Kerry Firing Away at Bush's Reputation as Straight ShooterSee what I mean here? The SCLM (so-called liberal media) - in this case the Times - will cover something that Kerry says...but will then immediately run to the Bush folks for their rebuttal. Oddly, I didn't see them run to the Kerry camp for comments after the SCPC (so-called press conference) the other night.
Analysts say that all but calling the president a liar risks scrutiny of his reputation for wavering.
After months of attacking President Bush's policies, Sen. John F. Kerry is stepping up an assault on his rival's character, challenging Bush's credibility on everything from job creation to the war in Iraq.
Stopping just short of calling the president a liar, Kerry routinely accuses Bush of "running up a truth deficit" and compiling "a long list of broken promises."
"The American people have a right to the truth," Kerry said Wednesday, in a characteristic jab at a town hall meeting in New York City. Afterward, he questioned Bush's candor during Tuesday's prime-time news conference, which was dominated by discussion of Iraq.
"The American people are owed a directness and an honesty about how we protect our troops and how we stand up for our interests,'' Kerry told reporters.
His strategy is risky. By challenging Bush's truthfulness, the presumptive Democratic nominee invites scrutiny of his reputation for vacillation and seemingly contradictory stands, such as backing the president's decision on whether to go to war with Iraq but against continued funding for military operations and the country's reconstruction.
"They're swimming way upstream on this one," said Matthew Dowd, a top strategist for the president's reelection effort.
By now it just seems to me that the SCJ (journalists) are looking to get their fine work read on the Limbaugh or Hannity shows as an ego trip - much like Gene Shalit's legendary glowing reviews of crappy movies so he can get the top line in the movie's ads.
There's just no such thing as a Kerry story without an instant response from Team Bush. Wish it could go the other way once in a while, but it's hard to breed lapdog out of a press animal once it's taught.
