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Thursday, August 26, 2004
The third SwiftVets ad
The third SwiftVets ad is just Steve Gardner. Some have suggested that it's the least effective of the three so far.
I respectfully disagree. Some very large chunk of the American public hasn't been following this controversy at all, but early one meme from the Kerry camp that they likely absorbed was "None of these SwiftVets served on Kerry's boat." This ad is worth running just to decisively debunk that canard. It's not a bases-clearing home run, but it's a solid single through the gap between first and second that at least gets another man on base.
"Seared — seared" will be worth a commercial of its own — one with maps and animated graphics of the Vietnam-Cambodia border, hopefully, and some juicy example of the Kerry camp having backpedaled on that particular tale to contrast against the "seared" quote.
Posted by Beldar at 08:26 PM in Politics (2006 & earlier), SwiftVets | Permalink
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Comments
(1) Les Jones made the following comment | Aug 26, 2004 10:01:31 PM | Permalink
I think this is an important fill-in event. Like you say, it puts an SBVT member on Kerry's boat. It's also going to force the Kerry campaign to admit that Kerry has admitted he wasn't in Cambodia at Christmastime. As Fred Kaplan's Slate article demonstrated this week, not everyone has caught up that.
(2) Polaris made the following comment | Aug 26, 2004 10:09:05 PM | Permalink
Beldar,
I agree as well. The Cambodia canard is the one issue where the Main-Steam Media is firmly in agreement with the Swifties. However, Joe Voter might not realize this and it's incontravertable evidence that Kerry is deceitful by nature...unless it is specifically pointed out. It also adds to the SBVT's credibility which is probably needed as well.
(3) Dan S made the following comment | Aug 26, 2004 10:25:56 PM | Permalink
I tentatively agree. I admit to impatience though. The more I poke around in Kerry's history, the more I find that infuriates me.
I missed the news story a couple of months ago where Vietnam was still quoting Kerry's 1971 testimony as evidence of US war crimes there. If Kerry would flat disavow that testimony and admit it was lies, it would remove one favored element from their argument. That he is now a presidential candidate actually gives it MORE weight in foreign circles than it originally had.
I ranted on this for a while in a post just now.
Still not out of my system, I guess.
Grrr.
And the man says he cares about foreign respect for us!
(4) Polaris made the following comment | Aug 26, 2004 10:46:29 PM | Permalink
Dan,
I just have to say that yes...Kerry would get foreign respect. It's just not the kind of foreign respect we want or need. Had to get that off my chest.
(5) ed made the following comment | Aug 27, 2004 9:54:22 AM | Permalink
Hmmm.
The target of the ad wasn't Kerry. Instead the target was the MSM. Which hasn't carried much of this debate, hasn't investigated it and has done it's level best to debunk it.
What this ad does is bring the issue to the American populace and gives them the opportunity to ask "what the hell is this and why haven't I watched this on ABC, 60 minutes or read about it in the newspaper?".
(6) rhodeymark made the following comment | Aug 27, 2004 9:58:48 AM | Permalink
OK - yes I'm bored (day off, sun slow in coming out). Bobek: shouldn't you be on your way to NY dressed as something obscene?
(7) lyle made the following comment | Aug 27, 2004 11:46:55 AM | Permalink
Great point, Ed.
John O'Neill has prepared his case as a trial attorney with American voters in the jury box. Mainstream Media has acted as an obstructive, highly partisan judge.
Gardner's testimony plays past the judge to the jury. Now the judge has to deal with it and appear partisan, or hope that Kerry's defenders can impeach the witness.
A "seared-seared" ad would underline doubts about the defendant's credibility on an issue where the judge has already ruled.
We have never seen anything like this before.
(8) Todd made the following comment | Aug 27, 2004 1:58:48 PM | Permalink
I will add my agreement to others here that the ad is effective. I wrote to Jim Geraghty at "Kerry Spot" and told him that, too, although he obviously disagrees.
As I wrote to him, I think the ad boxes Kerry in. His campaign has already admitted that he wasn't in Cambodia, so this ad gives the Swift Vets credibility on that issue and undermines Kerry's own.
In addition, the presence of Gardner undercuts the "every man who served directly with Kerry supports him" canard.
The ad should have been longer and better set up, but it is a nice fill-in before the serious stuff starts. The one thing that John Kerry needs to understand is that the Swift Vets aren't going away. If they continue to pound him with another dozen ads between now and election day, they may well sink his candidacy.
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