2004 Presidential Election
Here's the reaction to the Swift Boat controversy from the Denver Post's editorial staff [August 25, 2004, "Political campaigns of personal destruction"]. From the editorial, "The Vietnam War was a deadly and divisive conflict for the United States. More than 58,000 Americans were killed, and 300,000 more were wounded. You might think that those who volunteered to fight and who sacrificed in the effort would have earned a measure of respect in the nation's body politic. Sadly, that's been turned on its head in three recent win-at-all-costs political campaigns. Dishonest attack tactics smeared John McCain in 2000 and Max Cleland in 2002 and contributed to their defeats. Now John Kerry is in the cross-hairs."
The Rocky Mountain News also published an editorial on the subject [August 24, 2004, "The good and bad of the swift boat furor"]. From their editorial, "Telluride resident Jim Russell's emergence Monday as a swift boat veteran backing John Kerry's version of his combat record underscores an undeniable fact: Credible men have lined up on both sides of the dispute over whether Kerry's conduct more than 30 years ago deserved the medals he received. The swift boat veterans who support Kerry appear by and large to be honorable men, as do the more numerous Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, a group running ads denouncing the Democratic presidential nominee. Given such disagreement, the question of whether Kerry deserved a particular medal is probably unresolvable and beside the point. Bestowing a medal is a subjective decision even with less murky circumstances. But that hardly means the debate prompted by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth and publication of the anti-Kerry book Unfit for Command has been out of line, as the Kerry campaign so loudly insists."
Here's Jay Rosen's take on the issue. He writes, "That we are still fighting about the Vietnam War is sad. Watching an old political fight try to finish itself thirty years later in either the wreckage of the Kerry campaign or its triumph over the attempt to wreck-- that's sad. William B. Rood of the Chicago Tribune spoke out Sunday; he was a commander of a swift boat who had first hand knowledge. Rood thought it was sad that we're still fighting about this."
Yup, we're still fighting the Vietnam war.
Electoral-vote.com: "We have three new polls today, including all-important Florida. Zogby's poll of Florida posted yesterday had Kerry 1% ahead. A Gallup poll taken a day later has Bush 2% ahead, so we now award Florida to Bush for the moment. Both of these polls are within the MoE so the state is still a statistical tie. The Gallup poll was based on 1002 people, so the 3% change was based on 30 additional Bush supporters in Gallup's sample compared to Zogby's. That's tiny, yet the electoral college gap narrowed today by 54 votes. That goes to show how close the race is in Florida. It may well be that the final polls on Nov. 1 say Bush will be in the range 48% to 52% and Kerry will be in the range 48% to 52%. We may have to wait until all the votes are counted--several times-- before we know. Today's map is probably giving Karl Rove nightmares. Missouri and Colorado are currently tied but suppose Bush squeaks through in both and the Colorado referendum fails. Then Bush picks up 20 votes in the electoral college and the score would be Kerry 280, Bush 258. In that scenario, Bush has won the three critical states: Florida, Ohio, and Missouri, and still lost the election. It could happen. That's why battles are raging in some of the smaller states, like Nevada, New Mexico, and West Virginia."
Speaking of New Mexico, President Bush plans a stop in Farmington on his way to the Republican National Convention, according to the Cortez Journal. They write, "Bush has other events planned Thursday in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, N.M."
Here's an interesting post from Juan Cole citing an article from the AP that quotes President George H.W. Bush and James Baker regarding their decision not to invade Iraq.
Taegan Goddard: "New polls. President Bush 'has pulled even' with Sen. John Kerry in a new IBD/TIPP Poll 'amid charges the challenger may have oversold his four months of service in Vietnam.' In a three-way race, Bush and Kerry both would get 43%, with Ralph Nader at 5%. In a two-way race, Bush and Kerry deadlock at 44%. Here are the latest state polls: Arizona - Bush 47%, Kerry 39% (KAET-TV); Alabama - Bush 58%, Kerry 37% (Survey USA)."
Update: John O'Neill is getting beat up over statements he made in a video transcipt cited in this CNN story From the article, "O'NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water. NIXON: In a swift boat? O'NEILL: Yes, sir." Mr. O'Neill is claiming that he is being quoted out of context.
Update: Wired: "Ludlow Music dropped its demands that JibJab, a small web animation site, stop using Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" in a satirical Flash cartoon. It turned out Ludlow did not own the rights to the song as it claimed, a lawyer representing JibJab said on Tuesday. In early August, Ludlow, which claimed to own the copyright for the folk tune, threatened to sue JibJab, alleging copyright infringement. JibJab used the tune to the song and rewrote the lyrics in a cartoon to mock the presidential candidates. It refused to take down the cartoon and pre-emptively asked a judge to declare that it had a right to use the song as satire without having to get the permission of the owner. But in a bizarre twist, JibJab's lawyers discovered that anyone may record their own version of the song -- because the copyright on the words and music have expired, they said."
Update: MakesMeRalph: "Edwards in town. He should come to CU, we always need a good lawyer.
6:23:40 AM 
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