Kevin Phillips said on NOW that the AWOL issue was HELPING Dems.

[girl gone mad]

He said that just having it out in the public arena, and having people talk about it was bad for Bush.

He also said that Bushs's AWOL is a huge isue, specifically because of the war in Iraq. IIRC, Phillips said Bush is the first war time President with no real military experience. Bush joined the TANG, but didn't even complete their minimal requirements. He never got any of the kind of rigorous military training that Kerry got, and has no personal war experience.

If anyone doubts that the GOP was behind the campaign to swiftly discredit the memos, think about what Phillips said. They know the AWOL story hurts Bush, so they moved to quickly shift the focus from Bush's poor performance in the National Guard to speculation on whether or not the memos are forgeries.

[JI7]

1. it still comes down to Kerry having gone to war, and Bush not

excluding partisan loyalists.

lets think about those who can easily vote for one or the other. when it comes to military service it still comes down to kerry having gone to war and serving in the military and bush not doing it.

[fearnobush]

2. Been saying this all along. Remember when the Freepers were freaking

out because O'Reilly and the media repugs were slamming the swift boat liars. It looked good, but the over all negative message was John Kerry Bad, Bad john Kerry. Same holds true for Bu$h.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mikehiggins]

5. A distinction can be made between the Chimp and Lincoln for example

The same with the others mentioned in a post earlier.

None of the men mentioned deliberately took us INTO a war that did not have to be fought, and which even the UN now states is illegal.

FDR may have maneuvered us into WWII but he didn't start it.

Lincoln may have led us through the Civil War but he didn't start it.

Bush started this war, and lied to everyone in earshot to do it.

If he had the kind of simple regard for the common grunt that most veterans gain from being in the foxholes, he would not have stranded a 135,000 american troops over there.

Just a point

[nuxvomica]

8. The underlying message is different for Bush*

His history shows no respect for military service and those who serve. The same cannot be said for Lincoln and FDR. Add his TANG "career" to his recent policies of ignoring military planning, reduced support for food, medical care and armour, "stop loss", etc. and you have a picture of a presidency almost hostile the military.
I think many in the service, their family and friends sense this and will respond accordingly in November.

[buycitgo]

9. Ha HA

people who know history know Lincoln served not once, not twice, but THREE different enlistments in the Illinois Militia

[girl gone mad]

14. I was trying to paraphrase Phillips,

but I'm not quite sure what the quote was. It sounded devastating, though I couldn't hope to put it as eloquently as he did. I think NOW gets rebroadcast on my local station tomorrow, and I'll record it. Or maybe there's a transcript online.

[AlCzervik]

4. If Kevin Phillips thinks it's hurting

than i believe it. He must know lots of the politcos that have told him about internal polling. Love his books.

[Joe Turner]

6. Bushs's AWOL is a huge isue.....because of the war in Iraq

I'm so glad to see this truth resonates with voters. I brought up this very point up with my republican brother recently as he spinned on about Bush and he didn't know what to say. In his heart of hearts he knew that if Bush was a democrat he'd be bashing Bush for being AWOL during Vietnam and therefore an unfit commander in chief in a war he started preemptively.

[buycitgo]

10. WHY DO YOU THINK the media and the pugs keep SAYING

that the issue hurts Kerry more than it does Bush?

pretty obvious that they want all the talk about his TANG record to stop, and this is a way to get the spotlight off him till they can find the latest publicity stunt to take everybody's eyes off this issue for good......something like a SMEAR against that sticks as well as the medals....nothing has worked yet since then, but they've been tryging hard: meeting with the N Vietnamese, meeting with the murder plotters during the Viet Vet protests; stuff like that

SOMETHING good for them will come along; if not that, oh, say a terra attack, or taking Osama out of the cooler

it's government by pubicity stunt; that's all it is, and the media will look where they're directed

[Lord_StarFyre]

7. ANYTHING that Hurts Der Stupor Furher

...is AOK with me...

[oasis]

11. Great pic of der Fuhrer.

[Lord_StarFyre]

12. :) Thank you

...I've had some spare time on my hands, and I've been doing stuff for Bartcop.

Here's another...

[Lord_StarFyre]

13. Or...

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. My goodness, you're on a role

those pics are great.

BTW: Welcome to DU :hi:

[noamnety]

22. LMAO at Rummy

My teenage daughter noticed that the largest meetup in our area was the vampire one. (?)

We were considering sending her and some friends undercover to a vampire meetup, with shirts that had Bush with Fangs and "Sucking the Life out of America" as a slogan.

a humble contribution to the thread:

[newyawker99]

17. LMAO!!!

This is a good one! :thumbsup:

[bushwakker]

16. Those saying the AWOL issue should be dropped are WRONG

I have been saying for 5-6 weeks now (since the SBL's began their assault on JK) that Bush should be attacked for his Guard service and that the attacks on Kerry's Vietnam sevice provided the perfect rationale for getting into the subject on Bush's "lost years". While the controversy over the authenticity of some of the CBS docs has given the RW some glee - the substance of the story remains and keeps an unflattering focus on Bush. In addition there is no real connection between JK and the docs so they can't hang a Dem Dirty Trick charge with any credibility.

[Clinton Crusader]

18. Why did he get such a rousing reception at Natl Guard??

I truly thought maybe THESE guys would see through all this crap and be polite at BEST, but there were hoops and hollers.

WHY?????

The guy is a fraud, a liar, a maniuplator and a freakin psychotic, and these National Guardsman cheered him like he was MacArthur.

I just dont get it AT ALL.
:kick:

[IdaBriggs]

20. The crowd was pre-screened -- again.

The guy in charge of who got in is a * supporter, so the screening thing was done again. (Hence the protests by the other national guard members outside.)

[many a good man]

19. He's right. People eat this stuff up.

The swing demographic that decides elections finds the rhetoric over issues too confusing so they vote based on perceptions of a candidate's character. They are also confused over the claims and counter-claims over each guy's character that they go by their gut instinct. And that's changeable up to the minute they pull the curtain.

Memogate wounded bush* only because it was a character issue and received wide press coverage. Plain and simple. The sorriest thing about it is the enormous power this phenomenon gives to the corporate media...

[Joe Chi Minh]

21. Repetition

It's also the constant raking over. It has an effect, particularly when it is just one of a whole slew of serious questions being raised. Drip, drip, drip.... There's no hiding place when the number reaches a certain level.

[SeekingTruth]

23. A different perspective...

I don't think it hurt Bush as much we'd like it to because for one it happened so long ago. Also, I think whether one likes it or not, regardless of party affilation, Americans generally do not like to see "their" President attacked for such things, especially during a war. Recall, Clinton's approval ratings when up when the impeachment hearings were going on.

Then there is the issue that more or less everyone already knows he got preferential treatment back then.

Where I do think it helped us was in making the Repugs answer the charges and kept them from their message for a time. Sadly, one of the biggest issues to fall along the wayside was that of making the repugs answer if the content was true. That, they have not done to this day.

[MissMarple]

24. They can't disprove the facts, and this is a character issue.

That's why I avoid the threads on font types or whatever. They are beside the point.