*Tim Blair notes that Kerry staffers have recently been admonished to be “more diligent about staying on top of the Senator’s position.” They’ll need GPS for that one.
*QandO notices that John McCain has pointedly not denounced the Swift Boat Veterans’ second ad, the one featuring Kerry’s 1971 Senate testimony. Given the history there, this should not be surprising. Meanwhile, Wizbang reports that the Swifties are offering to drop their remaining ads if Kerry will meet certain conditions including an apology for his 1971 charges of war crimes.
*The Bush campaign, wisely, wants no part of Britney Spears at the GOP Convention.
*Jonathan Chait gets a convenient case of amnesia (subscription only):
Four years ago, Bush dismissed the attacks against McCain by insisting McCain’s attacks against him were just as bad. Now Bush is using that line again, and McCain is repeating it. When asked about the discredited Swift Boat charges, McCain replied, “It bothers me that that is the case. It also bothers me that people connected to the Kerry campaign have had to do with attack ads against President Bush as well.” You see, Bush’s allies are accusing Kerry of lying about his war record and faking his wounds, but Kerry’s allies are accusing Bush of weakening environmental regulations. So it’s all the same thing.
McCain has even asserted that Kerry brought this on himself by emphasizing his record. “His critics are saying, ‘Look, you made it fair game,'” McCain said. “I mean, that’s very legitimate, and I think there’s a risk that he took when he made it such a centerpiece. He may be paying a very heavy price.” Uh huh. Four years ago, Bush made a big deal about his record as Texas governor. By that logic, then, it would have been “fair game” for critics to accuse him of using the governor’s office for Michael Jackson-style sleepovers with little boys.
Leaving aside Chait’s facile dismissal of the Swift Vets’ charges, note how he assumes that all the attacks on Bush have been about such high-minded policy disputes as “accusing Bush of weakening environmental regulations.” Apparently Chait has never heard of Michael Moore, or of the persistent and entirely unsubstantiated claim (made even by Kerry himself) that Bush was AWOL from his National Guard unit.
As someone who supported McCain over Bush in 2000, I find the Democrats� (or at least The New Republic�s) frequent invocation of that year�s South Carolina primary ironic. McCain attacked Bush just as hard as Bush attacked him during that primary season. Who exactly was accused of being an �anti-Catholic bigot� – Bush or McCain? Who exactly was accused of representing the narrow �Pat Robertson wing of the Republican Party� � Bush or McCain?
I remain an admirer of McCain and thought he gave a great speech the other night, but, enough of the revisionist whining.