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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion August 23, 2004

     

Bush Misleads on Connection to Smear Campaign



President Bush has adamantly denied any connection to discredited and unsubstantial attack ads, run by the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), a group that aims to smear John Kerry's record of honorable military service. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said that the White House and the Bush/Cheney campaign "weren't involved in any way in these [SBVT] ads."1

McClellan neglected to mention that Kenneth Cordier, who appears prominently in the SBVT ads, was a member of the Bush/Cheney veterans steering committee.2 According to the campaign website, members of the veterans steering committee "serve as messengers for the President's re-election campaign."3 After the Kerry campaign exposed Cordier's involvement, a spokesman for Bush, Steve Schmidt, announced Cordier would "no longer participate" in the campaign.4 According to Schmidt, the campaign had no idea that Cordier was involved in the SBVT ads - which have been a major issue in the campaign for weeks and replayed repeatedly on national television.

Also skipped over by McClellan: The primary financial backer of the SBVT is Bob Perry - the top donor to Republicans in the state of Texas.5 Perry has also been a friend of Karl Rove, Bush's top political advisor, for nearly 20 years.6 Perry ponied up $46,000 for Bush's gubernatorial campaigns and contributed generously to Bush's presidential races.7

Sources:
  1. "Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan," The White House, 08/20/04.
  2. "Bush Campaign Drops Swift Boat Ad Figure," The Washington Post, 8/22/04.
  3. "U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons Announces Nevada Veterans for Bush Leadership Team," GeorgeWBush.com, 8/20/04.
  4. "Bush Campaign Drops Swift Boat Ad Figure," Washington Post, 8/22/04.
  5. "Ad Wars: Behind an Attack on Kerry," International Herald Tribune, 8/20/04.
  6. Ibid.
  7. Ibid.



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