Transcript Issues Ad: “George Bush. Denounce the smear. Get back to the issues.”
Washington, DC - With the Bush-Cheney campaign more intent on using its tired, old smear tactics than addressing the concerns of the American people, the Kerry-Edwards campaign Sunday unveiled a new television ad exposing the recycled Bush-Cheney attack campaign and urging the president to give the American people what they deserve – a discussion about the issues they face every day.
After four years of failed Bush policies, middle-class Americans are struggling. Good paying jobs have disappeared in record numbers. Health care costs have skyrocketed. American soldiers are fighting in Iraq, and America has failed to become as safe as we can be.
Yet even with so much work to do, the president is not talking about solutions. Instead, he and Karl Rove have flipped back to the well-worn smear page of their campaign playbook, last used against John McCain in 2000, and stood silent while their backers attack the service and honor of John Kerry and America’s veterans.
“This Bush backed smear is a case of Déjà vu for those who follow Rove and the president, but it is not what the American people deserve,” said Kerry-Edwards campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill. “John Kerry knows America can do better than lies and smear. That is why he and John Edwards have released a detailed plan to make America stronger at home and respected in the word. Their plan will strengthen the economy for middle-class families, create and keep good paying jobs in America, cut health care costs and make America stronger and more secure. That is what voters want to hear, not lies and smears, and it’s time the president realized that.”
In the 2000 Republican primary, then candidate Bush refused to disavow or condemn hateful and vicious attacks on McCain’s military record. The president is now doing the exact same thing – sitting silent while “Swift Boat Veterans for Bush” smear Kerry’s military service with proven lies.
Despite McCain calling the attacks on Kerry “dishonest and dishonorable,” Bush has yet to denounce them, just like he has yet to articulate his plan and vision for a second term.
“Issues”
TEXT OF AD:
John Kerry: “I’m John Kerry and I approve this message.”
Narrator: “American soldiers are fighting in Iraq.”
Narrator: “Families struggle to afford health care.”
Narrator: “Jobs heading overseas.”
Narrator: “Instead of solutions, George Bush’s campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry’s military record. Attacks called smears, lies. Sen. McCain calls them dishonest.”
Narrator: “Bush smeared John McCain four years ago. Now, he’s doing it to John Kerry.”
Narrator: “George Bush: Denounce the smear. Get back to the issues. America deserves better.”
JUST THE FACTS:
Narrator: “American soldiers are fighting in Iraq.”
“Iraq Troop Numbers to Stay at 138,000.” “U.S. troop strength in Iraq will remain at about 138,000 until the end of 2005, Pentagon officials said…The Pentagon plans to deploy 10,000 active-duty soldiers and Marines, and 37,000 National Guard and Reserve troops to Iraq to maintain the current force level in the country, officials said. Replacement troops are being lined up to relieve those whose tours of duty were extended last month because of intensified fighting, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said” [CNN.com, “Iraq Troop Numbers to Stay at 138,000” 5/4/04; cnn.com]
Narrator: “Families struggle to afford health care.”
More Than 43 Million Americans Lack Health Insurance Coverage – Including 3.7 Million Since Bush Took Office. Since George Bush took office, there are now 3.7 million more Americans who lack health insurance with a total of 43.6 million Americans not covered. When people lack insurance they frequently delay or forego care, leading to 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year. [US Census, Current Population Survey, 2002; Institute of Medicine, Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, 1/24/04]
1.5 Million Americans Have Lost Health Coverage through Their Employer On Bush’s Watch. During the first two years of the Bush Administration, 1.5 million workers lost health coverage through their jobs. The taxpayers picked up the slack with 1.3 million additional adults relying on Medicaid and state coverage during the same period.[Health Affairs, Jan/Feb. 04]
Narrator: “Jobs heading overseas.”
Bush’s 2004 Economic Report of the President: Outsourcing Makes Sense. “The report [signed by President Bush]…said that ‘when a good or service is produced more cheaply abroad, it makes more sense to import it than make or provide it domestically’.” [Washington Post, 2/13/04]
“Treasury Chief Defends Outsourcing of U.S. Work.” “John W. Snow, the Treasury secretary, said in an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer that the practice of moving American jobs to low-cost countries ‘is part of trade’ and that ‘there can't be any doubt about the fact that trade makes the economy stronger.’ Mr. Snow's comments, published on Tuesday, reflect a growing willingness by the Bush administration to defend global free trade even in hard-hit industrial states like Ohio that have lost tens of thousands of factory jobs and where many voters blame competition from countries like China and India for the loss. Mr. Snow was visiting Ohio to promote the White House's economic policies.” [New York Times, 3/31/04]
Chief White House Advisor Called Outsourcing a “Plus.” ”Mr. Snow's description of the role played by ‘outsourcing’ was reminiscent of remarks last month by N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Mr. Mankiw provoked an outpouring of angry protest, some of it from Republican lawmakers, when he also defended outsourcing as merely another form of international trade that was ultimately a ‘plus’ for the United States.” [New York Times, 3/31/04]
Narrator: “Instead of solutions, George Bush’s campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry’s military record. Attacks called smears, lies. Sen. McCain calls them dishonest.”
John McCain Says It’s Dishonest & Dishonorable—Same Thing That Happened to Him in 2000. “Republican Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called an ad criticizing John Kerry’s military service "dishonest and dishonorable" and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well. ‘It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me,’ McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to his bitter Republican primary fight with President Bush’.” [AP, 8/5/04]
AP: Florida Bush Headquarters Busted for Handing Out Swift Boat Material. “A volunteer for John Kerry said Friday he picked up a flier in Bush-Cheney headquarters in Gainesville, Fla., promoting Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group the Bush campaign has insisted for weeks it has no connection to. The Kerry campaign e-mailed the flier to news organizations Friday, declaring that the Bush-Cheney campaign was ‘busted’ for coordinating ‘in their smear campaign against John Kerry’.” [AP, 8/20/04]
• New York Times: Bush Family, Bush Political Aide Have Close Ties to These Ads. “In a series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush’s chief political aide, Karl Rove. Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush's father's presidential library. A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush's father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush's father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.” [NYT, 8/20/04]
• Dallas Morning News: “Veterans' Group Critical of Kerry Backed by Bush Supporter.” Bob Perry, a major supporter of President Bush and the Republican Party, is the biggest financial backer of a veterans group seeking to discredit Democrat John Kerry's military service, according to federal records. Perry, a Houston homebuilder, gave $100,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that has been critical of Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned from Vietnam. That accounted for two-thirds of the organization's receipts to date. [DMN, 7/23/04]
Narrator: “Bush smeared John McCain four years ago. Now, he’s doing it to John Kerry.”
Bush Waged Nasty Smear Campaign Against McCain in 2000
Rove Suggests Former POW McCain Committed Treason and Fathered Child With Black Prostitute. In 2000, McCain operatives in SC accused Rove of spreading rumors against McCain, such as “suggestions that McCain had committed treason while a prisoner of war, and had fathered a child by a black prostitute,” according to the New Yorker. [New Yorker, 5/12/03]
After Rove Denied Role In McCain Whisper Campaign, Reporters Concluded He Was Behind It. A December 1999 Dallas Morning News linked Rove to a series of campaign dirty tricks, including his College Republican efforts, allegedly starting a whisper campaign about Ann Richard being too gay-friendly, spreading stories about Jim Hightower’s involvement in a kickback scheme and leaking the educational history of Lena Guerrero. The article also outlined current dirty tricks and whisper campaigns against McCain in South Carolina, including that “McCain may be unstable as a result of being tortured while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.” (DMN, 12/2/99) After the article was published, Rove blasted Slater in the Manchester, NH airport, “nose to nose” according to one witness, with Rove claiming Slater had “harmed his reputation,” Slater later noted. But according to one witness, “What was interesting then is that everyone on the campaign charter concluded that Rove was responsible for rumors about McCain.” [The Nation, 3/5/01]
Rove Was In Close Touch With McConnell, McCain-Feingold’s Chief Opponent. Senior White House adviser Karl Rove was in close contact with Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during McConnell’s effort to fight the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Bill in the U.S. Senate. According to Newsweek, though Rove and Bush have publicly kept their distance from McConnell on the issue, “sources tell Newsweek that Rove is, in fact, in close touch with McConnell as GOP experts study the bill for hidden land mines.” [Newsweek, 2/25/02]
Bush Campaign Accused of Using Push Polls Against McCain. College of Charleston student Suzette Latsko said she received a telephone call from a woman who identified herself as an employee of Voter/Consumer Research, and that the caller misrepresented McCain’s positions and asked if Latsko knew McCain had been reprimanded for interfering with federal regulators in the savings and loan scandal. Voter/Consumer Research is listed as a polling contractor on Bush’s Federal Election Commission filings; the Bush campaign has paid Voter/Consumer Research $93,000 through December 31, 1999. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer denied the call was a push poll, but said it was important that the Republican Party remember McCain’s role in the S&L crisis. [Houston Chronicle, 2/8/00]
Bush Campaign Acknowledged Making Phone Calls. Tucker Eskew, Bush’s South Carolina spokesman, acknowledged the Bush campaign made such calls, but claimed they were not “push polls.” Eskew added, “Show me a baseless comment in those questions.” [Post and Courier, 2/8/00]
Bush Campaign Used Code Words to Question McCain’s Temper. “A smear campaign of the ugliest sort is now coursing through the contest for the presidency in 2000. Using the code word "temper," a group of Senate Republicans, and at least some outriders of the George W. Bush campaign, are spreading the word that John McCain is unstable. The subtext, also suggested in this whispering campaign, is that he returned from 5 1/2 years as a POW in North Vietnam with a loose screw. And it is bruited about that he shouldn't be entrusted with nuclear weapons.” [Drew op-ed, Washington Post, 11/19/99]
Bush Used Fringe Veterans Group to Attack McCain as “Manchurian Candidate.” “In the case of Ted Sampley, the same guy who did Bush's dirty work in going after Sen. John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries is doing the job against Kerry this year. Sampley dared compare McCain, who spent five years as a Vietnam POW, with ‘the Manchurian Candidate.’” [Dionne op-ed, Washington Post, 4/27/04]
Narrator: “George Bush: Denounce the smear. Get back to the issues. America deserves better.”
“Issues”
TEXT OF AD:
John Kerry: “I’m John Kerry and I approve this message.”
Narrator: “American soldiers are fighting in Iraq.”
Narrator: “Families struggle to afford health care.”
Narrator: “Jobs heading overseas.”
Narrator: “Instead of solutions, George Bush’s campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry’s military record. Attacks called smears, lies. Sen. McCain calls them dishonest.”
Narrator: “Bush smeared John McCain four years ago. Now, he’s doing it to John Kerry.”
Narrator: “George Bush: Denounce the smear. Get back to the issues. America deserves better.”
JUST THE FACTS:
Narrator: “American soldiers are fighting in Iraq.”
“Iraq Troop Numbers to Stay at 138,000.” “U.S. troop strength in Iraq will remain at about 138,000 until the end of 2005, Pentagon officials said…The Pentagon plans to deploy 10,000 active-duty soldiers and Marines, and 37,000 National Guard and Reserve troops to Iraq to maintain the current force level in the country, officials said. Replacement troops are being lined up to relieve those whose tours of duty were extended last month because of intensified fighting, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said” [CNN.com, “Iraq Troop Numbers to Stay at 138,000” 5/4/04; cnn.com]
Narrator: “Families struggle to afford health care.”
More Than 43 Million Americans Lack Health Insurance Coverage – Including 3.7 Million Since Bush Took Office. Since George Bush took office, there are now 3.7 million more Americans who lack health insurance with a total of 43.6 million Americans not covered. When people lack insurance they frequently delay or forego care, leading to 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year. [US Census, Current Population Survey, 2002; Institute of Medicine, Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, 1/24/04]
1.5 Million Americans Have Lost Health Coverage through Their Employer On Bush’s Watch. During the first two years of the Bush Administration, 1.5 million workers lost health coverage through their jobs. The taxpayers picked up the slack with 1.3 million additional adults relying on Medicaid and state coverage during the same period.[Health Affairs, Jan/Feb. 04]
Narrator: “Jobs heading overseas.”
Bush’s 2004 Economic Report of the President: Outsourcing Makes Sense. “The report [signed by President Bush]…said that ‘when a good or service is produced more cheaply abroad, it makes more sense to import it than make or provide it domestically’.” [Washington Post, 2/13/04]
“Treasury Chief Defends Outsourcing of U.S. Work.” “John W. Snow, the Treasury secretary, said in an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer that the practice of moving American jobs to low-cost countries ‘is part of trade’ and that ‘there can't be any doubt about the fact that trade makes the economy stronger.’ Mr. Snow's comments, published on Tuesday, reflect a growing willingness by the Bush administration to defend global free trade even in hard-hit industrial states like Ohio that have lost tens of thousands of factory jobs and where many voters blame competition from countries like China and India for the loss. Mr. Snow was visiting Ohio to promote the White House's economic policies.” [New York Times, 3/31/04]
Chief White House Advisor Called Outsourcing a “Plus.” ”Mr. Snow's description of the role played by ‘outsourcing’ was reminiscent of remarks last month by N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Mr. Mankiw provoked an outpouring of angry protest, some of it from Republican lawmakers, when he also defended outsourcing as merely another form of international trade that was ultimately a ‘plus’ for the United States.” [New York Times, 3/31/04]
Narrator: “Instead of solutions, George Bush’s campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry’s military record. Attacks called smears, lies. Sen. McCain calls them dishonest.”
John McCain Says It’s Dishonest & Dishonorable—Same Thing That Happened to Him in 2000. “Republican Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, called an ad criticizing John Kerry’s military service "dishonest and dishonorable" and urged the White House on Thursday to condemn it as well. ‘It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me,’ McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to his bitter Republican primary fight with President Bush’.” [AP, 8/5/04]
AP: Florida Bush Headquarters Busted for Handing Out Swift Boat Material. “A volunteer for John Kerry said Friday he picked up a flier in Bush-Cheney headquarters in Gainesville, Fla., promoting Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group the Bush campaign has insisted for weeks it has no connection to. The Kerry campaign e-mailed the flier to news organizations Friday, declaring that the Bush-Cheney campaign was ‘busted’ for coordinating ‘in their smear campaign against John Kerry’.” [AP, 8/20/04]
• New York Times: Bush Family, Bush Political Aide Have Close Ties to These Ads. “In a series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush’s chief political aide, Karl Rove. Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush's father's presidential library. A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush's father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush's father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.” [NYT, 8/20/04]
• Dallas Morning News: “Veterans' Group Critical of Kerry Backed by Bush Supporter.” Bob Perry, a major supporter of President Bush and the Republican Party, is the biggest financial backer of a veterans group seeking to discredit Democrat John Kerry's military service, according to federal records. Perry, a Houston homebuilder, gave $100,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that has been critical of Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned from Vietnam. That accounted for two-thirds of the organization's receipts to date. [DMN, 7/23/04]
Narrator: “Bush smeared John McCain four years ago. Now, he’s doing it to John Kerry.”
Bush Waged Nasty Smear Campaign Against McCain in 2000
Rove Suggests Former POW McCain Committed Treason and Fathered Child With Black Prostitute. In 2000, McCain operatives in SC accused Rove of spreading rumors against McCain, such as “suggestions that McCain had committed treason while a prisoner of war, and had fathered a child by a black prostitute,” according to the New Yorker. [New Yorker, 5/12/03]
After Rove Denied Role In McCain Whisper Campaign, Reporters Concluded He Was Behind It. A December 1999 Dallas Morning News linked Rove to a series of campaign dirty tricks, including his College Republican efforts, allegedly starting a whisper campaign about Ann Richard being too gay-friendly, spreading stories about Jim Hightower’s involvement in a kickback scheme and leaking the educational history of Lena Guerrero. The article also outlined current dirty tricks and whisper campaigns against McCain in South Carolina, including that “McCain may be unstable as a result of being tortured while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.” (DMN, 12/2/99) After the article was published, Rove blasted Slater in the Manchester, NH airport, “nose to nose” according to one witness, with Rove claiming Slater had “harmed his reputation,” Slater later noted. But according to one witness, “What was interesting then is that everyone on the campaign charter concluded that Rove was responsible for rumors about McCain.” [The Nation, 3/5/01]
Rove Was In Close Touch With McConnell, McCain-Feingold’s Chief Opponent. Senior White House adviser Karl Rove was in close contact with Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during McConnell’s effort to fight the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Bill in the U.S. Senate. According to Newsweek, though Rove and Bush have publicly kept their distance from McConnell on the issue, “sources tell Newsweek that Rove is, in fact, in close touch with McConnell as GOP experts study the bill for hidden land mines.” [Newsweek, 2/25/02]
Bush Campaign Accused of Using Push Polls Against McCain. College of Charleston student Suzette Latsko said she received a telephone call from a woman who identified herself as an employee of Voter/Consumer Research, and that the caller misrepresented McCain’s positions and asked if Latsko knew McCain had been reprimanded for interfering with federal regulators in the savings and loan scandal. Voter/Consumer Research is listed as a polling contractor on Bush’s Federal Election Commission filings; the Bush campaign has paid Voter/Consumer Research $93,000 through December 31, 1999. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer denied the call was a push poll, but said it was important that the Republican Party remember McCain’s role in the S&L crisis. [Houston Chronicle, 2/8/00]
Bush Campaign Acknowledged Making Phone Calls. Tucker Eskew, Bush’s South Carolina spokesman, acknowledged the Bush campaign made such calls, but claimed they were not “push polls.” Eskew added, “Show me a baseless comment in those questions.” [Post and Courier, 2/8/00]
Bush Campaign Used Code Words to Question McCain’s Temper. “A smear campaign of the ugliest sort is now coursing through the contest for the presidency in 2000. Using the code word "temper," a group of Senate Republicans, and at least some outriders of the George W. Bush campaign, are spreading the word that John McCain is unstable. The subtext, also suggested in this whispering campaign, is that he returned from 5 1/2 years as a POW in North Vietnam with a loose screw. And it is bruited about that he shouldn't be entrusted with nuclear weapons.” [Drew op-ed, Washington Post, 11/19/99]
Bush Used Fringe Veterans Group to Attack McCain as “Manchurian Candidate.” “In the case of Ted Sampley, the same guy who did Bush's dirty work in going after Sen. John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries is doing the job against Kerry this year. Sampley dared compare McCain, who spent five years as a Vietnam POW, with ‘the Manchurian Candidate.’” [Dionne op-ed, Washington Post, 4/27/04]
Narrator: “George Bush: Denounce the smear. Get back to the issues. America deserves better.” |
