Kerry Bashes "Swiftboating" of Obama
John Kerry spoke out against the "swiftboating" of Barack Obama on Tuesday, urging people to confront "disgusting lies" that continue to percolate about the Illinois Senator. "As someone who cares about winning this election and changing the country I love, I know it's not enough to complain about a past we can't change when our challenge is to win the future," said Kerry, in a strongly worded email to three million supporters of his 2004 presidential campaign. "We must stop the Swiftboating, stop the push-polling, stop the front groups, and stop the email chain smears," he continued, alluding to a false and bigoted email that continues to circulate about Obama, as The Nation's Chris Hayes first detailed in October. (The Clinton Campaign removed volunteers who were caught forwarding the email, and Clinton surrogate Bob Kerrey recently apologized to Obama after repeatedly making related remarks that gave the smears more airtime.) Kerry directed his supporters to "stand up for a new kind of politics" by visiting a new feature on Obama's website that enables people to beat back the smears. The request could also help the Obama Campaign harvest tens of thousands of valuable emails from activists and donors involved in the last general election.
The unusual plea comes amidst a series of dirty attacks against Obama. This week in South Carolina, CNN reported that misleading "push polls" were bashing Obama and promoting Hillary Clinton. Last week, a call was recorded in Nevada that stressed Obama's middle name, Hussein, a tactic that some operatives have used to appeal to bigoted sentiment and falsely suggest that Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a Christian, as his campaign is reminding voters in a YouTube video released on Tuesday.
While the email does not mention any other candidates, it coincides with Obama's new strategy of directly confronting "distortions" by both Clintons. A growing number of Democrats have been speaking out against Bill Clinton's recent remarks, which Obama supporter Sen. Dick Durbin likened to swiftboating, while more reporters are scrutinizing the former President's claims. On Tuesday, ABC News' Jake Tapper reported that Bill Clinton has been "spreading demonstrably false information," while Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn provided a rare conclusion for the political press: "Bill and Hillary Clinton have lied brazenly about Obama's recent statement about Ronald Reagan."
The swiftboating shows no signs of abating, but Obama is betting that many of John Kerry's supporters learned from the mistakes of 2004.
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To call the standard political bickering going on between the Clintons and Obama swiftboating is to show that you don't know what happened in the last election. Kerry makes trivial what happened to him by referring to this as swiftboating. I'm afraid the term will become so diluted in meaning that the scope of what stole the last election from the people will be disregarded.
As for what is going on now, Obamas should either go ahead and play the political gotcha's that the Clintons are playing or go back to what he preached last Fall. In either case, calling this the same thing as what happened to Kerry will only make what will happen if Obama gets the nomination less of a crime. And he'd better believe the neocons will commit crimes to steal the election. Welcome to the political world you hope to change, Senator Obama.
If this is what they think swiftboating is, Obama is in for a hell of a hangover once he loses the general election.
Senator Obama is not being "swiftboated" at all. Obama is clearly not telling all he knows about the Rezco affair and he trying to make out as if he barely knows him. Sounds like Bush with Ken Lay. Hopefully when Rezco's trial starts up the MSM (so in love with Saint Barack) will begin to give it to him the way he deserves.
Kerry didn't mount an effective defense against the lying swiftboaters and he lost. Maybe he thought the voters would see through the lies and ignore them. They didn't. At least Obama has the cojones to tell the Clinton Smear Machine where to stuff their lies.
what an enigma for the prograssiv
Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn provided a rare conclusion for the political press: "Bill and Hillary Clinton have lied brazenly about Obama's recent statement about Ronald Reagan."-e
What am I missing here. What I understand Obama's Reagan statement to mean is that in response to the country's desire for appropriate government accountability, clarity, a desire for optimism and a return to that dynamism and entrepreneurship, Reagan put the country on a fundamentally different path. In other words Obama is saying Reagan recognized the problems and frustrations felt by the nation and responded by turning the country in a new direction to address those concerns. ???? Isn't that commending Reagan for not only effective leadership but crediting him for an appropriate underlying motivation and execution.
How has Hillary or her surrogates twisted Obama's words? Obama was simply wrong giving undue credit to Reagan and then Obama lied and accused to defend himself. Reagan was a nightmare President. S & L deregulation, Iran/contra, massive budget deficits, massive corruption, racism...
The press does not require Obama to take responsibility for anything. Not even his words. Obama's defended his statement how Republicans for years were the party of ideas, by indicating he was not saying or implying good ideas.
Obama's words have no meaning if within the context of his speech he was really saying , "I think it's fair to say the Republicans were the party of (bad)ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last ten, fifteen years, in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom." -Obama
Hmmmmm, makes no sense that way does it? Yet Eric Zorn, yellow journalist, vociferously defends Obama against the "scurillous" attacks by the Clintons. Sometimes even the mighty Obama can be wrong.
Finally John "swiftboat" Kerry may not like Bob Johnson and his drug accusation but the fact is, in 2000 many liberal lawyers suggested that Bush's unconfirmed cocaine use might disqualify him from office. It is a felony, which often times disqualifies one from even voting for president.
Hey John, file this under things to do after you fight for every vote.
You were for responding to criticism of candidates before you were against it?
So maybe Kerry will stand up and support obama or will he chose the road the others in congress have done, wait until the nominee is chosen then support them?
This is the fun part!
i dont see any swiftboating cept from obamas side.
I wonder when Kerry will get around to disproving the claims of the Swiftboat Veterans. He's made the claim that he will disprove their tales, release his military records and win the $1 million wager for refuting their story.
I guess we'll have to keep waiting. If it was me I'd open up my military records and win the $1 million. Maybe a million dollars isn't enough money for him to release whatever embarrassing info is contained in his files.
Why didn't Clinton campaign for Kerry?
Maybe this quote w/touch you the same way it did me. Just replace the words Pakistan, with America.
("At this stage, we are in a state in Pakistan where so-called democratic forces are only interested in coming into office. So ultimately, they only prop up dictatorships," she told CNN from her home in Karachi.
She raised her voice as she described what she feels is the core of Pakistan's political problems: the lack of a true democratic culture. Instead, she said, the country is run by power grabbers.
"Ultimately to them, it's a game of revolving chairs. As long as they get to be in one, they don't care who's in the other one." )
Divide, conquer, rule, and then take the money-it is a common game played around the world. Take two factions (neither of them perfect) and then constatnly let them exchange power. Alsways blaiming the ills of the country on the last faction. It is too dangerous of a time to play this game right now.
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This is pure madness. It is a sad day in America. I have lived on this earth sixty plus years I haven't seen such Venom spewed in my life time, mostly because of an out of control former President, how pathetic.
Thank you John Kerry for being honest about the Clintons garbage campaign which is as repugnant as any republican smear campaign in living memory. The democratic party must be saved from the Clintons grasp.
Who knew that Hillary Clinton and her running mate Bill were this skilled at "swiftboating".
Hillary is polarizing, and there isn't any happy face her supporters can put on her that would mask this inimpeachable fact.
Even if Hillary got the nomination and won the presidency, it would be serious infighting in Congress, and the Democratic Party would not be more united, it would be more divided. The Clinton Swiftboating of Obama should give all of us a clue to what her presidency would look like.
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Posted January 22, 2008 | 08:16 PM (EST)