Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Nature of Swift-Boating
Seems to me that the "Swift-boating" attack ads against Giuliani differ from those against Kerry and McCain for one specific reason: where as Kerry and McCain's military service was not the platform for their campaigns (I don't recall them running as "War-heroes" though the press called them such), Giuliani's 9/11 record is the only thing that propelled him into the national spotlight. Furthermore Giuliani himself touts this record as evidence of his leadership ablity. Seems to me these ads are a valid form of criticism.
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"John Kerry, reporting for duty." (Salute)
Many times during the campaign, when Kerry differed from Bush on war issues, he or his surrogates would claim that Kerry had a superior understanding of military issues thanks to his personal experience.
And I may have seen a slightly different package than you did. Kerry wouldn't need a military history in New York generally, since his politics and the state's were pretty compatible. But in flyover country, Kerry's Senate record was a good bit more liberal than the type of guy we generally vote for, so maybe we heard a little bit more about his personal military history, which will get you a lot more props in a red state than a commitment to only appoint judges who support Roe v. Wade.
I think the firefighters and the Swift Boat ads are fair game, personally - you can reject the content of the ads - the Swift Boaters got "Swift Boated" themselves, and NRO has a response to the substance of the firefighters ad, or you can decide that the issue is minor - but I think they're both legit.
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