"Bush says Kerry was 'more heroic'"

He gets to praise Kerry's service and look like the bigger man, while the Swifties keep punching away for their demographic, and no one still seems to care that he didn't serve at all in regards to contemp. war and terror.

Whatever valid issues are raised in regard to Dubya's service - privilege/abuse thereof and drugs - aren't winners either. The latter makes the Dems look moralistic, the former reeks of class warfare, which hasn't been the Dems strong suit in a long time and might piss off some of their new yuppie clientele. Not exactly 30 sec. commercial material.

The more time you give to Vietnam, period, the longer the Swift Boat veterans stay in the public consciousness. That's a big gamble - that you can turn Dubya's record into a more damaging attack than the Swifties. I don't see it.

"Got into the Natl. Guard with the help of a corrupt Lt. Gov who later took a bribe for staying quiet then tried to transfer to avoid drug tests or whatever and later went AWOL we think but cannot conclusively prove" vs. "He done lied about his Silver Star/Purple Heart/Cambodia."

It's time to give that one up, man. Concentrate on the things that people actually dislike about Dubya, such as the fact that our country is a wreck.

”Asked Friday to explain the discrepancy, Kerry aides said the senator cast one of the 22 nays that day in 1996 because he disagreed with some of the final technical aspects. But, said spokesman David Wade, Kerry supported the legislation in its purer form -- and voted for it months earlier.”

absolutely these flip flopper allegations are sticking based on the much of the populace's ignorance of the convoluted, annoying, fucked up history of laws in their journey through congress.

Right. The line you have to use here is that Republicans voted against the bill before they voted for it - they're no different from Kerry.

People have been pushing the National Guard story for a long time with no apparent benefit

That's because the media have thus far assumed facts - that Bush's transfer to Alabama was authorized - that now appear not to be true. The key story on Awol is now that he left Texas for Alabama two yearss early and without permission and never came back, and the docs imply that this was his intent.

It's time to give that one up, man. Concentrate on the things that people actually dislike about Dubya, such as the fact that our country is a wreck

It's amazing how people buy into Bush's tactics. He releases a few documents, calls it a full release, and liberals say let's focus on something else. I'm not saying Kerry should be asking on the stump where Bush's transfer orders are, but I wish that the media would give as much (well, actually, much more) attention to the actual evidence here as they have done to the Swift Boat stuff, where there are only allegations whose 'sworn' nature has no legal consequence that contradict the official documents. There are a lot of people who think Bush served honorably and the official documents suggest otherwise.

I don't know if this is the best strategy because, as analysts have been saying, it allows Bush to control the terms of the debate. I wonder if a candidate's voting record is the best indication of his/her future policy directions. In detail, I'm sure it is, but it seems like you have to know a lot about the context in which legislation was passed or defeated and about the major players for and against the legislation. The situation could change. Voters need a key to likely future actions. To detect that kind of pattern would take lots of research. So explaining the details of one's record doesn't seem like the best strategy because people may not follow one's explanations or there isn't really time to give it or giving it will sound partisan.

Like I said, the National Guard story has been pushed long and hard for no gain. Give it up.

It's amazing how people buy into Bush's tactics. He releases a few documents, calls it a full release, and liberals say let's focus on something else.
Except that's nothing like what I said.

What I said was: it's not a winning issue. It's been pushed for years now, and has not made inroads with the media or the public consciousness. As long as you keep pushing it, that keeps the Swifties in the public eye - who actually seem to have done damage to Kerry with some undecideds.

Yes, the media isn't treating the two stories equitably. Who's shocked? Hands up, please. Let's count 'em.

You're not going to get the media to make Bush's service into an issue. And you're not going to convince a raft of people that a) Bush is a horrible traitor, etc. and b) convince them to vote for Kerry.

It's a stupid issue to keep fighting. Drop it, there is no upside for Kerry.

intent is not a fact. the fact that the media has assumed is that Bush's transfer was approved. it was not.

From what I've seen, basing your strategy of the actions of an ideal, impartial media might just be a bad idea.

who says I want to 'base a strategy' on AWOL? I just don't want people who are interested in the story to actively ignore it.

the latest update on the AP suit