WP: Kerry Responds to Attack Ads

[UpInArms]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7573-2004Jul22.html

After nearly five months in which President Bush's ads have portrayed their man as a flip-flopping, tax-raising, soft-on-defense lawmaker who would fail to protect American troops and pregnant women, John F. Kerry's strategists have formulated a response.

It is embodied in an ad featuring running mate John Edwards, who says that anyone who doubts Kerry is a leader should "just spend three minutes with the men who served with him 30 years ago."

"That spot is intended to inoculate against the repeated attacks on Kerry's character," said Tad Devine, a senior strategist for the Massachusetts senator's presidential campaign. "The calculation on our part was that the best single answer was not a specific rebuttal but to provide a broad context on who Kerry is. We don't have to join their game."

...more (with a nice final paragraph)...

[JI7]

1. true, because they will lie and spin about everything and we can't answer

specifically to every single thing.

that was always kerry's thing. to get to show people who HE is so it's hard for people to believe that someone like him could do the things bush accuses him of.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

2. I've seen that ad several times already

I'm in Florida. Good ad...I like it.

[JI7]

3. it's one of the best ads ever

the Kerry biography ads are all very good like "heart" "husband and father" "born in colorado" etc and now this one with Edwards. i know they don't focus all that much on issues, but Kerry needs to get people to know who he is first so that way when he says something or criticizes bush it could be taken more seriously. when one knows that kerry is a vet and risked his life to save others it's hard to believe the bush attacks trying to claim kerry doesn't care about the troops. and the ads have been effective since they have prevented the bush attack ads from having too much affect.

i remember kerry went down in the polls a bit after the bush attack ads but his numbers went up again when he started running some of those biography ads.

[malachi]

19. Have seen the ad here in Philadelphia

Very good ad, positive, forceful. Completely unlike the shit flowing from the fetid mind of rove and co.

[cease_fire]

4. What they should say is...

"Mr. Bush, try running on your record instead of slinging mud at a War Hero who champions the environment"

[MODemocrat]

21. Bush running on his record,? that would be a classic

He has to try and ruin his opponents because he has nothing to offer.
So he slings mud instead. Nearly all lies.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. It's a good ad, but I'm ready for a couple of

ass-kickers! I've been imagining a rebuttal to the "priorities" attack ad listing key promises of Bush that he's renigged on such as NCLB. Highlighting flip-flops like DOHS and the 9/11 commission. Secrecy in policy planning with corporate interests at the forefront (energy meetings). The list goes on and on...manipulated EPA report on air quality around WTC, State Dept. report on terror, Medicaid reform costs, etc. etc. etc.

Not to mention concerted attacks on critics and innocents: Valerie Plame et al, Paul O'Neill, Scott Ritter, Richard Clarke, ...

It's time to run a couple of those, IMO.

[thecrow]

6. But not everyone has access

to people who have known Kerry.
But everyone has heard Bush spouting off for years and many people "Stand by the pResident" because he has "been there for us in this War on Terra" and that's why Kerry needs an outstanding message against Smirky that will echo in their heads.
I watched Bill Maher last night on Larry King and the one thing that echoed in my head was Smirky just sitting there after he was told about the 2nd plane on 9-11. He kept saying it, mimicking it, etc. and it stuck. He even did a choice thing with "react and DO something to save the country" (in this nuclear age) or sit there and do nothing. That was really effective!
That's the kind of thing Kerry needs to do. He could do it and still keep his a positive message, say, for example,
"WHEN I am elected president, I will never sit still during an emergency" or something like that.
He should stop saying IF elected and start saying WHEN elected as well.

[hyphenate]

7. You know,

THAT would be THE best ad to EVER come out of the campaign. Can you see it now? Take the same footage of the idiot just staring into space, and run a timer in the corner to show how much time elapses. No one even needs to say anything except for the setup, indicating where the footage originated, and then at the end, something like:

"the man says he's a war president, but he can't even formulate an initial response except to sit there and look stupid."

Something along the line to show the TRUE nature of the chimp.

[wishlist]

10. I saw a great ad by Move.on but it only ran one time here in N.C.

About a week ago a fantastic ad by move.on.org ran showing people talking around a table and refuting some of the Bush charges and going negative on Bush. I thought it was great but I only saw it once compared to dozens of the Bush and Kerry ads.

[fob]

20. It should be a SERIES of 30 second ads that covers the entire

time from 9:06 - 9:16 10 minutes, 20 ads (I looked at one of the 911 timeline sites and they show 10 minutes from 9:06 am - 9:16 am)

Voiceover by JK: I'm John Kerry and while I approve this ad, I don't approve of the Commander In Chief's response to hearing America was under attack...

Fade from black to shot of Andrew Card walking up to shrub* in the Sarasota classroom. Card's alleged statement shows on screen, “A second plane hit the other tower, and America's under ATTACK.”

bush* just sitting there...

A timer should be in the upper righthand corner like the sports ticker. It should be running form 9:06:00 to 9:06:30 seconds for the 1st commercial. Maybe it could have other stats to like: Planes Hijacked at this time: 4
Planes crashed at this time: 2
Planes still in air at this time : 2

The second commercial will start out the same way:

Voiceover by JK: I'm John Kerry and while I approve this ad, I don't approve of the Commander In Chief's response to hearing America was under attack...

Time 9:06:31 to 9:07:00

Mabye add some VO like; Why doesn't he do something? Anything?

Each sebsequent 30 second spot can have VO questions that ask why he put all those kids and people in harms way, where is the other footage from this photo-op, base locations and intercept times, discuss the call to order shoot down that bush*co says was hampered by phone reception (maybe if they acted sooner the lines would not have been so jammed up - not like we buy that line of bs anyway)

Or this;

CNN reported in 1999, “Only the president has the authority to order a civilian aircraft shot down.” ( CNN, 10/26/99 ) The pilot of one of the planes flying to catch Flight 175 notes that it wouldn't have mattered if he caught up with it, because only Bush could order a shootdown, and Bush is at a public event at the time. ( Cape Cod Times, 8/21/02 )



Maybe the STATS block can show the different flight #'s with their status like;
Flight 11 - 8:46:26 a.m: hits the WTC North Tower (In Solid RED)
Flight 175 - 9:02:54 a.m.: hits the WTC South Tower (In Solid RED)
Flight 93 - 9:16 a.m. FAA informs NORAD that Flight 93 may have been hijacked - (Note that with the bush* inaction counter this will appear in the LAST commercial and should FLASH IN RED!!
Flight 77 - 9:38 a.m.: crashes into the Pentagon (By end of series should switch from solid ORANGE to flashing RED)

[Catfight]

That's brilliant, because Bush does react slow, to EVERYTHING.

Kerry would boast his numbers if he pounded home that Bush is always a day late, a billion dollars short, AWOL, and irresponsible as a leader.

[Catfight]

11. That's brilliant, because Bush does react slow, to EVERYTHING.

Kerry would boast his numbers if he pounded home that Bush is always a day late, a billion dollars short, AWOL, and irresponsible as a leader.

[Catfight]

8. I won't get to spend three minutes with men who served with him.

I found this ad boring. John Kerry needs to be talking to his ad campaigners and saying, "we can do better," because so far, I haven't heard anything refuting Bush's nasty attack ads that are full of lies. We've offered many great ideas for ads on DU and we keep getting snooze ads. ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzz.

[w4rma]

9. These articles seem to enjoy repeating the GOP talking points. (nt)

[liveoaktx]

12. Act as his surrogate, locally

Bush has his surrogates endlessly repeating the negative about Kerry. Why not take out an ad in the local paper (sure to be published) with the debunking points of the lies Bush tells? If flip-flops are the biggest sticking point, put in an explanation yourself. I'm going to put some classified ads in with only a few lines, like Bush against Lawyers? He would have been one had not UT Law School rejected him or Bush ALSO threatened to veto the 89 billion dollars if any of it was a loan-didn't he care about the troops or our budget?

[johnnie]

13. The ONLY thing I can say good about the Bush ads is

When they end them with that "John Kerry has his priorities, are they yours?" I get to say "Yup", and feel good about it.

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. I do that too

LOL

And there is no doubt that Kerry's priorities are a lot closer to mine, than W's ever will be.

[sniffa]

14. wonderfuL

i've been jonesing for the next instaLLment of the hate maiLbag.

woot! :D

[Nimrod]

15. Something a little spooky

I live in Seattle, I don't know if it's the same anywhere else. On a standard night of TV watching - which admittedly doesn't amount to that much - I see three ad spots for Bush. (Actually let me correct that: I have yet to see a single ad spot FOR Bush, but I see three ad spots flaming Kerry.)

I have seen exactly *one* 30-second spot in support of Kerry in the last month. Must be that librul controlled media at work??

That aside, I do think Kerry should take the high ground. The repubs are throwing eggs trying to further distract Americans from the issues at hand, and Kerry trying to retaliate or directly respond would just send this whole mess spiraling down even further. I seriously think the Dems should just present our candidate and where he stands on the issues, and ignore the rethugs no matter how many raspberries they blow.

As I said before I haven't seen a single ad spot that says anything at all about Bush, it's all Freeper flames against Kerry. If Kerry actually presents *himself* in his ads that will make him the only one saying "Here's who *I* am".

[Frances]

17. Good points

I agree that it's best for Kerry to take the high road. Kerry's ads are designed to define him and his life story is a good one.

Let MoveOn and other groups run the negative ads against Bush.

[Heddi]

23. I live in Seattle too

and maybe we're not watching the same channels. Every afternoon I watch Ch. 7 news, and there's at least 3 Kerry commercials between the 5:30-6:30 time the news is on, every day.

I actually remarked to my husband yesterday that it's been at least a month or more since I've seen any Bush-sponsored or even pro-Bush ads on TV.

I don't watch channels 4 & 5 that much, but when I do (usually watching evening news) I don't see any bush ads on those channels either, but then again, I rarely watch those channels to begin with :shrug:

[Bandit]

16. How they will reply to that ad is by saying take an extra minute

and talk to the (hundred) war veterans who served with Kerry who say he is a very bad leader. It would be all those who signed a letter saying they served with Kerry but actually didn't, just in the same unit at a later date if even they did that. They have no shame or know what the truth really is. They have lied so much they no longer recognize the truth.

[molly]

22. Be prepared for that other group of vets sponsored

by the rw showing up on the talk shows again.

[mandelion]

24. I wish I could see any ads

I live in South Texas and am an avid participant in online political surveys. I would love to see some of the Kerry ads I voted for yet I know I have seen some of the Bush ads I voted against.

It's frustrating. I saw an amazingly done commercial for the Kerry campaign a few months ago. It was a man who looked like he was lying down on a morgue table. Yet he wasn't; he was getting a massage. It was about how those of extreme privledge are milking the working class. I loved the ad, stated it was moving and attention getting.

I haven't seen it on the air but of course I saw the Bush hate filled ads everywhere. Texas is notorious for the mudslinging (remember Richards/Williams any locals?) but damn, I never see any Democrat ads.