The RNC Party Line
Reported by Eleanor - September 1, 2004 -
Special Report with Brit Hume (Sept. 1, 6:00 p.m.) was again full of the republican agenda - Iraq, Kerry attacks, swift boat news, and democratic attacks on republicans, including protest demonstrations with people holding pink slips and arrests of 12 protesters. "The police are showing great restraint in the face of relentless provocation."
Jim Angle said Bush has work to do on Iraq. Then we saw McCain, Guiliani, and Swartzeneggar's remarks. (All presenting Bush's Iraq policy much better than Bush can.)
Hume stated that Cheney will go after John Kerry tonight, and Edwards is trying to preempt the attack.
Carl Cameron repeated Kerry's American Legion attacks on Bush's foreign policy, then indicated that Kerry thinks he has lost control of his campaign because of a slow response to the swift boat attacks. Kerry did not address the attacks to his war record.
Major Garret mentioned Rove's statement about Kerry tarnishing the record of Viet Nam vets. The swift boat ad was shown, and Garrett said "Following Fox's effort to capture all campaign rhetoric, Kerry (?) said, "Oh, F---them." (I'm not sure he said Kerry, or someone in the Kerry camp, but I'm sure we'll know soon if it was Kerry.) (Postscript: I assume Mr. Dollar is right, and this is Bob Kerrey, not John Kerry.)
New Yorkers are objecting to the shape of the republican convention lectern, shaped like a cross, as a subtle use of religion.
Amazon.com customers are attacking the swift boat book in their comments, and Amazon.com is letting the comments stand.
Soros demanded a public apology from Hastert for saying on Fox News Sunday that he gets money from drug groups.
Kondracke ended a discussion about Kerry's Iraq policy statement today with "Kerry was all over the place." (Kondracke and Barnes acted like they were confused about what Kerry said during this discussion. An obvious act to reinforce the indecisive label about Kerry, even when he's being perfectly clear.) Mara Liasson had it right with a statement that Kerry put his position into a package and answered questions about the differences between himself and Bush.
The swift boat ads discussion has switched to Kerry's anti-war statements, and Karl Rove is being asked to resign by some democrats for his comments about Kerry tarnishing Viet Nam vets, as it erases the claim of separation between the Bush campaign and the swift boat vets. Kondracke defended Rove's right to comment.
Comment: Not one real issue was discussed. The republican agenda is Iraq, Kerry's Viet Nam service and Kerry's indecisiveness as defined by the republicans. I understand. How can they talk about anything else? Any other topic is dangerous territory for Bush. Kerry has less than eight weeks to change the subject. He'll have to do it during the debates, since the republicans control the media. What the questions are and how they are posed during the debates are critical to getting the democratic agenda and message out there.
