Hold the Mayo

August 23, 2004

Kerry Cornered by Bush Hypocrisy

President Bush today resorted to a glaring bit of political hypocrisy to paint the Kerry campaign into a corner. Responding to calls from both John Kerry and John Edwards that he condemn and call for an end to the advertising campaign of the 527 Group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth bush said

That means that ad and every other ad. I don't believe we ought to have 527s. I think they're bad for the system. I frankly thought we'd gotten rid of it when I signed McCain-Feingold" campaign finance reform.

It is disturbing to think that Bush signed the campaign finance reform bill with no clear understanding of what the bill meant. The rise of 527s has not come as a surprise to many others.

I have no doubt that Bush understood the effect McCain-Feingold would have vis a vis 527 groups. His statement to the contrary is most likely intended to provide cover for the hypocrisy of calling for an end to the actions of the monster he helped to create.

But Bush's call to end all 527 group advertising does pose an interesting challenge to the Kerry Campaign. As one Powerline reader put it

The obvious segue is to point out that Kerry has made no such gesture concerning the MoveOn.org ads or the Michael Moore movie....And it's my guess that when Bush's call for civility is discussed on the radio and tv talks shows, this discrepancy will be hammered home: Kerry has only called for an end to the attacks on Kerry.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 11:54 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment

1 I read this last night on your blog and eagerly awaited my NY Times this morning to see how it was going to be covered. I suppose I was not shocked to see this be a Bush-only moratorium on attacks. I liked your point that maybe Kerry could call off the dogs too. Or are they just speaking truth to power?

Posted by: RP at August 24, 2004 10:59 AM (LlPKh)

2 I'm not even sure how a ban would work. Could I do an advertisement pretending to try and help Bush just to bring him afoul of his new law?

Posted by: David Weisman at August 26, 2004 05:10 PM (1VPIi)

3 Both sides can call for all the bans they want, but in truth they have zero power over 527's according to the law. Denouncing them (lightly) may look good, but realistically doesn't do much of anything.

Posted by: Ted at August 27, 2004 03:51 AM (blNMI)

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