Has Bush had ONE positive ad focused on his "achievements" yet???
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/politics/campaign/25CAMP.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/25/politics/campaign/25CAMP.html
WASHINGTON, April 24 ? President Bush's campaign is unleashing a direct and meticulously planned assault on John Kerry's national security credentials this week with a nearly $10 million advertising drive intended to undermine what both sides describe as Mr. Kerry's potentially greatest asset.
The tough television attack advertisements, combined with a speech Vice President Dick Cheney will deliver in Missouri on Monday, reflect what both sides see as an increasingly critical question: whether Mr. Kerry can convince Americans that he would be a strong enough president in a time of war. The advertisements will begin Monday night and will be broadcast on stations in nine states and on some national cable networks.
The assault on Mr. Kerry comes as Mr. Bush has been facing discouraging news from Iraq and challenges to his response to warnings about the Sept. 11 attacks. The White House has been cheered by polls suggesting that those developments have not undermined Mr. Bush's standing.
But this new challenge to Mr. Kerry also coincides with the first anniversary on May 1 of the speech Mr. Bush gave on an aircraft carrier off the coast of California celebrating the fall of Baghdad. While Mr. Bush's advisers said the timing of the new advertisements had nothing to do with that, they said they were girding for attacks from Mr. Kerry and Democrats, who are planning to use the anniversary to stage challenges to Mr. Bush's policy in Iraq.
The Bush advertisements open at a military staging ground somewhere in the desert, teeming with tanks, fighter jets and soldiers. But the matériel begins to vanish from the screen as an announcer ominously lists the military spending cuts Mr. Kerry supported.
"John Kerry has repeatedly opposed weapons vital to winning the war on terror," the announcer says.
Strategists from both parties said that national security remained the threshold issue for Mr. Kerry, meaning he must establish his credibility as a potential commander in chief before undecided voters will listen to his appeal on other issues. From the moment Mr. Kerry first began running for president, he argued to Democrats that he could at least neutralize the president's advantage on foreign policy because of his status as a decorated Vietnam veteran and his years in the Senate.
But even some Democrats say Mr. Kerry has yet to accomplish that. Jim Gerstein, the executive director of Democracy Corps, a Democratic research organization, said focus groups by his organization had found that Mr. Kerry has yet to break that barrier, though he said that television advertisements Mr. Kerry began broadcasting last week would help him.
"The role of commander in chief is a bigger part of this election than it has been, and because of that there's a higher threshold to pass," he said. "If you don't pass that threshold they won't consider you as president."
Steve Elmendorf, Mr. Kerry's deputy campaign manager, said Mr. Kerry's credibility on national security would increase over the next few months, particularly as voters see commercials that show Mr. Kerry asserting that he would be a strong president on terrorism, and others that focus on his years in Vietnam.
"George Bush is the incumbent president of the United States, and I think the incumbent is always going to start with a significant advantage over a challenge on national security issues," Mr. Elmendorf said. "But we are confident that when John Kerry stands on a stage with George Bush this fall, people are going to look at the two men and they are going to see in John Kerry someone they are willing to entrust the nation's security to."
But Mr. Bush's advisers said they hoped this latest in a continuing crush of advertisements directed at Mr. Kerry would prevent him from surmounting that hurdle.
Mr. Bush's campaign manager, Ken Mehlman, argued that Mr. Kerry's biography and résumé would not be enough to offset a series of votes cast and statements made over the years that the Republicans would use to raise questions about Mr. Kerry's ability to be a tough president on national security.
"I think ultimately the most important thing that people want to see on the war on terror is, what is your vision for dealing with it and what is your record," he said. "With Senator Kerry, when you add it all up, what the American people see is someone underestimate the risk of terrorism, misunderstand the nature of the war and not offer a resolute approach to make sure America is protected."
Mr. Bush's new advertising campaign includes nine spots specifically tailored for nine swing states in which some of the weapons programs Mr. Kerry has opposed are made. The advertisements are to coincide with speeches in those states by senior Republicans, some of whom will be accompanied by medal of honor winners.
In a version of the advertisement to run in Florida, for instance, the announcer says Mr. Kerry opposed "Apache helicopters, C-130 Hercules and F-16 fighter jets, components of which are all built here in Florida." A spot for Maine says he "wanted to cancel Aegis Warships built here in Maine at Bath Iron Works."
Even Mr. Bush's campaign aides acknowledged that it was likely Mr. Kerry would be able to respond to these advertisements by pointing to votes he has made supporting military programs, even some of those he has voted against at other times.
In March, when Mr. Bush's campaign began broadcasting an advertisement in West Virginia questioning Mr. Kerry's commitment to troops, his campaign responded with a fact sheet asserting Mr. Kerry had supported "more than $4.4 trillion in defense spending" during his Senate career. It specifically cited his vote in 2002 for a sizable increase in the Defense Department budget that included $4 billion for F-22 fighter jets, $630 million for Blackhawk-style helicopters and $160 million for upgrades to the B-1 bomber program.
Mr. Kerry's voting record does include many votes to cut weapons systems. He ran for the Senate in 1984 on proposals to eliminate 27 weapons systems and to make reductions in 18 others. Mr. Kerry has said many defense bills he voted against later were ridden with pork. Still, although he has complained that Mr. Bush's campaign has taken his votes out of context, he told The Boston Globe last year that some of his stances were "stupid in the context of the world we find ourselves in right now and the things that I've learned since then."
Nonetheless Mr. Bush's strategists said they would continue to lord those moves over him to raise questions about his credibility when it comes to fighting terrorism.
"Obviously one of the most important issues in this election is the question of how do we continue to fight and win the war on terror so we keep our homeland safe," Mr. Mehlman said. "The American people are going to have to make a decision on Nov. 2."
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