Anatomy of a Bush Smear (remember McCain!)

[spooked]

Here is Bush* giving his guys the ok to go negative, as long as he doesn't have to "do it on TV". This is the same method they are using to destroy Kerry.

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=mccain+bush+2000&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=1uvu3z7pwsc33.qxquc2tmsumc%24.dlg%4040tude.net&rnum=3

The Bush campaign in South Carolina took "the lowest road possible."
"Bush refused to stop what was going on." — John Weaver, former political director for John McCain

South Carolina, 2000: Bush Runs One of the "Nastiest Races in Recent
History"

Bush Team Planned Negative Strategy for South Carolina; Bush: "Y'all Have Done this Before. Let's Do it Again." After losing the New Hampshire primary to Sen. John McCain (R-A), Bush and his advisors convened a strategy meeting to plan the South Carolina campaign and settled on a negative theme. According to a Newsweek account of the meeting, "Bush went for a jog and, still dressed in running shorts, stuck his head into the meeting. 'We getting everything straightened out?' he asked with a grin. 'Y'all have done this before. Let's do it again.' The room filled with knowing laughs. Bush knew the drill: in 1988, after his father had lost in Iowa and barely survived in New Hampshire, his campaign had been rescued by going negative and driving hard right in South Carolina."

Bush Adviser Outlined Groups Needed To Coordinate Negative Campaign; Said of McCain: "We've got To Take This Guy Out." At the meeting Bush adviser Warren "Tompkins stood up in the motel room and ticked off the groups they needed to win: the Christian Coalition, the right-to-lifers, the evangelicals, the Southern Baptist Convention. 'We aren't going to pussyfoot around,' said Tompkins in his whispery voice. 'We play it different down here. We're not dainty, if you get my drift. We're used to playing rough.' McCain was coming up in the polls. 'We've got to take this guy out,' said Tompkins."

Bush Caught Bragging About Negative Attacks Against McCain; Bush: "I'm not going to do it on TV." During a campaign event in South Carolina, Bush was caught on overhead boom microphones discussing negative attacks on McCain with GOP State Senator Mike Fairs. Fairs said Bush "hasn't even hit soft spots." Bush replied, "I'm going to ... But I'm not going to do it on TV."

Examples of Negative Attacks on McCain in South Carolina:

Push Polls in South Carolina Called McCain "A Cheat, A Liar and A Fraud;" McCain Called on Bush to Stop Attacks. During a McCain town hall event in Spartanburg, South Carolina an attendee said her 14 year-old son received a push poll telephone call attacking McCain as "a cheat, a liar and a fraud."

McCain denounced the attack and said, "I can't believe that someone from a good family such as George Bush wouldn't stop this."

Bush Veteran's Event Targeted McCain; Surrogate Said "He Came Home. He Forgot Us." At a Bush campaign rally in Sumter, South Carolina, J. Thomas Burch Jr., chairman of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition attacked McCain's record on veteran's issues. "He has always opposed all the legislation, be it Agent Orange or Gulf war health care, or frankly, the POW-MIA issue -- he was the leading opponent in the Senate. He had the power to help these veterans. He came home. He forgot us," Burch said. The Washington Post reported, "Bush declined to either endorse or reject Burch's characterization of McCain's record in the House and Senate. 'You
need to ask them . What I stand by is that they have looked at both of us and they have chosen me to be the nominee. I'm proud of that.'" Bush responded that Burch was "entitled to his opinion."

McCain's Personal Life Criticized by Bush Supporter in Christian Magazine Edited by Bush Adviser. During the race for the South Carolina primary, McCain was criticized in World magazine, a newsweekly for evangelical Christians. After criticizing McCain's policy proposals, the article then questioned McCain's personal life, claiming that 20 years ago, "the 43-year-old former POW quickly fell in love with the 25-year-old cheerleader. She was rich, attractive and well connected." It said that McCain won his first election "despite charges of carpetbagging and buying the election." The article went on to say that "for all his dependence on
his wife's money, John McCain doesn't appear to be a particularly attentive husband," and brought up McCain's wife's past addiction to prescription drugs. The article was written by Bob Jones IV, a member of the family that founded the Christian fundamentalist Bob Jones University. World magazine's editor, Marvin Olasky, has been described as Bush's "revered intellectual guru" and as one of Bush's "closest advisers on religion." Bush has credited Olasky "with helping him craft his vision of 'compassionate
conservatism.'" American-Statesman, 2/17/00, 2/18/00; Salon, 2/25/00]

[NewHampshireDem]

1. No danger of that ... Kerry's new internet ad

http://www.johnkerry.com/video/console.php?video=082104_old_tricks#082104_old_tricks

[HEFFA]

2. It's stunning to me how short our collective American memory can be

John Fogarty's new song "Deja Vu All Over Again" is poignant on multiple levels.

I keep asking people, "Haven't we seen/heard this garbage before?"