The Art of Politics

Vets Gone Wild

Banned in 36 countries! Or if the Kerry campaign has it's way, at least one...

Deciding the best way to fight the fire developing around his campaign and criticism from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was to throw kerosene on it, the Kerry campaign has filed a complaint with the FEC.

Ignoring good advice to let the media fight on his behalf, the complaint alleges the Swift Vets have coordinated their efforts with the Bush campaign, which the Bush campaign vehemently denies, and which frankly the Kerry campaign has no proof of. This provides another headline, looks defensive, and keeps the story on the front burner. So why do it? The Kerry campaign has decided the best way to deal with this is to tie the Swift Vets ads to Bush, and then rail against the President about their fairness.

As we noted earlier, the media was disinclined to air the Swift Vets grievances, and we advised Kerry to let the media ignore the story. They did so, in fact much of the media ignored Christmas in Cambodia, and it wasn't until the Washington Post had enough material to create a skeptical article about the Swift Vets that they actually mentioned their existence.

The Swift Vets have released a new ad, and frankly, this television spot is far, far more damaging politically for Kerry. With the prior ad questioning the veracity of some of Kerry's wartime claims, the Kerry campaign was able to depend on corroborating testimony from other veterans to bolster Kerry's credibility and cast doubt on the Swift Vets accusations. The new advertisement, however, affords no such luxury, as it consists solely of veterans talking about Kerry's own statements that are audibly played throughout the commercial.

This ad, not the previous one, is the type most likely to unfloat Kerry's boat...

Posted by MEC2 at August 20, 2004 10:19 PM