Splitting America: How Politicians, Super PACs and the News Media Mirror High Conflict Divorce by Bill Eddy

Author:Bill Eddy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Swift Boat Controversy

The next most well-known attack ad, of course, came in 2004, against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam war veteran and a Senator for nearly 20 years, at the time of the election. The attack ad was promoted, along with a book, by the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.” They said he was “unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.” Even Republican President Bush and Senator McCain rejected these claims:

“I think the Bush campaign should specifically condemn the ad,’’ The Associated Press quoted Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona and a Vietnam War veteran, as saying.

Mr. Bush’s campaign did not do so, but Nicolle Devenish, Mr. Bush’s campaign communications director, said, ‘’We have never and will never question John Kerry’s service.’’ She did not address the content of the advertisement, from a group of anti-Kerry veterans calling themselves “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.”

Mr. Kerry earned a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts commanding a Swift boat in Vietnam.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is one of the so-called 527 committees, named for a provision in the tax code that created them. Federal law allows such groups to raise unlimited donations and run advertisements so long as they do not expressly call for the election or defeat of a federal candidate. The Democrats have been far more reliant on such groups than the Republicans this election. …

None of the men served with Mr. Kerry on his Swift boat but claim to have served on boats that were often near his (Rutenberg, 2004).

Apparently, John Kerry did not respond to these attacks during the summer pause before the fall election push that year, which he later sorely regretted. Since then, this case has been cited as the most common example of attack ads:

Since the 2004 election, the term “Swift Boating” (or “swiftboating”) has become a common expression for a campaign attacking opponents by questioning their credibility and patriotism. The term is most often used with the pejorative meaning of a smear campaign, but has also been used positively by a neo-conservative.

Wikipedia, 7-25-12:

http:en.wikipediaorgwiki

Swift_Vets_and_POWs_for_Truth

But, the Swift Boat ad was not the biggest factor in the election, according to the recent New Yorker article. It was another ad, endorsed by George W. Bush:

In 2004, McCarthy believed that he had nearly achieved his ambition—the “perfect spot”—with an ad for George W. Bush, called “Ashley’s Story.” Created for another independent group, the Progress for America Voter Fund, it showed Bush embracing a teen-age girl whose mother had been killed on September 11, 2001, in Al Qaeda’s attack on the World Trade Center. The girl, Ashley, looked into the camera and said of Bush, “He’s the most powerful man in the world, and all he wants to do is make sure I’m safe.” The group bought more than fourteen million dollars’ worth of airtime for the ad, much of it in the key swing state of Ohio, where Ashley lived; it was the biggest single ad buy of the 2004 Presidential campaign. Two backers, both California business executives, contributed five million dollars apiece.

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