IJ Reilly
Oct 12, 2004, 11:16 AM
I was impressed by the completely over-the-top character of this most recent Bush attack on Kerry. I mean, it really is despicable. But since Bush has made misrepresenting Kerry's views a cornerstone of his campaign, I wonder how this deliberate distortion will "backfire," as some suggest it might. If Bush's credibility hasn't been damaged by phony-baloney claims up this point, how is this one any different?
Democrats say Kerry's comment was taken out of context. Some analysts warn that the president's credibility could be damaged.
WASHINGTON — With a new advertisement that accuses Sen. John F. Kerry of viewing terrorism as a "nuisance," President Bush is continuing his push to depict his Democratic opponent in a harshly negative light.
But some analysts warned Monday that his campaign was playing loose with the facts — and that the attack could backfire.
The new ad, which began appearing late Sunday on national cable stations, has drawn protests from the Kerry campaign and other critics, who say the Bush camp took a line out of context from a recent newspaper interview with the Massachusetts senator.
...
"The Bush campaign did an effective job creating questions about Sen. Kerry's credibility that led them to a double-digit lead" in several national polls in early September, Fabrizio said. "But it would be a shame if that knife were turned on them because they pushed the envelope too far with ads like they released" Sunday.
Marshall Wittman, a former aide to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who is a registered independent and recently joined the Democratic Leadership Council, said of the new ad: "They want to demonize the opposition by any means necessary, and if that means distorting one sentence in an 11,000-word article, then so be it."
The Bush campaign staunchly defended the ad Monday as accurate. Titled "World View," it draws on Kerry's comments, published in the New York Times Sunday magazine, that his goal as president in waging war on terrorism would be to "get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance."
In the interview, Kerry drew parallels between his vision for the war and the way law enforcement battles intractable problems.
"As a former law enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution," Kerry was quoted as saying. "We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day."
In the Bush ad, a narrator says: "Now Kerry says we have to get back to the place where terrorists are a nuisance like gambling and prostitution. We're never going to end them."
"Terrorism a nuisance?" the narrator asks. "How can Kerry protect us when he doesn't understand the threat?"
The Kerry camp complained that the ad inaccurately indicated that he viewed terrorism in the present as a mere nuisance and unfairly suggested that he didn't take the threat seriously.
Kerry aides also noted that Bush himself had suggested that the fight against terrorism might have no fixed end. In a television interview in August, he said, "I don't think you can win it, but I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."
On the campaign trail Monday, Bush appeared to backtrack a bit from the new ad. He continued to criticize Kerry's choice of the word "nuisance," but noted that the Democrat had used it in the context of trying to diminish terrorism.
"Now just this weekend, Sen. Kerry talked of reducing terrorism to — quote — 'nuisance' — end quote — and compared it to prostitution and illegal gambling," Bush told a rally in Hobbs, N.M.
"See, I couldn't disagree more," the president said. "Our goal is not to reduce terror to some acceptable level of nuisance. Our goal is to defeat terror by staying on the offensive, destroying terrorists and spreading freedom and liberty around the world."
...
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-campaign12oct12,1,5360306.story
Democrats say Kerry's comment was taken out of context. Some analysts warn that the president's credibility could be damaged.
WASHINGTON — With a new advertisement that accuses Sen. John F. Kerry of viewing terrorism as a "nuisance," President Bush is continuing his push to depict his Democratic opponent in a harshly negative light.
But some analysts warned Monday that his campaign was playing loose with the facts — and that the attack could backfire.
The new ad, which began appearing late Sunday on national cable stations, has drawn protests from the Kerry campaign and other critics, who say the Bush camp took a line out of context from a recent newspaper interview with the Massachusetts senator.
...
"The Bush campaign did an effective job creating questions about Sen. Kerry's credibility that led them to a double-digit lead" in several national polls in early September, Fabrizio said. "But it would be a shame if that knife were turned on them because they pushed the envelope too far with ads like they released" Sunday.
Marshall Wittman, a former aide to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who is a registered independent and recently joined the Democratic Leadership Council, said of the new ad: "They want to demonize the opposition by any means necessary, and if that means distorting one sentence in an 11,000-word article, then so be it."
The Bush campaign staunchly defended the ad Monday as accurate. Titled "World View," it draws on Kerry's comments, published in the New York Times Sunday magazine, that his goal as president in waging war on terrorism would be to "get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance."
In the interview, Kerry drew parallels between his vision for the war and the way law enforcement battles intractable problems.
"As a former law enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution," Kerry was quoted as saying. "We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day."
In the Bush ad, a narrator says: "Now Kerry says we have to get back to the place where terrorists are a nuisance like gambling and prostitution. We're never going to end them."
"Terrorism a nuisance?" the narrator asks. "How can Kerry protect us when he doesn't understand the threat?"
The Kerry camp complained that the ad inaccurately indicated that he viewed terrorism in the present as a mere nuisance and unfairly suggested that he didn't take the threat seriously.
Kerry aides also noted that Bush himself had suggested that the fight against terrorism might have no fixed end. In a television interview in August, he said, "I don't think you can win it, but I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world."
On the campaign trail Monday, Bush appeared to backtrack a bit from the new ad. He continued to criticize Kerry's choice of the word "nuisance," but noted that the Democrat had used it in the context of trying to diminish terrorism.
"Now just this weekend, Sen. Kerry talked of reducing terrorism to — quote — 'nuisance' — end quote — and compared it to prostitution and illegal gambling," Bush told a rally in Hobbs, N.M.
"See, I couldn't disagree more," the president said. "Our goal is not to reduce terror to some acceptable level of nuisance. Our goal is to defeat terror by staying on the offensive, destroying terrorists and spreading freedom and liberty around the world."
...
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-campaign12oct12,1,5360306.story
