Dems Take Chance With 'Fortunate Son' Slam

[DrFunkenstein]

WASHINGTON - Seizing on 30-year-old memos and memories, Sen. John Kerry's operatives are painting an unflattering portrait of President Bush as the "fortunate son" who used family connections to dodge the Vietnam War and then lied about it.

The DNC has nicknamed its effort "Operation Fortunate Son" after a Creedence Clearwater Revival anti-war anthem from the 1960s. The song speaks of the privileged few, "born silver spoon in hand," who send others to war.

This time, Democrats are pressing media organizations to dig deeper while Kerry and his team make a broader argument about Bush's credibility and character. He misled the nation into war against Iraq, Kerry says. There are no weapons of mass destruction, no broad alliance as promised.

Bush promised fiscal discipline but ran up the debt. He promised education reforms but didn't pay for the changes. He promised to lower the price of prescription drugs, but the costs are higher — so say Democrats trying to make 30-year-old records relevant to this year's campaign.

"This is not about George Bush's service. It is about who he is and why he lied and continues to lie today," Wolfson said. "These guys are knee-deep in the big muddy."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&e=18&u=/ap/bush_fortunate_son

[Union Thug]

1. and the perfect 'chance' to take.. it's all true.

Nail the spoiled rotten little frat boy with this stuff.. go go go!

[Clinton Crusader]

2. alrighty then!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

:kick:

[Devil Dog Dem]

3. This is the campaign Kerry needs to run.

For those wobbly Dems who say that he shouldn't talk about Bush but should talk about "issues" I say: 1) Bush IS the issue; and 2) even if he isn't, the two aren't mutually exclusive and Kerry can and should talk about both.

[Clinton Crusader]

4. THEY have no problem ripping

Kerry's face off every chance they get, so I say all's fair in love and war. They set the tone, so we go with it.

GO GO GO!

:kick:

[IronLionZion]

5. screw Vietnam

enough already. Kerry should talk about the issues and make it very clear that his plans are beneficial and doable and Bush's plans don't even exist.

[Snow]

6. And there's another protest song reference "big muddy".

Pete Seger's lost his voice for the most part, but when he tried to sing Big Muddy on national TV during the Johnson administration he was blocked. The Smothers Brothers are still around, though.

[Eric J in MN]

9. blocked by whom? nt

nt

[Snow]

12. The TV network brass that carried the show....

if memory serves. If you curious, I'm sure I could google it readily & give a link or two. Those were the days!

[senseandsensibility]

7. Did he fight in bar near Yale?

Even that would surprise me. I thought he was a total wuss.

[DrFunkenstein]

14. Arrested Twice For Disorderly Conduct

December, 1966: Bush, after having "a few beers," stole a Christmas wreath from a hotel in New Haven Connecticut. Arrested for disorderly conduct.

1967: Bush is arrested for disorderly conduct when he storms onto the Princeton University football field, climbs onto the field goal crossbar, and tries to break off a piece as a souvenir.

http://www.blogd.com/bushrecord.html

WEST ALLIS, Wis. -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush said yesterday he was arrested and pleaded guilty nearly 25 years ago to driving while under the influence of alcohol. "I'm not proud of that," he said.

"I've oftentimes said that years ago I made some mistakes," Bush said. "I occasionally drank too much, and I did on that night. I regret that it happened," he said at a hurriedly arranged news conference here.

Bush said he has not detailed the 1976 incident previously because he has tried to keep his teenage daughters from driving while intoxicated, and did not want them to see him as a poor example. His daughters did not know about the incident until the news broke yesterday, he said.

Bush pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, paid a $150 fine and had his driving privileges suspended in Maine for a period of time that Hughes did not know. His drivers' license in Texas, where Bush lived at the time, was not revoked or suspended, said another spokeswoman, Mindy Tucker.

Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, 59, had two driving while intoxicated offenses when he was in his early 20s.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/dui03.shtml

[cheshire]

15. If you count the one his face lost to the pavement then yes.

[blondeatlast]

8. Time to resurrect the song--so effing true, and JFK COULD have

been one too.

He CHOSE not to.

[A_Possum]

10. They must really have to hunt...

for the disgruntled Kerry campaign advisor who will dutifully perform a back-stabbing on cue, and these voters who will be so disgusted by dirt that they won't even vote. Uh. Huh.

[DrFunkenstein]

11. This Is A Campaign About Values

Would you rather Kerry sit on his hands? I say "Bring it on." In the meantime, Kerry can keep hammering away on the issues personally.

But you have to realize that the 24 hour news cycles don't give a rat's ass about the issues, and if Kerry's people don't do this, the GOP will take about that cycle til the cows come home.

[A_Possum]

16. I have no idea what you are talking about

What I would "rather" is that anyone in Kerry's campaign didn't hand out nice RW talking point tidbits "anonymously" to the media so they can spin that whatever he's doing is the WRONG THING. I'm sick of that kind of backstabbing on our side.

How you got from there to me preferring Kerry to sit on his hands is beyond my logic.

On edit: This is what I'm talking about, from the article:

"Other Democrats, including a top Kerry adviser and a Midwest governor, said the strategy, combined with Bush's own negative tactics, could lead undecided voters not to vote — and most of them lean toward Kerry.

The senior Democrats spoke on condition of anonymity, not wanting to upset Kerry."

[eeyore]

13. Love it!

Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail To The Chief",
oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no senator's son,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no,

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman come to the door,
Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no millionaire's son.
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no.

Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give,
oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no military son,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one,

It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain't me, it ain't me,
I ain't no fortunate son, no no no,

- John C, Fogerty

[Sheldon Rowan]

17. God I hope they Dems go that way

They can walk and chew gum at the same time. The negative campaign is already underway, and the have to play. But they can do the issues part too.

Furthermore, you have to keep the message simple and repeat it a lot, but that doesn't mean you have to choose between domestic and foreign and leave one of them out completely.