There is so much real stuff to take Bush down, why put so much into AWOL!

[wndycty]

Please understand I think we should pursue and exploit any and every negative story about Bush, however we should not base everything on Bush's short comings, especially AWOL. I must admit I am bothered by the fact that so many DUers are putting so much emphasis on the documents that were released the other day. Hey hopefully the allegations in the documents will stick, but if they don't we have so much more to go after Bush on.

[still_one]

1. Hey, this is CBS that did this

come on, for a press that believes that Micahael Jackson is a more important story than the war in Iraq what do you expect

[wndycty]

2. Exactly. . .and let them defend it. . .

. . .for so many DUers to invest time to analyzing word processing programs, reviewing documents, et al, when Cheney is talking shit, Bush is lying about Kerry, etcc. We need to be helping Kerry get his message out not arguing whether or not documents were forged.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

3. "Why put so much into AWOL"?? Because THEY started this fight....

...by going after Kerry's Vietnam record. Going after FratBoy's military record is fair game. If Rove is such a "political genius", I have to wonder WHY they chose to try to minimize Kerry's war record...it just opened Pandara's Box.

Additionally, his sorry military record offers some insight into his character, something which his supporters have extolled as a virtue in the past. IMHO, his being AWOL is the KEY to going after FratBoy's entire career and decision-making ability.

[kentuck]

4. I agree, wndycty....

We waste valuable time on this issue and we have no idea if anything will come of it. We need to stick with the real issues - the war, leadership, jobs, healthcare, environment, etc...

[maine_raptor]

5. Agree wndycty

I just posted this response to vi5's 24 STINKING HOURS thread:


Back and Forth, Charges and Counter-Charges.

But the truth of those documents is there for all to see.

No matter how many times you wash it, a stained sheet will always show the stain.

People are common sense smart. He's a Rich Kid and Rich Kid's always get perks. No matter how they spin it, that's what a lot of voters will think and carry into the polls.

This race will be decided, not by any one big Bush Faux Pas, but by a thousand different things each of which is most important to a voter or group of voters.

My view of His AWOLness service record is this: It's just one paper cuts in a death by a thousand paper cuts.

[guitar man]

6. because

Everything else has been ignored by the media. The last time I did a search, I turned up ONE lonely story, form Nightline, on the PNAC. The fact is, no one in the "mainstream" will stay on message about all the crap these animals have pulled. If this is what we have, I say we run with it, for now anyway.

[Frodo]

7. One point there is correct. We shouldn't ahve put eggs in this basket.

The Ann Richards campaign warned us that they had looked in to it and there wasn't any "there" there.

Clinton/Gore had probably THE best oppo guys in the business and THEY chose not to run with it.

It may well be true, but if so it was covered up too well.

[wndycty]

9. Exactly. . .I do think the AWOL argument has merit, however

But we should not be putting all of our eggs in one basket.

[Frodo]

11. To be fair - WE are not. Kerry has only questioned

Bush's admitted records.

It's mostly here and on the blogs that the AWOL thing grew so large. Kerry has played it pretty well.

[thecrow]

8. Playing into this AWOL thing

is exactly the distraction Rove wants.
We need to be outing * on more important things, like the underfunding of Homeland Security, Social Security, deregulation, mountaintop mining, Iraq, Afghanistan, underfunding No Child Left Behind, healthcare, jobs, outsourcing, etc!!!
We all thought Abu Ghraib was the thing that would sink them.
Where has that gone?
And Valerie Plame?

[Brotherjohn]

10. I don't hear Kerry saying a word about it. Besides, they're on defense...

... for a while. And the Kerry campaign had to do nothing, had to spend nothing.

At worst, this will put the swift boat stuff to rest and make people mull over W's qualifications as "Commander In Chief" based on HIS experience (or lack thereof) during the Viet Nam War.

[Jacobin]

12. I agree completely

There are mounds and mounds of idiotic things, destructive things, stupid things that he has done and said, and awful consequences for each of them. Kerry seems to keep getting stuck going after stuff that doesn't resonate.

Stupidly run campaign, imho.

[bigtree]

13. They got coverage. They have distracted the public

from the Bush daily assault on our candidate. They have shifted news from Swiftlies without documentation, to Bush's denials which are being turned on their head with each documented revelation. The main effect is the diversion of Bushco from their constant harrange of Kerry to an unraveling defense of Bush's absence from duty. This should tie him up just long enough for our candidate to get some traction with his issue oriented offensive. The more questions that Bush has to answer on this score, the better for our candidate, at least in this short run. Kerry doesn't have to participate in this, just exploit the time now that Bush is distracted.