Kerry on the Swiftboating of Obama....

[Windy]

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=273904

KERRY BASHES "SWIFTBOATING" OF OBAMA...John Kerry spoke out against the "swiftboating" of Barack Obama on Tuesday, urging people to confront "disgusting lies" that continue to percolate about the Illinois Senator. "As someone who cares about winning this election and changing the country I love, I know it's not enough to complain about a past we can't change when our challenge is to win the future," said Kerry, in a strongly worded email to three million supporters of his 2004 presidential campaign. "We must stop the Swiftboating, stop the push-polling, stop the front groups, and stop the email chain smears," he continued, alluding to a false and bigoted email that continues to circulate about Obama, as The Nation's Chris Hayes first detailed in October. (The Clinton Campaign removed volunteers who were caught forwarding the email, and Clinton surrogate Bob Kerrey recently apologized to Obama after repeatedly making related remarks that gave the smears more airtime.) Kerry directed his supporters to "stand up for a new kind of politics" by visiting a new feature on Obama's website that enables people to beat back the smears. The request could also help the Obama Campaign harvest tens of thousands of valuable emails from activists and donors involved in the last general election.



The unusual plea comes amidst a series of dirty attacks against Obama. This week in South Carolina, CNN reported that misleading "push polls" were bashing Obama and promoting Hillary Clinton. Last week, a call was recorded in Nevada that stressed Obama's middle name, Hussein, a tactic that some operatives have used to appeal to bigoted sentiment and falsely suggest that Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a Christian, as his campaign is reminding voters in a YouTube video released on Tuesday.

While the email does not mention any other candidates, it coincides with Obama's new strategy of directly confronting "distortions" by both Clintons. A growing number of Democrats have been speaking out against Bill Clinton's recent remarks, which Obama supporter Sen. Dick Durbin likened to swiftboating, while more reporters are scrutinizing the former President's claims. On Tuesday, ABC News' Jake Tapper reported that Bill Clinton has been "spreading demonstrably false information," while Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn provided a rare conclusion for the political press: "Bill and Hillary Clinton have lied brazenly about Obama's recent statement about Ronald Reagan."

The swiftboating shows no signs of abating, but Obama is betting that many of John Kerry's supporters learned from the mistakes of 2004.

[H2O Man]

1. Interesting.

Thanks for posting this.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Clinton is swiftboating ... Obama merely has overzealous campaigners

Everybody knows that the Clintons are evil. All the Obama supporters say so -- and they wouldn't lie.

:eyes:

--p!

[Windy]

3. Take off the blinders and read the article! nt

[Dogmudgeon]

8. I did read the article

Not everyone accepts a blogger's gossip as the God's honest Truth. Why should I trust Ari Melber's spin more than the candidates' original statements? (ALL the candidates, and Obama and Clinton alike.)

And did YOU read the article?

(The Clinton Campaign removed volunteers who were caught forwarding the email, and Clinton surrogate Bob Kerrey recently apologized to Obama after repeatedly making related remarks that gave the smears more airtime.)

That kind of puts all the accusations in perspective, doesn't it?

It's gossip from people with grudges against the Clintons, and you've bought it.

Worse yet, Obama appears to be buying it, too. And when you start believing and repeating the hyperbole your surrogates are indulging in ("Hillary will do anything to win"), it's usually a sign of big trouble.

--p!

[BlueIris]

4. K&R.

[madrchsod]

5. john`s actually going to use his "swift boat tactics"

against the "enemies" of the democrats this election campaign...."let the bodies hit the floor"

[Inuca]

6. What exactly does that mean? n/t

[msongs]

7. so john kerry FINALLY starts fighting on behalf of a prez candidate, 4 years too late nt

[pberq]

9. Recommended

The gloves have come off because the powers that be have made their choice, and they are not going to let anything stand in their way.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=328345


The Oligarchy Has Picked Its Candidate!
by Stephen Fleischman | Dec 27 2007



The wreckage caused by the Republicans and the Bush Administration is even too much for the corporate oligarchy to take. Although Republicans have usually been their favored party, they now want a Democrat in the White House and they want that Democrat to be Hillary Clinton.

The Hillary-Bill combo has worked for the oligarchy before and will work for it again. They've been tried, tested, and vetted to carry forward the oligarch agenda. Our two-party system pays close attention to the dressing of democracy; there always has to be a choice, a Tweedledee and a Tweedledum and always a way to vote for a lesser of two evils -- which, unfortunately, becomes the evil of two lessers. Through the strategy of triangulation, the Clintons have achieved the strangulation of the democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Where are you, Dick Morris, now that the Clintons need you again?

The running dogs (the fourth estate) have gotten the message and you can hear the slow build of their howl. They can stage a mighty convincing horse race. But the election is already being fixed, as it was stolen in 2000 and 2004.

That's capitalism, for you. Its nature is to show the appearance of democracy, masking the actuality of oligarchic control, while robbing the working class of the surplus value it creates. The Clintons have proven they can do the oligarchy's dirty work when called upon to do it. They will get the prize money for services rendered.

So, let's follow the money.

The Military Industrial Complex is a Member of the Oligarchy (MOTO). This year, the war industry, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics, to name a few, has shelled out more money to Democratic candidates than to Republicans, and Hillary has gotten the lion's share of that. The manipulators of power always hedge their bets. They play both sided against the middle.

more...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/11759