What will * do for his own "Checkers Speech?"

[begin_within]

[Canuckistanian]

1. "Well, I'm gonna KEEP That Karl Rove"

[No Exit]

6. LOL! "The kids love the Rove." n/t

[crikkett]

2. great avatar! what's a checkers speech? n/t

[begin_within]

4. from Wikipedia...

The "Checkers speech" was a speech given by Richard Nixon on September 23, 1952, when he was the Republican candidate for the Vice Presidency. It was one of the first political uses of television to appeal directly to the populace.

Nixon, having been accused of accepting $18,000 in illegal campaign contributions, gave a live address to the nation in which he revealed the results of an independent audit that was conducted on his finances, exonerating him of any malfeasance. The money, he asserted, did not go to him for personal use, nor did it count as income, but rather as reimbursement for expenses. He followed with a complete financial history of his personal assets, finances, and debts, including his mortgages, life insurance, and loans, all of which had the effect of painting him as living a rather austere lifestyle. He denied that his wife Pat had a mink coat, instead she wore a "respectable Republican cloth coat." The one contribution he admitted receiving was from a Texas supporter who gave his family a cocker spaniel, which his daughter named "Checkers." Nixon admitted that this gift could be made into an issue by some, but maintained that he didn't care, stating "the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it."

Nixon then challenged Democratic Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson to give a similar public account of his finances, and attacked alleged corruption in the Truman administration. Furthermore he accused Truman's foreign policy of being a failure that led to the Korean War. He ended with an appeal to the public to wire and write to the Republican National Committee to give their advice on whether he should remain the Vice-Presidential nominee.

The speech was a resounding success. Nixon, who many expected to be dropped from the ticket, gained widespread sympathy and remained Eisenhower's running mate. The speech later became the subject of ridicule, being seen by many as a cheap ploy using a dog and irrelevant personal financial information to appeal to the emotions of the viewers.

[Benhurst]

5. An interesting footnote:

years later while living in California, the Nixons had to leave their house because of an approaching forest fire. They gathered up their most precious possessions and vacated the house.

Later in day, the house saved by a shift in the winds, disgusted fireman found Checkers chained outdoors behind the house.

[gauguin57]

3. Well, first of all, he'll call it a "Barney" speech instead of "Checkers"

And instead of "... they gave us a dog, and Tricia named it 'Checkers'", it'll be "Karl gave me this nifty microchip to be implanted in my alleged brain. That's all it is, just a little microchip. I'm not responsible for ANYTHING."

[NanceGreggs]

7. Which begs the question ...

... if Bush ever faces impeachment, will he go with the 'mentally incompetent to stand trial' defence?

[No Exit]

8. "Well, we're gonna keep the war."

NIXON: "One other thing I probably should tell you, because if I don't they'll probably be saying this about me, too. We did get something, a gift, after the election. A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore, saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel dog, in a crate that he had sent all the way from Texas, black and white, spotted, and our little girl Tricia, the six year old, named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it."<p>

BARBARA BUSH: "Some men up in Washington heard George on the radio mention the fact that our youngster, Georgie W., would like to have a war. And believe it or not, we soon got a message from Don Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, saying he had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little war, in a crate that they had sent all the way from Washington, red and white, smeared with blood, and our little boy Georgie W., whose mental age is six years old, named it "Operation Iraqi Freedom." And you know, the kid, like all kids, loves the war, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're going to keep the war."