devastating ad from Bush...when will Kerry use Bush's flip flops

[private_ryan]

anyone who doesn't think this ad http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6116193/ is effective, needs a reality check. The question, is when Kerry going to use Bush's own contradictions in the same way Bush is? At least it can neutralize the flip-flop label as people are reminded that all politicians do that.

[grannylib]

1. Been wondering that for months now! Bush is not only the flip-flopper in

chief, he's also the biggest just plain FLOP, EVER....
They have GOT to start jumping on this cretin and calling him for what he is!
Inconsistent, waffling, lying, spinning, off-in-la-la-land....
The little fucker.
God, I want so much for this nation and this world to be RID OF HIM AND HIS ILK!
Lord Mayor of London said that the Chimp was the biggest threat to life on this planet, and he's absolutely right.

[Cocoa]

2. at the debates maybe

[Sensitivity]

3. Kerry probably has to tell Bush to his face to stop lying about his

position on Iraq and the war on terror.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. Kerry wouldn't have to change his mind

if Bush hadn't kept changing his story.

1) First BUSH asked for permission to go to war as a last resort because he thought Iraq had WMD's (at least that's what he SAID).

2) But then he didn't let the UN inspectors finish their job, WMD's hadn't been found, and Bush sent us to war anyway.

3) Then he asked for $87 Billion to fund the war that he never should have started. Kerry was willing to vote for the bill that provided $60 Billion with restrictions, but Bush wanted the bill with $87 Billion without restrictions. Kerry voted against it. That's where the "I voted for it before I voted against it" statement came from.

They've taken everything Kerry's said out of context and left people thinking "When did Kerry say THAT?". If we knew, as when Chris Matthews exposed their creative editing, Kerry's statements make perfectly good sense. Sorry it can't all be reduced to a sound bite. Hopefully the debates will help. Bush is such a liar, I don't see how he can get through 3 of them without some serious fuck-ups.

[BootinUp]

4. Parsing words out of context is not all that effective

in my opinion. Anyone that gives Kerry half a listen will see this is bullshit. Now if you have been living in a cave for a year and watch that ad, it might have a strong effect on you.

[Snivi Yllom]

5. that's a very tough ad

and frankly, Kerry's postions on this has been all over the place, unlike say someone like Gov. Dean.

Im not sure how Kerry defends himself against this other than going on offense.

[BootinUp]

6. Kerry has not been all over the place.

He agreed with many and wanted to disarm Sadaam Hussein, he did not favor doing that by using unilateral force. What is not clear?

[Minimus]

21. huh?

molly ivins are you a deanocrat?

[Snivi Yllom]

28. not sure

what a deanocrat is

but

I am finding it harder and harder not to bite my tongue

[bagnana]

23. that is not true.

Kerry voted to give authority to use force if Saddam did not disarm. He was consistent about it and at the time said he expected the Pres. to go to the UN and go in, if at all, with a UN coalition behind him. The pres. did it w/o the UN. He lied. He said "sometimes you have to have authority to use force to keep the peace." He said that!! I wish dems would remember this before they jump on the bandwagon about Kerry being inconsistent. He thought disarming Saddam was a good idea. Is that so radical? If anyone else had been president, Saddam would probably have been disarmed and we would have avoided the war. But Kerry didn't know at the time he signed that bill that we have a warmongering evildoer as President.

[Onlooker]

7. That is a very powerful ad, but not to worry ...

I'm sure MoveOn or the Democrat Party will come out with some light ad that gently slaps Mr. Bush on the wrist. They should do the exact same ad, but with Bush words, instead of Kerry's, and make the ad about how the Repugs are distortionists!

[Mick Knox]

15. They did one

That add showing * talking about how great it was in Iraq and Mission Accomplished, etc was a good powerful ad.

They need to do more.

[liberalpragmatist]

8. KERRY Should Immediately Respond With an Ad Like THIS:

Show scenes of fighting in Iraq, and instability, then have a Kerry voiceover.

"When the President chose to go to war, I had my doubts. It was clear that we had not built a true coalition or given inspectors enough time to complete the work. But when the President of the United States told the country he had to go to war to protect us, I supported his decision because I wanted to believe, like so many of you, that I could trust the President of the United States. That was a mistake. George W. Bush abused the trust of the American people and abused the trust of Congress. He mislead the United States on the reasons for invading, and it is now clear that every one of the reasons he cited was bogus. Isn't it clear by now that launching this war was a mistake? Do you want four more years of the reckless, untruthful Bush presidency? Vote for a change. Vote for John Kerry."

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. Yeah, I think Kerry should flat out call a lie a lie

They can say Kerry "flip flops" if they want. I think he changes his mind when he gets new information. If we never changed our mind, even when given new information, we would all still believe in Santa Claus.

[sandersadu]

16. Great Ad

That's a great ad. I wish the creatively-challenged Kerry campaign would hire liberalpragmatist as a consultant.

That commercial should have been done months ago.

[Mick Knox]

10. It is a tough ad

It makes Kerry look terrible.

[Disturbed]

14. Ads?

Undecided voters?

Nobody knows.

Pick three top Flip Flops.

President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief
September 2, 2004

From the beginning, George W. Bush has made his own credibility a central issue. On 10/11/00, then-Gov. Bush said: "I think credibility is important.It is going to be important for the president to be credible with Congress, important for the president to be credible with foreign nations." But President Bush's serial flip-flopping raises serious questions about whether Congress and foreign leaders can rely on what he says.

1. Social Security Surplus
BUSH PLEDGES NOT TO TOUCH SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS... "We're going to keep the promise of Social Security and keep the government from raiding the Social Security surplus."
...BUSH SPENDS SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS The New York Times reported that "the president's new budget uses Social Security surpluses to pay for other programs every year through 2013, ultimately diverting more than $1.4 trillion in Social Security funds to other purposes."

2. Patient's Right to Sue
GOVERNOR BUSH VETOES PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "Despite his campaign rhetoric in favor of a patients' bill of rights, Bush fought such a bill tooth and nail as Texas governor, vetoing a bill coauthored by Republican state Rep. John Smithee in 1995. He... constantly opposed a patient's right to sue an HMO over coverage denied that resulted in adverse health <http://searchmiracle.com/text/search.php?qq=Health> effects."

...CANDIDATE BUSH PRAISES TEXAS PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "We're one of the first states that said you can sue an HMO for denying you proper coverage... It's time for our nation to come together and do what's right for the people. And I think this is right for the people. You know, I support a national patients' bill of rights, Mr. Vice President. And I want all people covered. I don't want the law to supersede good law like we've got in Texas."

...PRESIDENT BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION ARGUES AGAINST RIGHT TO SUE "To let two Texas consumers, Juan Davila and Ruby R. Calad, sue their managed-care companies for wrongful denials of medical benefits ‘would be to completely undermine' federal law regulating employee benefits, Assistant Solicitor General James A. Feldman said at oral argument March 23. Moreover, the administration's brief attacked the policy rationale for Texas's law, which is similar to statutes on the books in nine other states."

3. Tobacco Buyout
BUSH SUPPORTS CURRENT TOBACCO FARMERS' QUOTA SYSTEM... "They've got the quota system in place -- the allotment system -- and I don't think that needs to be changed."
...BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL SUPPORT FEDERAL BUYOUT OF TOBACCO QUOTAS "The administration is open to a buyout."

4. North Korea
BUSH WILL NOT OFFER NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA INCENTIVES TO DISARM... "We developed a bold approach under which, if the North addressed our long-standing concerns, the United States was prepared to take important steps that would have significantly improved the lives of the North Korean people. Now that North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program has come to light, we are unable to pursue this approach." <PRESIDENT'S 02 15 11 Statement,

...BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFERS NORTH KOREA INCENTIVES TO DISARM"Well, we will work to take steps to ease their political and economic isolation. So there would be -- what you would see would be some provisional or temporary proposals that would only lead to lasting benefit after North Korea dismantles its nuclear programs. So there would be some provisional or temporary efforts of that nature."

5. Abortion
BUSH SUPPORTS A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE... "Bush said he...favors leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question."
...BUSH OPPOSES A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE "I am pro-life."

6. OPEC
BUSH PROMISES TO FORCE OPEC TO LOWER PRICES... "What I think the president ought to do is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots...And the president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price."

...BUSH REFUSES TO LOBBY OPEC LEADERS With gas prices soaring in the United States at the beginning of 2004, the Miami Herald reported the president refused to "personally lobby oil cartel leaders to change their minds."

7. Iraq Funding
BUSH SPOKESMAN DENIES NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE REST OF 2004... "We do not anticipate requesting supplemental funding for '04"

...BUSH REQUESTS ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR IRAQ FOR 2004 "I am requesting that Congress establish a $25 billion contingency reserve fund for the coming fiscal year to meet all commitments to our troops."

8. Condoleeza Rice Testimony
BUSH SPOKESMAN SAYS RICE WON'T TESTIFY AS 'A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE'... "Again, this is not her personal preference; this goes back to a matter of principle. There is a separation of powers issue involved here. Historically, White House staffers do not testify before legislative bodies. So it's a matter of principle, not a matter of preference."

...BUSH ORDERS RICE TO TESTIFY: "Today I have informed the Commission on Terrorist Attacks Against the United States that my National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, will provide public testimony."

9. Science
BUSH PLEDGES TO ISSUE REGULATIONS BASED ON SCIENCE..."I think we ought to have high standards set by agencies that rely upon science, not by what may feel good or what sounds good."

...BUSH ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS IGNORE SCIENCE "60 leading scientists-including Nobel laureates, leading medical experts, former federal agency directors and university chairs and presidents-issued a statement calling for regulatory and legislative action to restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking. According to the scientists, the Bush administration has, among other abuses, suppressed and distorted scientific anal <http://searchmiracle.com/text/search.php?qq=anal>ysis from federal agencies, and taken actions that have undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels."

10. Ahmed Chalabi
BUSH INVITES CHALABI TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS...President Bush also met with Chalabi during his brief trip to Iraq last Thanksgiving

...BUSH MILITARY ASSISTS IN RAID OF CHALABI'S HOUSE "U.S. soldiers
raided the home of America's one-time ally Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday and seized documents and computers <http://searchmiracle.com/text/search.php?qq=Computers>."

11. Department of Homeland Security
BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY..."So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything."

...BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY "So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people."

12. Weapons of Mass Destruction
BUSH SAYS WE FOUND THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION..."We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories...for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them."

...BUSH SAYS WE HAVEN'T FOUND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION "David Kay has found the capacity to produce weapons.And when David Kay goes in and says we haven't found stockpiles yet, and there's theories as to where the weapons went. They could have been destroyed during the war. Saddam and his henchmen could have destroyed them as we entered into Iraq. They could be hidden. They could have been transported to another country, and we'll find out."

13. Free Trade
BUSH SUPPORTS FREE TRADE... "I believe strongly that if we promote trade, and when we promote trade, it will help workers on both sides of this issue."

...BUSH SUPPORTS RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE "In a decision largely driven by his political advisers, President Bush set aside his free-trade principles last year and imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel to help out struggling mills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial for his reelection."

14. Osama Bin Laden
BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE... "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'"

...BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT OSAMA "I don't know where he is.You know, I just don't spend that much time on him... I truly am not that concerned about him."

15. The Environment
BUSH SUPPORTS MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE... ", Governor Bush will work to...establish mandatory reduction targets for emissions of four main pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide."

...BUSH OPPOSES MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE "I do not believe, however, that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act."

16. WMD Commission
BUSH RESISTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE... "The White House immediately turned aside the calls from Kay and many Democrats for an immediate outside investigation, seeking to head off any new wide-ranging election-year inquiry that might go beyond reports already being assembled by congressional committees and the Central Intelligence Agency."

...BUSH SUPPORTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE "Today, by executive order, I am creating an independent commission, chaired by Governor and former Senator Chuck Robb, Judge Laurence Silberman, to look at American intelligence capabilities, especially our intelligence about weapons of mass destruction."

17. Creation of the 9/11 Commission
BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11."

...BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION "President Bush said today he now supports establishing an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

18. Time Extension for 9/11 Commission
BUSH OPPOSES TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) have decided to oppose granting more time to an independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."

...BUSH SUPPORTS TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION "The White House announced Wednesday its support for a request from the commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks for more time to complete its work."

19. One Hour Limit for 9/11 Commission Testimony
BUSH LIMITS TESTIMONY IN FRONT OF 9/11 COMMISSION TO ONE HOUR... "President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have placed strict limits on the private interviews they will grant to the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that they will meet only with the panel's top two officials and that Mr. Bush will submit to only a single hour of questioning, commission members said Wednesday."

...BUSH SETS NO TIMELIMIT FOR TESTIMONY "The president's going to answer all of the questions they want to raise. Nobody's watching the clock."

20. Gay Marriage
BUSH SAYS GAY MARRIAGE IS A STATE ISSUE... "The state can do what they want to do. Don't try to trap me in this state's issue like you're trying to get me into."

...BUSH SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING GAY MARRIAGE "Today I call upon the Congress to promptly pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of man and woman as husband and wife."

21. Nation Building
BUSH OPPOSES NATION BUILDING... "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road."

...BUSH SUPPORTS NATION BUILDING "We will be changing the regime of Iraq, for the good of the Iraqi people."

22. Saddam/al Qaeda Link
BUSH SAYS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEEN AL QAEDA AND SADDAM... "You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror."

...BUSH SAYS SADDAM HAD NO ROLE IN AL QAEDA PLOT "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in Sept. 11."

23. U.N. Resolution
BUSH VOWS TO HAVE A UN VOTE NO MATTER WHAT... "No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council. And so, you bet. It's time for people to show their cards, to let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam."

...BUSH WITHDRAWS REQUEST FOR VOTE "At a National Security Council meeting convened at the White House at 8:55 a.m., Bush finalized the decision to withdraw the resolution from consideration and prepared to deliver an address to the nation that had already been written."

24. Involvement in the Palestinian Conflict
BUSH OPPOSES SUMMITS... "Well, we've tried summits in the past, as you may remember. It wasn't all that long ago where a summit was called and nothing happened, and as a result we had significant intifada in the area."

...BUSH SUPPORTS SUMMITS "If a meeting advances progress toward two states living side by side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting. I'm committed to working toward peace in the Middle East."

25. Campaign Finance
BUSH OPPOSES MCCAIN-FEINGOLD... "George W. Bush opposes McCain-Feingold...as an infringement on free expression."

...BUSH SIGNS MCCAIN-FEINGOLD INTO LAW "his bill improves the current system of financing for Federal campaigns, and therefore I have signed it into law."

26. 527s
Bush opposes restrictions on 527s: "I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the broad ban on issue advertising <http://searchmiracle.com/text/search.php?qq=Advertising> , which restrains the speech of a wide variety of groups on issues of public import."
…Bush says 527s bad for system: "I don't think we ought to have 527s. I can't be more plain about it…I think they're bad for the system. That's why I signed the bill, McCain-Feingold."

27. Medical Records
Bush says medical records must remain private: "I believe that we must protect…the right of every American to have confidence that his or her personal medical records will remain private."

…Bush says patients' histories are not confidntial: The Justice Department…asserts that patients "no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential."

28. Timelines For Dictators
Bush sets timeline for Saddam: "If Iraq does not accept the terms within a week of passage or fails to disclose required information within 30 days, the resolution authorizes 'all necessary means' to force compliance--in other words, a military attack."

…Bush says he's against timelines: "I don't think you give timelines to dictators."

29. The Great Lakes
Bush wants to divert great lakes: "Even though experts say 'diverting any water from the Great Lakes region sets a bad precedent' Bush 'said he wants to talk to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien about piping water to parched states in the west and southwest.'-

Bush says he'll never divert Great Lakes: "We've got to use our resources wisely, like water. It starts with keeping the Great Lakes water in the Great Lakes Basin...My position is clear: We're never going to allow diversion of Great Lakes water."

30. Winning The War On Terror
Bush claims he can win the war on terror: "One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we're asking questions, is, can you ever win the war on terror? Of course, you can."

…Bush says war on terror is unwinnable: "I don't think you can win ."

…Bush says he will win the war on terror: "Make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win ."

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. Kerry has been amazingly consistent on Iraq

and he never lied to anyone about any pretense on WMDs. He was genuinely concerned about Saddam having them.
If you take Kerry or anyone else out of context, then you can make the APPEAR to be inconsistent.
This is all easily defended.
Now lets get back to Bush.
It seems he lied to Americans about his reason for the war. It seems getting rid of Saddam was THE reason in and of itself. Bush lied. It was never about WMDs. It was all about getting rid of Saddam.

[Mick Knox]

13. Doesnt seem that way to me

Why cant he just be honest and say he was misled and changed his position?

It has definately changed from when he was thrashing Howard Dean.. to now taking up the AntiWar Banner.

I know the meme is to pretend he is consistent.. but he says different things about it.

He got smart after his stupid IWR Vote. Many people have now realized how stupid it was.

The public might appreciate a breath of fresh honesty from its politicians.

Its easy to change positions now that it is shown what a fucked mess it is.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

20. Q: Did Saddam have WMDs? A; Nobody knew.

Q: Were inspectors in Iraq looking for WMDs? A: Yes they were.
Q: Were they allowed to finish looking? A: No. Bush stopped them to start a war.

Kerry is clean.

[emulatorloo]

26. Um, you are wrong

Bush said needed authority and one voice of congress so he could go to un and get inspectors back in. Told them all it wasnt a vote for war. Needed leverage.

Senate gave Bush the authority.

Kerry from day one said do everything possible to avoid invasion.

Bush didn't

The End.

[Democat]

17. Why are we always waiting for Dems to "respond" - we should be attacking!

Kerry, like most current Democrats seems like he is usually waiting for permission from the Republicans to attack.

He waited until after he was savaged at the RNC to attack Bush.

He waited until Bush called him a flip flopper to call Bush a flip flopper.

He waited until Bush attacked his Vietnam service to attack Bush's non-service, etc.

Democrats seem to have a problem with being afraid to be the first to attack or to take the attack to the next level.

When you are on the defensive in politics lately, you will usually lose.

[private_ryan]

19. amazing

how I read that one (Dem)527 group had gone though $60 milion in ads and nothing to show for. All feel good ads. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[mazzarro]

25. Thank you so much for voicing what needs to be said.

Democratic leadership - DNC- and more especially DLC have become so castrated by fear that they would not dare step over the line in call chimpCo on all the lies, corruptions and incompetent decisions they have made. The DNC/DLC fear of offending the moneyed people from whom they expect to get large campaign contributions and even lucrative private sector jobs/contracts has basically left us the rank-and-file floundering helplessly. Kerry waiting to be attacked before responding does not do him much good, instead it makes him a latecomer to the scene after chimp has laid out the landscape to his choosing.

[GRLMGC]

18. Hopefully, he'll counter soon

Last week the Kerry campaign was moving at lightning speed at releasing ads countering lies from the Bush campaign. Hopefully, they'll respond really fast to this crap.

[AnIndependentTexan]

22. what about a 527 group to do a ad to counter flip-flop?

[Democrat 4 Ever]

24. Received this from factcheck.org today - debunking the ad

Bush Ad Twists Kerry's Words on Iraq

Selective use of Kerry's own words makes him look inconsistent on Iraq. A closer look gives a different picture.

09.27.2004

Summary

Kerry has never wavered from his support for giving Bush authority to use force in Iraq, nor has he changed his position that he, as President, would not have gone to war without greater international support. But a Bush ad released Sept. 27 takes many of Kerry's words out of context to make him appear to be alternately praising the war and condemning it.

Here we present this highly misleading ad, along with what Kerry actually said, in full context.

Analysis

This ad is the most egregious example so far in the 2004 campaign of using edited quotes in a way that changes their meaning and misleads voters.

Bush-Cheney '04

"Searching:"

Bush: I'm George W. Bush and I approve this message.

Kerry: It was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when the President made the decision I supported him.

Kerry: I don't believe the President took us to war as he should have.

Kerry: The winning of the war was brilliant.

Kerry: It's the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Kerry: I have always said we may yet even find weapons of mass destruction.

Kerry: I actually did vote for the 87 billion dollars before I voted against it.

(Graphic: How can John Kerry protect us . . .when he doesn't even know where he stands?)

__________________________________________________________________

"Right Decision"

Kerry is shown saying it was "the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein." What's left out is that he prefaced that by saying Bush should have made greater use of diplomacy to accomplish that.

The quote is from May 3, 2003, at the first debate among Democratic presidential contenders, barely three weeks after the fall of Baghdad. The question was from ABC's George Stephanopoulos:

Q: And Senator Kerry, the first question goes to you. On March 19th, President Bush ordered General Tommy Franks to execute the invasion of Iraq. Was that the right decision at the right time?

Kerry: George, I said at the time I would have preferred if we had given diplomacy a greater opportunity, but I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when the President made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact that we did disarm him.

(Note: We have added the emphasis in these and the following quotes to draw attention to the context left out by the Bush ad.)

"As he should have"

The full "right decision" quote is actually quite consistent with the next Kerry quote, "I don't believe the President took us to war as he should have," which is from an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC's "Hardball" program Jan. 6, 2004:

Q: Do you think you belong to that category of candidates who more or less are unhappy with this war, the way it's been fought, along with General Clark, along with Howard Dean and not necessarily in companionship politically on the issue of the war with people like Lieberman, Edwards and Gephardt? Are you one of the anti-war candidates?

Kerry: I am -- Yes, in the sense that I don't believe the president took us to war as he should have, yes, absolutely. Do I think this president violated his promises to America? Yes, I do, Chris.

Q: Let me...

Kerry: Was there a way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable? You bet there was, and we should have done it right.

"Winning of the war was brilliant"

When Kerry said "the winning of the war was brilliant" he wasn't praising Bush for waging the war, he was praising the military for the way they accomplished the mission. He also repeated his criticism of Bush for failing to better plan for what came next. This was also on "Hardball," May 19:

Q: All this terrorism. If you were president, how would you stop it?

Kerry: Well, it's going to take some time to stop it, Chris, but we have an enormous amount of cooperation to build one other countries. I think the administration is not done enough of the hard work of diplomacy, reaching out to nations, building the kind of support network.

I think they clearly have dropped the ball with respect to the first month in the after -- winning the war. That winning of the war was brilliant and superb, and we all applaud our troops for doing what they did, but you've got to have the capacity to provide law and order on the streets and to provide the fundamentally services, and I believe American troops will be safer and America will pay less money if we have a broader coalition involved in that, including the United Nations.

"Wrong war, wrong place"

When Kerry called Iraq "the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time" he was once again criticizing Bush for failing to get more international support before invading Iraq. He criticized Bush for what he called a "phony coalition" of allies:

Kerry (Sept 6, 2004): You've got about 500 troops here, 500 troops there, and it's American troops that are 90 percent of the combat casualties, and it's American taxpayers that are paying 90 percent of the cost of the war . . . It's the wrong war, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Earlier that same day at another campaign appearance he repeated pretty much what he's said all along:

Kerry (Sept 6, 2004): "I would not have done just one thing differently than the president on Iraq, I would have done everything differently than the president on Iraq. I said this from the beginning of the debate to the walk up to the war. I said, 'Mr. President, don't rush to war, take the time to build a legitimate coalition and have a plan to win the peace ."

We May Find WMD's

Nine months of fruitless searching have gone by since Kerry said on Dec. 14, 2003 that weapons of mass destruction might yet be found in Iraq. But what's most misleading about the Bush ad's editing is that it takes that remark out of a long-winded -- but still consistent -- explanation of Kerry's overall position on Iraq:

The exchange was on Fox News Sunday, with host Chris Wallace:

Q: But isn't it, in a realistic political sense going to be a much harder case to make to voters when you have that extraordinary mug shot of Saddam Hussein...looking like he's been dragged into a police line-up?

Kerry: Absolutely not, because I voted to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. I knew we had to hold him accountable. There's never been a doubt about that. But I also know that if we had done this with a sufficient number of troops, if we had done this in a globalized way, if we had brought more people to the table, we might have caught Saddam Hussein sooner. We might have had less loss of life. We would be in a stronger position today with respect to what we're doing.

Look, again, I repeat, Chris, I have always said we may yet even find weapons of mass destruction. I don't know the answer to that. We will still have to do the job of rebuilding Iraq and resolving the problem between Shias and Sunnis and Kurds. There are still difficult steps ahead of us.

The question that Americans want to know is, what is the best way to proceed? Not what is the most lonely and single-track ideological way to proceed. I believe the best way to proceed is to bring other countries to the table, get some of our troops out of the target, begin to share the burden.


"The $87 Billion"

The final quote is the one in which the Bush ad takes its best shot. Kerry not only said it, he did it. He voted for an alternative resolution that would have approved $87 billion in emergency funds for troops and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it was conditioned on repealing much of Bush's tax cuts, and it failed 57-42. On the key, up-or-down vote on the $87 billion itself Kerry was only one of 12 senators in opposition, along with the man who later become his running mate, Sen. John Edwards.

It's not only Bush who criticizes Kerry's inconsistency on that vote. Rival Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, a senator who also had voted to give Bush authority to use force in Iraq, said: "I don't know how John Kerry and John Edwards can say they supported the war but then opposed the funding for the troops who went to fight the war that the resolution that they supported authorized." Lieberman spoke at a candidate debate in Detroit Oct. 26, 2003.

Another Democratic rival who criticized Kerry for that vote was Rep. Dick Gephardt, who said beforehand that he would support the $87 billion "because it is the only responsible course of action. We must not send an ambiguous message to our troops, and we must not send an uncertain message to our friends and enemies in Iraq."

But aside from the $87 billion matter, this Bush ad is a textbook example of how to mislead voters through selective editing.

Sources

"Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate Sponsored by ABC News," Federal News Service, 3 May 2003.
"Interview with John Kerry," MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews, 6 Jan 2004.
"Interview with John Kerry," MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews, 19 May 2004.
Lois Romano and Paul Farhi, "Kerry Attacks Bush on Handling of Iraq," The Washington Post 7 Sep 2004: A8.
Calvin Woodward, "Kerry Slams 'Wrong War in the Wrong Place,'" The Associated Press , 6 Sep 2004.
Fox News Sunday, "Interview with John Kerry," 14 December 2003.
Adam Nagourney and Diane Cardwell, "Democrats in Debate Clash Over Iraq War," New York Times, 27 Oct 2003: A1.
Joe Klein, "Profiles in Convenience," Time magazine, 19 Oct 2003.

Please visit http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docid=269 to view this FactCheck article in full.

[Silver249]

27. Should we be sending articles like this from factcheck.org

to people in the mainstream media??

This ad has to be debunked early and often to lessen its effects

[newyawker99]

29. Hi Silver249!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Silver249]

30. thanks!