Czar, you make a huge unfounded leap in going from "they are forged" to " I really think Kerry okayed this..." You are trying to shift the focus from being on "Bush's going AWOL" to "Kerry had documents forged to show that Bush went AWOL."
Okay, so maybe Kerry didn't know what his campaign was up to. Maybe that's what the problem IS with his campaign. And I'm genuinely stepping outside my Bush supporter role and trying to be a dispassionate analyst of political strategy. Forget that I am a Bush supporter. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not shifting ANY focus. That's the point - I don't HAVE to. Somebody had these documents forged. That is ALL that the public is going to remember. It doesn't matter what the real truth of Bush's service is: I don't think that anybody cares what Bush did at that time. But the beauty is that as long as Kerry, or his supporters, keep bringing up these documents, it is TOO EASY TO SHOOT DOWN by just saying, "They were forged. You guys are slimy forgers and liars."
Face it, it was a bad move, a very bad move, one that has discredited not only a distinguished journalist but also Kerry's campaign. Too many soundbites can flow from this stuff. Just drop it. It's like going offsides in soccer - you can keep running around like the referee didn't blow his whistle, but the other team is going to grab the ball and score point after point unless you react to reality!
I can understand your passionate desire for those documents to be vetted. If I hated somebody as much as you guys hate Bush I would love for something like this to be true, too. But they were forged. Your best strategy is to drop it, get the ball back, and then come out strong on issues that the Democrats can make hay on. This Vietnam stuff bogged down lots of Americans thirty years ago and it isn't going to do anybody any good now.
If Kerry hadn't started the mudslinging by trying to present himself as a loyal soldier, then the swift boat would never have happened. If he had responded quickly and forecefully to the swift boat ads, maybe he could have pulled a draw on the issue. Every time he assaults Bush's military record he winds up getting slaughtered. A Democrat cannot win on a Vietnam issue. And the real mud hasn't even flown from our side yet! If you think the swift boat ad was bad, there are TONS more nasty things that could be said. He is so vulnerable, especially when it comes to his (admittedly "exaggerated") testimony before Congress when he came back from his four months, that it woudl be better to have ignored the issue completely.
I'm not even actually attacking the man, but his campaign is a disaster. I don't know what the problem is, but Kerry is getting eaten alive. Even his own side, the liberal pundits and cartoonists, are mocking his indecision. See Ted Rall's cartoon where the slogan is "Kerry, Dare to Not Dream".
What Johnny needed to do was come out strong with a plan for domestic policies -what he's done is bungle everything on a war that we lost thirty years ago. Like I said, it's painful to watch. Especially when there are so many good kids that I respect putting their hopes in him to pull something big out of his hat. I just don't think he can do it now.
CZAR
