fucking fault. He's the one who made it his front-and-center reason for his candidacy, not the GOPers, and therefore, we have the justification, nay the solemn obligation, to open the box and toss around whatever we can find inside, from whoever wants to talk about it -- because really, Kerry's given us nothing else to examine, right?

Well, no.

Ty already responded to the substance -- that there's loads of substance on the other issues out there.

But beyond that, this is exactly where Bush has to fight the battle. Polls show that everytime he talks about Homeland Security, fighting Terrorism, and Defeating EvilDoers (with a sprinkling of Spreading Democracy, Hope and Light Around the World) his poll numbers go up. Anytime he talks about anything else, they go down. That's part of the reason why his filtered campaign stops are so devoted to those topics.*

What's more, even if this issue is where we choose to have the discussion, it's telling that the Bushies have chosen this particular tack.

Seems that they could attack Kerry on the Natl Security/Terror issue by saying, who cares? Kerry was a Lieutenant who served 4 months in a war that happened over 30 years ago. That's wonderful, but says absolutely nothing about whether he'd be a good CiC. Instead, stick with us! We've got 3 years of experience with it now, and look at our record! We've prosecuted two wars, and we know what we're doing.

Instead, that the GOP is attacking Kerry's VN record as as proof that he's a lying, preening, cowardly, baby-killer sack of shit tells me that they have little confidence in their record, and feel enormously threatened that they can't say (as they have in past elections) that the Democratic candidate cowers in fear when presented with national security crises or the prospect of sending the military into battle.

Gattigap

*Bilmore, I'd be curious to hear if his MN stop resembled at all other descriptions that are out there.

That's a good theory, except that Bush (a) has repeatedly commended Kerry for his service, (b) disavowed all 527 groups, and (c) has not commented on Swiftboatgate, and (d) despite Kerry's false accusations, is not affiliated in anyway with the Switftees.