Charles Shiflett Column August 8, 2004

Kerry's Campaign of Hate and Deception

The donkey circus has pulled out of Bean Town and I'm sure the breezes there are blowing a little
cooler this week. When I heard the theme of the Democrat convention was “hope is on the way”, I
halfway wondered if the donkey gang was planning an end run to replace John Kerry with Hillary
Clinton. After all, that “hope” thing was Bill Clinton's theme a few years ago. Instead they stuck to the
script and everything went according to plan - except for that outburst of profanity by the convention
head during a botched balloon drop - an outburst that was accidentally picked up by CNN and aired
live.

The television ratings for the Democrat convention were poor, but you can't blame Americans for not
wanting to tune in to watch liberal icons like Ted Kennedy and Howard Dean spout their “I hate George
Bush” or “George Bush lied” rhetoric. I guess it's no surprise that Kerry didn't get his expected five to
eight point convention bounce in the polls. Instead, a post-convention USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll
had Bush getting the bounce instead. The survey showed Kerry losing one percentage point and Bush
gaining four percentage points compared to the week before.

Throughout the spring and summer, every time Kerry received a lot of television exposure his poll
numbers dropped. When Kerry hid and his attack dogs unleashed their anti-Bush diatribe, then the
Kerry numbers crept back up. Kerry could have shortened up the length of his speech considerably
and probably gotten his convention bounce if he had just stepped up to the podium and said, “I'm John
Kerry; I'm a Viet Nam veteran; anybody but Bush; goodnight.”

Instead Kerry took a page out of the Michael Dukakis playbook and tried to make Americans believe
he would be a better commander-in-chief than President Bush. I just wish Kerry had worn Dukakis'
army helmet - that would have sealed a Bush victory. Kerry's speech focused on Iraq and the war on
terror, but he didn't mention he wants to raise taxes for a number of you reading this. He didn't mention
he believes abortion should always be legal. He didn't mention he is in favor of civil unions for gays.

Kerry also didn't tell viewers about his twenty years of votes to defund and undermine America's
intelligence agencies… or the fact he had voted against almost every major military equipment project
to come up during his time in office. No, Kerry didn't mention any of the liberal socialist ideals he
believes in. However, he did say that current and future senior citizens would be saddled with a Social
Security system that falls short of what it could be - all because Kerry opposes the meaningful reforms
Bush has proposed. After all it is election season and scaring old folks by saying Republicans want
to destroy Social Security is a staple of the Democrat Party.

When Kerry said that he would strengthen our military, the primarily anti-military Democrat convention
delegates were silent. Yet when he said he would not “mislead us into war” - implying that Bush lied,
the convention exploded in approval. Of course the 9-11 commission and senate intelligence
committee have each stated that Bush did not lie about WMD's or other intelligence warnings, but
Kerry couldn't afford to let the truth get in the way could he?

The previous evening, John Edwards used the same speech he had used during his primary campaign
- the speech that won him only one state. Dear Mr. Edwards, there are not two Americas - there is
one America. But there are two types of Americans: those who believe in themselves… and those who
believe in government. John Edwards and John Kerry believe in government.

John Kerry changed the Democrat convention theme on the last night when he dropped “hope” and
instead roared, “Help is on the way”. If that help is based upon John Kerry's view of what America
needs, then sorry Mr. Kerry - we don't need or want your help. For those of you planning to vote for
Kerry… Is it because you believe in his liberal vision for America? Or is it because you despise Bush
that much? Do we really want a new presidential administration that comes to power based upon
hate?

This election is a battle between Hollywood values and mainstream American values. It really doesn't
impress me that Barbara Streisand, Michael Moore, a bunch of rap and pop stars, and other
hedonistic wackos from tinsel town are supporting Kerry. What does impress me is the fact that only
2 of the 23 swift boat commanders who served with John Kerry in Viet Nam support him for president.
That's hardly an outpouring of veterans' support - it's also a topic for another column.