The Bush campaign yesterday touted a 1995 bill Kerry sponsored to trim intelligence spending by $1.5 billion over five years. Bush himself said at one fundraiser yesterday: "Once again, Senator Kerry is trying to have it both ways. He's for good intelligence, yet he was willing to gut the intelligence services"
If this is the best Bush has got to offer, after all the research being done into Kerry's record, he's in trouble. It barely took a day for the responsible media to swat away this softball.
Turns out that Kerry's bill closely resembled a bipartisan bill that did pass. Kerry's bill did seek to cut spending - across the board - and that would have included the 1% decrease of $1.5 billion in the intelligence community's estimated 5-year budget of $84 billion.
Well, someone's gotta try to stand up to wasteful spending in Washington, because the Repubs haven't managed to do so in almost 10 years of Congressional control.
Campaign spokesperson Scott Stanzel told Bradley to expect more of this type of rhetoric in the coming days because "we really want to continue to point out the clear choice voters will have on November 2, especially when it comes to intelligence."
Kerry v. Bush on "intelligence"? That's not such a good idea for W, Stanzel.
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Here's an idea: Why not talk about who deserves to be president? I know most voters don't think about this consciously (or if they do, they don't care) but it's a valid issue in this campaign. I mean, who by their past actions has shown that they have the best qualifications to be the man in charge?
Let's look at the comparison:
- In one corner: the decorated war veteran grandson of a Jewish immigrant ... who led multiple successful investigations as a prosecutor and in the Senate ... who has 20 years experience as a public servant, reaching out across the aisle and getting things done ... who has vast experience in foreign affairs ... John Forbes Kerry.
- In the other corner: the reborn-Christian, Nam-dodging ... insider-trading ex-alcoholic grandson of a Senator ... who failed in the oil industry ... sneaked his way into the White House without popular support ... swindled the State of Texas as governor (he cashed in after he sold the Texas Rangers, primarily because of their new publicly-financed stadium) ... who, in his four years as president, has lied and misled his way into a poorly-planned war, three massive tax cuts and environmental neglect ... George Walker Bush.
C'mon America...