Andrew Golis

So KE04 has decided to stoop to BC04′s level. Kerry and the DNC have started running ads that, similar to most run by Bush and the RNC, take a sliver of truth and then blow it to smithereens in the most effective and dishonest-without-lying way possible. As pointed out by the Note, the first three of these ads are:

1. Social Security – “January Suprise”

Claim: Bush will try push hard to privatize social security as soon as he takes office for a second term.

Target: The elderly, especially in states like Florida.

Level of dishonesty: moderate. I think this is the least dishonest of the three. It absolutely fits within Bush’s ideology, he has proposed many more moderate examples of the same thing (but will be free from having to make his ideas mainstream and electable if he wins). Also, the Dems claim that he told supporters at a private lunch recently that he would do just that. While it’s hard to know if he really did say that, BC04 called the claim that he did “inaccurate,” not a flat out lie.

2. Flu Vaccine

Claim: The current shortage of the flu vaccine is due to incompetence on the part of the President and his administration and speaks to their carelessness with issues of health.

Target: Again, the elderly. Of course, the intention is to have the secondary target anyone who has doubts about Bush’s handling of health care.

Level of dishonesty: moderate to high. So far as I can tell, it wasn’t the Bush administration’s fault. Everything that I’ve read basically says that it was an issue with the manufacturer that could not have been predicted, fixed or corrected, even with better planning ahead. There are, after all, a limited number of vaccines. It’s not like there’s a bunch floating around that the Bushies didn’t care enough to buy.

3. The Draft

Claim: The president will reinstate the draft because his policies spread our military so thin that we will have no other option.

Target: Young people and blue collar families (in states like Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa etc.) who believe themselves to be more susceptible to being drafted then white collar or generally more affluent families.

Level of dishonesty: High. Kerry has been careful to never say that Bush wants to reinstate the draft, but has just warned that that’s what his policies would lead us to. This is the kind of rhetorical shading that needs to be eliminated from our political system, because it allows people to lie and claim innocence. Also, claiming that Bush’s policies will lead us to a draft is like claiming that having a cold will cause us to die. It’s possible, but not very likely and only if we’re stupid and negligent.

Anyway, it’s important to note again that this is just the Kerry Team playing catch-up to where the Bush Team has been for months. I much preferred it when they were the (more) dishonest ones, but it begs the question: is it justified if it’s the only way to beat this crazy fuck?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 18th, 2004 at 7:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.